October 29th, 2005 – South Coast Weekend

After stressing out all week about the concept of driving on the wrong side of the road, I picked up the rental car at 8:00am and was put to the test quickly. Although I foresaw the complication with the transmission on the left hand of the driver, who would have thought that the turning signal, the rear view mirror and the blindspot are all on opposite sides of the car also… After a few adjustments and some thorough concentration it was smooth sailing for the 3 hour drive down, only once taking a wide left turn at a confusing intersection because I was too pre-occupied with directions and hence reverted to what was natural. We stopped in a little town called Kiama famous for a blowhole en-route to Jervis Bay. When we first approached there was a substantial blast from an incoming wave and then for the next 15 minutes we were all waiting for a good photograph or video footage. We waited and waited and then just as we were shifting perspectives it blew again…luckily I managed to catch it on camera as that was the last eruption before we left.
We arrived in Jervis Bay and although the weather was gloomy it seemed that whenever we needed clear skies they were cooperative – dinner, hiking the shoreline, packing up the tent in the morning, etc. Over the weekend we saw Swamp Wallabies, Lorikeets, an Opossum, Kookaburra’s and even a Wombat – although he was roadkill. Although we were a little disappointed with the campsite after a reservation error, we made the best of it and found a great spot to cook dinner and enjoy ourselves late into the evening away from any families with young children. For those of you who have never been camping, late into the evening constitutes 9pm because the sunrise wakes you up at 7am the next morning, nevermind the kookaburra’s at 6am! After scoping out some of the beaches in the Boorderee National Park Murray's Beach, Cave beach and getting very up close and personal to the wild Wallabies, we were off to the Wombeyan caves.

The drive to the Wombeyan caves proved very interesting. We were driving through very heavy fog through the Bowral Highlands and then along a narrow dirt scenic highway to the cave entrance. At the head of the highway where there was still pavement, we saw a slew of SUV’s covered in dirt and mud, we assumed they had gone off roading on their weekend – boy were we surprised. After 50 km of red dirt road hugging the edge of cliffs and floodways, we arrived at the caves only to discover that we too had red dirt from the mirror level down. The roads were so narrow that we were forced to honk around sharp corners to ensure no head on collisions. The caves proved well worth the effort with sensor lit passages and elevated ramps and stairwells. We would have all liked to take some of the guided tours but had missed all of the showing times by our arrival. I look forward to more cave adventures in New Zealand!