South coast loop

 

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We dropped off Comet at Best Friend Pet Centre for a second time this month. He was still excited to go as usual. Drop off was busy on the Saturday morning of the start of the summer school holidays.

We left Canberra at 12pm. The drive to Vincentia, New South Wales was new for all of us. It was a scenic drive with not much mountain driving. Some of the roads were bumpy due to potholes so Phil had to concentrate quite a bit to avoid them. The landscape was interesting as we drove along the road behind Lake George, passing the wind farms, then rocky terrain, burnt forest followed by green and more lush forest as we approached the coast. We also made a quick stop at a lovely spot – Tianjara Falls. We arrived at our cute Airbnb at 3.20pm.

We had a rest at the house before going out again. We watched The Haunting in Venice on Disney Plus. The place also had Netflix and Stan available. We went down to the beach which was a 5-minute walk from the house. We strolled along the water from Vincentia Beach to Collingwood Beach. We saw beautiful yellow-tailed black cockatoos. It was a calm swimming beach.

We found dinner in Huskisson, a 6-minute drive away. We had fish and chips from The Great Husky Bite. The seafood platter filled us up. It also came with a fresh seafood salad. We walked along the bay afterwards and then got some ice cream from Jervis Bay Fudge. We drove back to the house and Phil and I walked to Coles to buy some groceries for our stay.

We all had a sleep-in the next morning and it was nice not having to rush to be anywhere. We took our time having breakfast and getting dressed. The kids watched Turning Red (again) and lounged around.

Catherine later joined me in a walk to the local shops to buy coffee and a berry smoothie from a café called Albert and Miso. We ordered lunch next door from Swells Takeaway and got a tasty vegetarian pizza and a chicken snack pack. I got a lovely Christmas note on the pizza box.

After our filling lunch, we lounged around the house some more. We hung out at on the lovely back deck in the warm afternoon. We then went to check out the popular Hyams Beach. We were lucky to find a parking spot nearby. It wasn’t crazily busy, and we weren’t disappointed. Our plan to go in the late afternoon worked out. We had a lovely time in the water and enjoyed the beautiful white sand and turquoise water.

Dinner back at the house was leftovers and fried rice from the local Chinese restaurant. We watched Theater Camp and had ice cream sandwiches for dessert.

The next day we had to wake up early to pack up and check out of our Vincentia Airbnb by 10am. We had the rest of the day to kill before checking into our next place in Kangaroo Valley at 4pm. Our first stop was Gerringong. We had a satisfying brunch at The Blue Goose. The kids enjoyed the pancakes. I had French toast and Phil had the acai bowl. Everything was fresh and the service was attentive.

We went on the main street afterwards and looked in a few shops before driving down to Werri Beach. We spent a while in the sun watching the waves crash. The kids walked around the rockpools in search of some sea creatures. Next stop was the historic town of Berry. It was very hot walking around. We ducked into shops here and there just to get the cool air. We got ice cream from Berry Sweet Treat & Ice Creamery. The ice cream was a bit disappointing, but it did cool us down.

We drove to Bomaderry next and stopped at Aldi for some groceries. We still had about an hour to kill. We drove to Kangaroo Valley which was about half an hour away and had some delay with road works. We drove across Hampden Bridge twice and then stopped at the recreation area. It was nice to get a view of the bridge from the Kangaroo River below. We could see it was a popular swimming hole.

At our final destination, we were greeted with air conditioning and magnificent views of the valley from our Airbnb at Terrewah Farm.

Tuesday was the hottest day of our getaway. We took our time getting out of bed. I cooked breakfast as the house was stocked with all the basics – milk, juice, eggs, bacon, bread, butter, yogurt, muesli, pasta, flour, tea, coffee, bananas and apples.

We braved the heat and attempted a hike along the Three Views Track. Only half of us made it to one of the lookouts. It felt hotter standing still than walking. Phil and Nicholas made it to the end while Catherine and I stayed behind and I took flower photos. This part of Morton National Park felt barren of animals, only flies and cicadas. We stayed at the house the rest of the day and watched the storm roll in. There was quite a bit of large hail, and we were worried about Phil’s car but all was fine in the end.

Our last morning was another slow one. We had a late check out at 11am so we took our time. It was still raining so we watched the rain, wallabies and birds before heading home. We decided that this place was our favourite Airbnb of the year and we very much enjoyed our short time away overall.