Day 8 - Campervan

Day 8

We wake up to our final morning in Sydney and the sun is finally shining against a bright blue sky! We packed up and got a taxi to the rental company to save having to fight for space on the train with the commuters. We arrived at Britz rentals and were greeted by a hormonal pregnant woman (Scott’s description) who was initially chatting on the phone but eventually grunted to us that we should watch this portable DVD. It had all the information we required about our campervan and gave a quick introduction to everything we would need. We returned to the aforementioned hormonal woman who then grunted out a few more words and we had discovered we had hired two outdoor chairs! We were directed along to a German chap who would take us through the agreement and payment. This started without problems and we paid off the final outstanding balance and signed the agreement. We then thought we’d be on our way quicker than you could throw shrimps on the Barbie. BUT.....We were surprised with a bond we had to put down on damage to the vehicle. This was the cool sum of $7500! Now as we are not particularly rich neither of us has a credit limit of such a large sum. Deb tried the pray and enter PIN approach which resulted in a rejected card! Now, no idea why she felt her second card would have more luck but she tried anyway! REJECTED! Oh dear.....

We found ourselves in a quandary as the (hormonal) woman announced that we could not try them again for another hour. We eventually devised a plan where we could split the bond between multiple cards. A lot of maths later (from Scott) we had split the amount between three credit cards and had just about covered the bond! We were finally on our way about a hour later than originally forecast!

Scott drove south out of Sydney and we were eventually onto the Pacific Highway heading south towards Kiama. Deb’s excellent map reading enabled a relatively stress free exit from the suburban sprawl of Sydney.

Kiama was about 110km away and we reached it just after lunch. Kiama is a small town with a population of about 12,000 people. The real reason people come is to see the blowhole! The blowhole is the result of sea erosion of the softer rock leaving behind the harder volcanic rock. Eventually a cave forms and the headland above collapses causing a hole to be formed! Easy! The surf enters the cave and traps an air pocket which as the surf retreats causes a negative pressure. The only way for the water to escape is upwards! WHOMP! Quite amazing to see but it is absolutely heaving with tourists. We decided to head over to little blowhole which we hoped would be a little quieter.

A 5 minute drive and we were there. The place was deserted so we decided to get as close as we could! Scott walked down to the blowhole first. It is only a few feet wide compared to its bigger brother which must be 30 feet but it was much more impressive. Scott was able to get close enough to peer directly in and see the water swishing about. When you heard the rumble of an incoming wave you had to quickly step back or get soaked! The noise it creates when stood next to it was most impressive and did get the heart racing. Once Scott had paved the way even Deb got a bit braver and went to investigate. The battery of the camera went flat so there isn’t much photographic evidence of Deb’s accomplishment!

Deb then drove down to Jervis Bay which was about 70km further south again. On the journey we went through a heavy storm with water bounding down. We thankfully found the lights and wipers so Deb could see where we were going. A quick stop on the way at Woolworths for groceries and next door to the bottle shop for beers and wine! The sun was starting to set as we left and Scott took over the baton for driving. The light was starting to fade and we still had a 30 minute journey to our camp site. As we are into autumn here the light quickly fades and left us in complete darkness trying to navigate unfamiliar roads in an unfamiliar vehicle! Jervis Bay is on the edge of a national park so there are no street lights and the road signage is very poor (similar to US) which led to a few choice words between navigator and pilot and a number of repeated journeys up and down the same stretch of road we eventually found our camp site! By this time the site office had closed and a sign outside announced no sites were left. Scott walked over to the office doors and with apprehension looked into a box for late arrivals. Thankfully our information was there so we drove down to our site, hooked up the electric and prepared some dinner! Scott cooked burgers and prawns on the Barbie and we set up the bed for the night. Let’s hope the bed is comfy!

Tomorrow we have a long drive north passed Sydney to Stockton which is just North of Newcastle! New South Wales and not Tyneside, England! That is the best part of 400km!