Our journey since my last update has seen us go from tank tops and shorts to puffa jackets and jeans! Mother nature is definitely preparing us for home with a drop in temperature, increased winds and a big dump of rain. The rain of course was in the Sydney/Newcastle area which is exactly where we copped it last time. Definitely a big black cloud over that place for us….
Before the massive change in weather, we did get a couple of nice days at Port Macquarie when we returned. We decided to go back there as we really liked it on the way up but we copped a fair bit of rain so couldn’t do any riding, and the Iron Man event was on so we weren’t able to stay right in Port Macquarie.
We went riding at the Kalateenee Mountain Bike Trails in Kempsey. My review would be “pretty ordinary”, but Jake thought they were ok. Maybe I’m just yearning for some Derby magic!
Friday night saw the start of the rain in Port Macquarie and it wasn’t going to stop anytime soon. We headed off in the rain on Saturday morning to an overnight stop in Belmont, just south of Newcastle. I managed to find a caravan park with the biggest concrete slab in history just to make sure we didn’t end up in a mud bath. We’re a bit scarred from our experience in the same area when north bound.
Belmont looked like it would actually be quite a nice place if it wasn’t bucketing with rain. After a quick walk to get my morning coffee, we hooked up and took off for the horrible drive through Sydney.
Our next stop after the big black cloud of Sydney was back to Jervis Bay. This was also on our list to revisit because of poor weather on the way up. We stayed at the same caravan park in Huskisson which is right next to the beach and a 5 minute walk to the town centre and Huskisson wharf. Although temperatures have plummeted and the winds are a bit ugly, it is still a beautiful place.
One of the reasons we came back to Jervis Bay was because I wanted to do the whale watching tour. The winds were still up so it was touch and go as to weather the boat would actually be able to get out of the bay, but luckily the direction of the wind was westerly and surprisingly for the captain we got out and it was really good. We saw 4 whales today and 2 of them up very close to the boat. The size of these creatures is unreal and everyone gets so excited when they surface.
Then on the way back to the wharf we ran into some very friendly dolphins. They love getting a “ride” on the front of the bow. Jake and I had stuck it out in the wind (but also in the sun) up the front on the way back so we managed prime viewing position.
So now we continue with our journey back to The Spirit. Eleven days until boarding, but still on holidays!