Post #1 – This post is the first in the series Sydney to Melbourne in a Spaceship recounting our one-week adventure with a Spaceships Australia (affiliate link) van named Arthur Dent.
Already seen this one? CHECK OUT POST #2 HERE or POST #3 HERE
After our brief stopover in Hawaii, we were off to Australia for another 4 week adventure. As we descended into Sydney, the smell of smoke permeated the cabin of the airplane and through the window, the sky was a dirty orange. The term ‘catastrophic fire danger’ was now in our vocabulary and it was going to dictate what route we took to explore the coastal area between Sydney and Melbourne in our Spaceships campervan.
Sydney to Jervis Bay
We would quickly come to see that the smoke came and went depending on the direction of the wind. Here is a before and after shot that illustrates one day to the next (grab the little hand and slide it right and left).
BEFORE
AFTER
We picked up Arthur Dent, our red travelling companion for the next week, and hit the road for an easy day of driving from Sydney to Jervis Bay and Booderee National Park.
We stopped briefly in the town of Kiama to see the lighthouse and blowhole before driving on to the park.
Booderee National Park
Booderee National Park is owned by the Wreck Bay Aboriginal community and jointly managed with Parks Australia. The name, Booderee, means bay of plenty in the Dhurga language.
Located less than 3 hours from both Sydney and Canberra, this culturally and biologically significant area is pretty amazing. If we’d had more time for our van trip, I definitely would have stayed here longer!
Within minutes of arriving at our campsite, we were visited by several curious locals including the campground peacock, a wallaby, crimson rosellas and a kookaburra.
The critter sightings didn’t end there. At dusk the possums scampered down from the trees to see if we had any food for them. Sadly, it was too dark for pictures. The next day we saw an echidna, kangaroos, a poisonous red-bellied black snake and a diamond python.
We watched this python on the road into the campground for some time. Cars had to drive around it, kookaburras were swooping at it and even the peacock charged toward it. Turns out peacocks do not tolerate snakes in their territory. They will fight them, even poisonous ones. Finally, a kind person helped the snake off the road to avoid it being hit. I guess the opposite side from the campsites was not peacock territory. He was no longer interested in the snake.
We encountered another peacock at the Botanic Garden. I think he was trying to negotiate a ride somewhere.
The animal interactions alone were enough for me to thoroughly enjoy my time here but the scenery was pretty spectacular too.
The Royal Australian Naval College is next to the park and we saw one of the ships out in the bay doing some training exercises.
Cave Beach
On the opposite side of the park we visited Cave Beach. It was empty and beautiful, and yes, there were caves.
For the most part, we didn’t even think about the bushfires while we were here. The sun was out and the sky was a beautiful blue. There was a total fire ban in the park so when I started to smell smoke on our last afternoon there, I knew the winds were shifting again.
Wanting more of this adventure? Check out Post #2 HERE
Amazing!
Thanks for sharing amazing memories – some photos took me back to our trip out to Cape Scott in B.C. AT