Not a bad over night stop really just this morning early doors they decided to close the ladies amenities and rip out all the toilets. They had opened up a few cabins instead which were a bit
Further away. We got packed up nice and early and on the road, First destination being Bateman Bay where apparently they have the best Oysters. We've passed through some beautiful places and Batemans Bay wasn't disappointing at all. The property market is flourishing and a small bungalow will set you back. $600000. We'll take two please.
The promenade is pretty, and today very hot. We wandered about the pretty little town centre taking it all in. As our prime reason for calling was for a snack we located a cafe and kicked the arse out of their air con while Si ate his BLT and we drank our drinks. Whilst we were sat there a guy, who was obviously a biker came in and placed an order. The back of his jacket grabbed my attention immediately it read,
Crippled Old Biker Bastards. It was epic! I tried to sneak a photo but he left and sat outside so I thought I'd get one when we left. Unfortunately he got up from his seat and went off down the road leaving his wife still eating when we were ready to go. Just as we passed her table we stopped and mentioned the jacket. That was the start of a sit down conversation with her that lasted about half an hour. Shortly after her husband returned and they introduced themselves as Rose and Jeff. Turns out the crippled old biker bastards have chapters all over the world and started in Quebec, Canada. They even have one in the Dominican Republic which amuses me, I'm not sure why, probably because I associate the Dominican with white beaches clear blue ocean and hollibobs! They were a great couple and greatly entertaining. Their 'children' are two teacup chiwawa, and Jeff who is a massive guy, built like an outhouse always takes the smallest one on the lead when they go out for a walk. The dogs weren't with them today because they were out on a bright Yellow Harley. Once again they gave us recommendations of places to visit and also some good biking roads for next time we come. Apparently Tasmania is excellent but only safe to ride between 8 and 1500hrs because anytime before that there's the risk of animals crossing. There is so much roadkill that they take a truck out daily to scrape it all up off the road. Jeff is an incredibly lucky guy, I don't know many people who would survive a big eucalyptus tree falling on them whilst out riding a motor bike. He was intensive care for months with massive internal injuries and smashed up hands. He said to Rose, I don't think I'll be able to ride again, and yet here we are he's still cruising around on a Harley. His Auntie said to Rose that she couldn't be killed with a meat axe and that Jeff was the same. It seems she was not wrong! The man is part alien for sure but the pair of them were just the nicest people. We got to chatting about everything as you do, and they were saying that their Mayor has managed to get herself conned out of 2.5 million dollars by a scam company. If it was her own money I don't think they would have been so cross, but as it's tax payers dollar they are seriously unhappy. It's happening the world over though isn't it?
Feeling we should probably leave them to finish off their lunch we bade them farewell and went back to the van. Thankfully we'd put the foil window protector up and it was marginally cooler than it would have been if we hadn't done that! From Batemans Bay we got onto the Kings Highway and drove along roads not dissimilar to what we'd encountered on the Alpine Highway. This time glorious sunshine and 30* temperatures made viewing possible, and we could actually see where we'd end up if we were to fall over the side. It wasn't such a long trexk as the Alpine and it soon levelled off into gentle rolling hills and green pastures. There were significantly more sheep about than we've seen in a while, and lots of homesteads of varying sizes. There were some cattle belly deep in their drinking water, and in fairness I couldn't blame them. I was just hoping they wouldn't leave an unexpected gift in there and then get out and laugh at the others when they went for a drink. We stopped In Braidwood for fuel, and the type we needed was being refilled by the tanker. Knowing there wasn't fuel until we got to our destination we decided to wait untill he was finished. Which meant.... yup, you've guessed it, a brew. There wasn't a bit of breeze and the pavements were boiling! Nice though!! Wandering up the street, there was one of our favourite shops, a charity shop, Si got really lucky and came out with a brew pair of shorts and a shirt, and I found a top and pair of linen trousers. Fed up of the mosquitos chewing me to bits of an evening time. Very happy with that little haul. We're on the look out for some new saps for me next mine are so thin on the soles they're uncomfortable, but they'll do for now! Just across the road from the charity shop was a big eating establishment, so we went in. Unfortunately they were closing at. 1400 hours so we only had a drink and Si had a cake. Nevertheless it killed some time while waiting for the tanker for refill the fuel station. When we got back to the van we could see the tanker had gone so we went down and filled up. Good job we did because there wasn't another one on the road until we hit our destination.
We passed a pink airoplane nose down in the ground, it could almost have been a victim of my driving the position it was in. Some of the places we passed were like something out of the Beverly Hill billed, all they needed was someone in a rocking chair playing a banjo on the front porch!
The road was pretty good and we made good time. For some reason the sat nav still isn't speaking to us and as a result we flew past the junction we needed to go down for our campsite. We were able to turn around luckily, but when we came to the junction there was a sign saying low bridge, height limit 2.5 metres. Our van is 3 ffs!! Turned around again and despite still not speaking to us the stupid sat nav was redirecting us silently. We followed her and found the site quickly. I want expecting much because the reviews weren't brilliant. It was a nice surprise to turn up and find we had a shaded spot, close to amenities and they were spotless. Some people want hotel standards at campsites for camping prices. It was still cheap. We had an early tea, and sat outside the van on some shade and did some more reading. We've booked tickets for tomorrow. Got a site booked as well, and have also booked flight from Sydney to the Gold Coast because it only takes hour and a half to fly compared to 14 on the train which is twice the price. No brainer really.
Sat outside in my new trousers thumbing my nose at the mosquito population. Ok, so I am covered in spray as well, but it's still nice, particularly as its a pleasant 24 degrees now. The Gallahs and parrots have been going mad, and all coming really close to the van, as soon as dark falls they'll go silent.
The site advertises super fast wifi. What it doesn't tell you is that it's only 600mb, that's nowhere near enough for what I need to do what I need to do. It starts again at midnight, so I'll kick the arse out of it in the morning before we leave
All in all a great day, looking forward to tomorrow, another adventure, new things to see and people to talk to.
Much love
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