DiNo's Travels Around Australia - 2014/2015/16/17: Canberra & The Australian Alps March

Our trip to Canberra and the Australian Alps started on a showery 1 March 2016. We passed through frequent showers as we hurtled down the Pacific Highway until we reached Grafton. We had decided to cut across to the New England Highway to Armidale. The “truck” (read the Landcruiser), the “anchor” (read caravan) and we two aspiring travellers had not ventured on this strip of road before. The road was poor in parts as we wound our way across the coastal plain and then up a winding and undulating roadway into and through the mountains. The road was bad enough not to take time out to see the occasional views as they flashed by. However, there were upsides. The rain had stopped and the road improved greatly as we neared the beautiful Armidale, with its deciduous trees showing off their autumn colours. For information, Armidale lays claim to being the highest city in Australia.

Cooling towers at the Bayswater Power Station
in the Hunter Valley

It was a pleasant drive from Armidale down the New England Highway until we reached the Sydney outskirts, oh gracious me, at 3.30pm and approaching peak hour. Mind you, it seems to be peak hour all day in Sydney. It took us a couple of hours to reach Grose Wold, west of Sydney at the foot of the Blue Mountains, where we met up with our daughter Jodie. We set up the van there for a four day stop to enjoy Jodie’s and her partner’s (Jason) company. Jason owns a property on the Grose River, which has its headwaters in the Blue Mountains. It is peaceful there, miles from the urbanity of Sydney. Its isolation is reinforced by the songs of whip and bell birds emanating from the forest on the property. The songs were a constant all day.

In the late Thursday afternoon we headed off to the Paramatta stadium to see the Brisbane Broncos NRL team play the Paramatta Eels. Jason’s sons play for Paramatta, so there was interfamily rivalry at play. The outcome was a win for the Broncos.

Our visit to Grose Wold ended with a family dinner at Barrel 58 on Saturday evening.

Wollongong, 136 km from Grose Wold, was our next destination for a visit to family members, prior to starting down the beautiful NSW south coast. On the afternoon of our arrival we headed back up the Mt Ousley Pass to the Mt Kiera Lookout and on to Sublime Point and the Bulli Lookouts. Our return took us down the famous Bulli Pass. From these lookouts there are fantastic views over the coast, Wollongong and Port Kembla.