Jervis Bay

Once again the Stanfords and the Chambers' abandoned Wollongong to go see a bit more of the country. In this case... Jervis Bay, a pleasant area of beaches, parks and general bucolicness about 2 hours south of Wollongong.

We stayed at an upmarket Butlins, in our own cabin, 2 mins from a white sandy beach. Kara had a real fright when Martin was swimming one evening. She saw a fin out to sea... followed by the rest of the dolphin's body as it leapt into the water!! Dolphins! We saw some everyday - very very special.

Highlights and stuff we did include:

• swimming off Hyams Beach, of the purest white sand
• snorkelling and seeing puffer fish, wobbegong sharks, various rays, and lots of cute fish
• chilling out in our cabin
• going to Berry, the town that consists only of cafes and craft shops and gift shops. We ate ice cream.
• walking in the Booderee National Park (Martin and Kit only) and seeing kangaroos and joeys and possibly a wombat

Not so great stuff:

• the snorkelling was off a boat which was skippered by the rudest man in the world (didn't speak to anyone). Who took us to a really rough spot. Kara felt sea sick IN the sea it was so rough. Nicky hated it too.
• Kara then felt sea sick even when we were back on land :-( not good

Stuff we have learnt about Australia:

• we have now twice gone to the "best fish and chip shop in Australia" to two different locations. Apparently, we'll go to many more as every Aussie is convinced they know the best one! Hey, we're happy to give it a go!
• the whitest beach in the world we swam off is not the whitest beach in the world if you talk to a Western Aussie, who will tell you they have the best beaches...!
• Aussies are alarmist, liking to worry tourists with tales of sharks, stingers (jelly fish) and so on. More people die out here from drink-drive accidents in a week than from animals in a year. In fact no-one has died from a snake or spider bite out here since the 1970s
• Aussies can NOT drive. It is vaguely amusing while slightly worrying. Thankfully, their roads are pretty empty.
• The weather isn't all you think it will be. We've had rain, winds, cold spells... and of course, ozone thin sunshine. Which is pretty damned strong. We are using sunscreen so panic ye not!
• If you want to run and swim in one go it's best to do it in that order. Swimming in salt water then running leads to chafing. Ouch.

On that note, the Chambers/Stanford combo are now off to the Blue Mountains (we've booked what looks like a lovely cottage) for walking/reading/chocolate afternoon teas, then back to Wollongong on Sunday for the final goodbye to Kit's family...who we owe several delicious meals to when they next hit the UK.