2015-02-12

Sydney to Melbourne

Say Cheese !


Leaving Sydney behind, and avoiding the freeway and /or the busy city traffic it was best to head for Mittagong and enter Fitzroy Falls to Bomaderry which lies next to the city of Nowra on the coast. The road leads through the township of Kangaroo Valley but in contrast to my expectations, kangaroos where nowhere to be seen but instead the landscape is dotted with black and white Frisian cows.

This part of Australia –all the way down to Bega, consists of lush green fields divided in hundreds of dairy farms with many who have their own cheese making facilities judging by the many signs along the road. Some drizzle made me ease of the throttle as the roads where a bit slippery due to fallen leaves.

A spectacular entry is made during the steep descent towards the coast. I had some luck. Going downhill along the narrow two lane road about twenty cars were stuck behind a very slow moving truck. At one stage I decided to cross the double lines when I had a chance and overtook 4 cars. Putting me right behind....a police car !. I expected the police car to stop at the first possible opportunity and book me for overtaking over double lines but a few km further down hill I noticed a short section where overtaking was allowed so I quickly overtook the police car and 4 or 5 more others and disappeared into the distance. By the time I reached Nowra I must have been a km ahead so I quickly got off the main road and pulled into Mc Donalds for a coffee.

All the coastal towns are very attractive; I could easily live in any one of them. Around 6pm Bega loomed up in the distance- just in time as it had started to rain. Bega is for the Australians what Edam is for the Dutch- the cheese capital of the country. However even after so many years in Australia I still have to conclude Australian cheese is still no match for Dutch or French cheeses.

Before leaving Bega the next morning I had to make a quick decision- as always- safety first! The more challenging road runs from Bega to Bombala and down to Cann River, however, it was raining and in the forests there are a lot of leaves on the road. Besides that, sharps corners would give me stress rather than pleasure.
Another road leads south to the beautiful towns of Merimbula and Eden. In these towns tourism adds a large part to the local economy, and as they are situated roughly halfway between Melbourne and Sydney they are a prime destination for annual holidays for the people of these two cities. South of Eden the road travels through over 100km of forests with hardly any settle in between.

Once across the Victorian border the first town is Cann River; a bit of excitement here. Someone's holidays had come to an end right across the small rows of shops at the edge of town. The first thing I saw was thick smoke billowing from behind the trees next to the road. I did not think anything of it until I saw a caravan well alight with the owners watching from a short distance. Just imagine that all your stuff just goes up in flames and all you have left is what you are wearing..
The fire brigade had just arrived and concentrated in keeping the car,which was still attached, form going up as well. Poor people, I felt sorry for them. After Cann River the forest thins out and makes way for rolling hills filled farms and dairy cattle. From here until close to Melbourne nearly all the land is farmed.

Then it was on to Sale and Warragul. (a reader asked me about the strange names for many Australian towns- i will come back on that later). I checked into McDonalds in Warragul. I dislike Mc Donald's food, however they have nice salads, clean toilets, good coffee and free Wifi to check emails etc. At leaving town a heard thunder on my left and saw lightning strike the ground perhaps only a few km away. Just to be sure the wet weather had to come out and speeds adjusted to 120km/h out stay ahead of the storm. However, close to Melbourne the traffic slowed down and the storm caught up providing me with an opportunity to truly test my wet weather gear.