Day 293
Wednesday -
18 October
Vineyard – Woollongong – Corrimal Beach
That time again, moving day. I was happy to read in bed for
a while as I was engrossed in my book, Paul did the same, but as he is always
restless on moving day, he was up first and heading for his shower. I
eventually relented, crawling out at 8am and beginning the tidy up inside,
before getting breakfast ready.
We ate and then I was off for my shower too and by the time
I came back the van was on the road and Paul was readying to put the car on the
trailer. When everything was hitched up we began our trek to Woollongong.
The GPS was stating we would be in just after 11am, but with
morning traffic and a missed turn the time began clawing its way towards 12. We
missed the turn because we were expecting to head through Paramatta, just like
our drive to Cronulla. Paul was glad we turned off before the hassle of that
particular road, which is lumpy, bumpy and quite narrow.
The road we did take was quite reasonable and while it was
busy, it was flowing quite well and we were able to navigate without too much stress.
As I have said previously, saying no to toll roads means you end up going
through suburbs and areas you would have otherwise missed, it might add time
but it also adds interest.
Our route eventually dumped us onto the Princes Highway, a
road well patrolled by the coppers, not that it bothered us as we usually sit
on or slightly below the speed limit. The road south took us through heavily
forested areas, a bit like travelling in the SW of WA. Without realising we
were travelling through quite substantial hills and it wasn’t until we were
ready to head into Woollongong proper and we had to make a very steep decent,
that it became clear the altitude on the escarpment. The view on the way in was
quite spectacular and as we had passed a number of viewing areas I knew we
would return later in our stay to check them out properly.
Trucks and buses were required to do 40km/h as they trundled
down hill, Paul figured we weren’t either and sat at the car speed of 80km/h.
The drive in reminded me of our drive into Cairns, which seems like such a long
time ago.
Once on the flat, we drove on for a further 10min,
eventually ending up at Corrimal Beach Tourist Park.
I left Paul to deal with the car while I went and checked
in, apparently we weren’t meant to arrive before 2pm, but as the site was free
we were told we could go in. It is hard to keep up with different rules for
parks and quite frankly if they don’t tell you when you book them, then they
should be accommodating.
We drove to our site, number 1, finding we were able to
drive on to it which made Paul happy. I shook my head at the 2pm check in once
again, as the park was ¾ empty, so it really was never going to be a problem to
be in early.
I collected the car, as Paul hooked up. We then took the
washing over to the laundry, something we haven’t done for two weeks and it was
starting to get very desperate. Unfortunately the machine wasn’t working and
took our money, so I had to race down to the office and explain as well as get
some coins to cover what we had put in.
On my return I was too busy looking around and didn’t notice
the lump in the asphalt scraping my big toe against it and that was the start
of the blood bath. BY the time I got back to Paul in the laundry, my thong was
red and the blood had smeared over my foot. Paul was shocked but I knew it was
superficial and was just a bleeder. By the time I cleaned it up, it was obvious
it was the smallest of cuts.
I put lunch together before Paul put out the first load of
washing and started a second. By the time it was all done, we were ready to
head into town for a look around. We parked in the multi-storey attached to a
very large shopping complex and proceeded to wander into Coles to pick up some
bits. We dumped the shopping in the car and then wandered out into the Crown
Mall with all its boutiques and brand name stores.
We followed the road east eventually passing the WIN
entertainment stadium where we will go on Sunday for the basketball. The
complex is next to the Woollongong Wolves Soccer ground and overlooks the town
beach.
We walked to a viewing deck to check out the beach and the
view before following the path down to the golf course and then back up into
the centre of town, returning to the car a short time later.
We followed the Grand Pacific Drive from town back out to
the caravan park. This is quite the
tourist route, travelling for about 160km. I am looking forward to getting out
and completing this drive that runs from Bald Hill lookout in Stanwell Park to
the north and down to Nowra in the south.
Once back and with the shopping away, we collected the
washing and then Paul began on our next issue, the toilet. Last night it
stopped flushing again. We had the problem when we first bought the van and
went for a drive, so we figured we knew what we had to do to fix it, only it
didn’t work this time. Paul tried all sorts of tricks, but nothing was going to
get the pump moving again and all he was doing was getting frustrated. He spent
a good hour mucking around with it and cursing that the hole he had to work
within was too small for his hands. He came out looking quite battered in the
end.
To calm down, we decided to go for a walk. We first
exchanged books at the office and then made our way onto the sand path and out
on to Corrimal Beach. It was blowing quite forcefully for most of the day and
it was still going when we were on the beach, the only advantage was it kept
the kite surfer in the air.
We checked out the view back towards Woollongong and then
returned to the park for a quick wander. I was starving and happy to get back
to the van and start dinner.
I loaded the few photos I had taken today and then finished
cooking. We ate so quickly I wasn’t even sure that I had actually had a meal.
Paul did the dishes and then I sat back to reflect on the day and plan
tomorrow’s adventure out to Mittagong and Bowral.
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