Day 3 & 4 Batemans Bay to Sydney:
Woke up to a beautiful view in Batemans Bay and after a quick walk along the beach we headed into town to try and find a place open on a Sunday to get our tyre fixed. We found a auto shop to ask and then had to ring the guy who owns the tyre place to come and open up...$50 call out fee + the tyre was shredded so we needed a new one! Bec and Callen went for a walk while the tyre was getting changed and found a service on at the Salvation Army church. Lovely people but we didn't stay long because Callen was grumpy. But we did see lots of bats in the trees outside which was very unusual! We stopped for lunch in Ulladulla, where there looked to be lots of families perhaps heading home as it was the last day of the school holidays. After lunch, we drove onto Huskisson at Jervis Bay where we were lucky enough to spot a few dolphins swimming close to shore (and thought of Cooper back home because he said we would see dolphins!) We then continued onto Nowra which was the start of our journey along the Grand Pacific Drive. And the start of our engine problems AGAIN! If you can picture the worse place to break down, our bus picked it...on a steep hill, narrow road with no shoulder, double white lines and lots of traffic!!! After a massive effort on Bec's part, we managed to pull off at the top of the hill where Kent tried fixing the engine again. It got us back on the road and we made it to Kiama to see the blow hole just before dark. Being thoroughly fed up with the day, we spent the night at a rest stop just outside Kiama and headed off early the next morning to Wollongong to try and find a Repco. While in The 'Gong, we visited Flagstaff Hill and saw the lighthouses and cannons as well as lots of fit people doing their morning boot camp or morning walk. It was a beautiful day for seeing the coast with bright sunshine and little wind. Next stop was the Sea Cliff Bridge further north up the coast and in a word - spectacular! Bec had engraved a padlock with our names to put on the bridge, which is a local custom (thanks for the tip Megan!). We had a quick early lunch (and Callen had a play in the playground) then set out for the Blue Mountains with our goal being to see the Three Sisters. On our drive to Katoomba we were amazed at the extent of urbanization! Being from Tassie we didn't think climbing into the mountains would involve a 4 lane highway, McDonalds, numerous towns and traffic lights!!! Kent had a quick look in a science museum-shop-thing on the way and we finally made it to Katoomba to enjoy what was left of the afternoon wandering around the lookouts and seeing the sights - very awesome! Unfortunately we didn't have time to take the cable car but we still got a great view of the Three Sisters at sunset.
"Driving in Sydney sucks!" This was Kent's favourite saying for the evening, when Bec abandoned Plan A, aborted Plan B before it started and then navigated through Plan C to get us onto the highway to Newcastle and Port Macquarie. Bec still maintains "we were never anywhere near Sydney" but Kent is adamant "Penrith IS Sydney, and so is Blacktown!". We are still trying to have fun, despite the setbacks we've had with breakdowns but are definitely looking forward to spending a few days in Port Mac with Alix for some rest and rejuvenation.