Day 73 – Sunday 28 August 2016 – Stratford - Barongarook

Our last day on the road and what a surreal feeling it was knowing that we would be home tonight.  We spent much of the time talking about the amazing things we have seen and done throughout the past 73 days.  We also started to talk about what we could do next - not just travel, but what we wanted to do in our own futures.  

I've always loved this little structure in Melbourne.

The things you see - this car had artificial grass on its boot!

I couldn't help but be a little sad that our trip has come to an end, but at the same time I looked this past two days with new eyes at our own beautiful part of the country, how lush and green the pastures look and the beautiful wattles that are flowering.  And without spending time at home, you couldn't possibly feel like you were on a holiday.  

It was strange to walk into the house we left almost 3 months ago but I am also excited for the next chapter of our lives will hold.  So however sad it is to see this trip come to an end - it makes us even more enthusiastic about the plans for the next one.  16,234 kms travelled over the past 73 days. Absolutely THE most amazing holiday ever and although we are sad that it has ended we are both so grateful and pleased that we did it.

How many days to go?  1019 actually...... and counting

Day 72 – Saturday 27 August 2016 – Tathra - Stratford

It was a sad morning as we realised that this was really the last "holiday" day of our trip.  We really did try to make the most of it and took a walk along the beach in between packing up.  We didn't actually drive out of the park until almost 10.00am and saying Goodbye to Tathra and setting our sights towards home.

The beautiful south coast towns turned on equally beautiful weather for us, and in fact we actually had quite nice weather all the way through into Victoria to Stratford where we stopped at Shane's dad's house for the night.

Not much to write about as most of our trip we talked about family and life in general.

Day 71 – Friday 26 August 2016 – Tathra

Last nights overnight temperature was pretty darned cold and unfortunately I wasn't quite prepared for it.  After staying up later than I really should have processing the days photos and spending a bit of time on the internet, I managed to get quite cold and on going to bed just couldn't warm up.  It was almost..... almost..... as bad as our first night at Ulara although this time the electric blanket was on and still didn't make a difference.  In the wee hours of the morning I finally gave up and rugged up in some warm clothes including thick socks, and finally started to thaw out and went to sleep.  The one thing that was pleasant about all those waking hours was the sound of the ocean just behind the van.  

We had a lovely relaxed morning including breakfast and a long walk on the beach with the dogs.  Pretty much having the beach to ourselves we wandered along and took photos.  The dogs of course checking out every piece of driftwood and seaweed they came across.  

Back at camp and we had forgotten about the milk truck which meanders through camp every couple of days - complete with mooing horn.  It was such a reminder of my childhood days of caravanning at Lorne when both a milk and a bread truck would come through the camp every couple of days.

Wanting to make the most of what is effectively the last day of our holiday before we spend the next two days making our way home, we took a drive back up to Noosa to take in the scenery again.  Along the way we happened across this huge school of fish next to one of the many one lane bridges.  We dropped a small stone in the river and boy did that get them excited!  

These people seemed to be overseeing our actions too.

The locals obviously have a sense of humour judging by this mailbox.

The water birds are just amazing and we had to smile at this little white dude who I am sure if he had a theme song it would have been the Pink Panther as he stalked some of the fish taunting him nearby.

This lone Pelican floating on the water definitely encouraged us to take his photo and then turned to swim off back to the bridge as if to say "That's it - enough photos people!"

The scenery was simply stunning, the pelicans continued to be a source of amusement, but in the end I did a Shane, got bored and started taking silly photos.

And so our last night in Tathra drew to a close with the waves crashing on the beach in the background.......

Day 70 – Thursday 25 August 2016 – Kiama - Tathra

Thankfully we woke to find everything was as we had left it the night before and the hope of the clouds actually breaking up a little.  

Kiama has always been a place where we've felt connected to ever since we drove through here about 5 years ago to pick up a dog trailer we bought online.  Although she wasn't as kind to us weather wise as she was back then, that feeling of connection was still there.  This was the view from the edge of the van park where a row of cabins line the edge of the beach.  How lovely it would be to wake up to this view every morning.

I'm not sure what this was on the common area just below our site - a very small wedding perhaps?????

We hit the road before 8.30am and what a difference a day makes!  The clouds cleared to a beautiful sunny day and although not quite as warm as we've had up north, it was pleasant enough to be outside and feel the sun again.

The areas south of Kiama are just so pretty.  Beautiful bayside townships but also lovely countryside as well.  It is pretty mountainous and so while the distance doesn't look that far on a map - the time it takes is longer than you might think, not to mention the amount of roadworks!  

This country will soon have the best roads in the world as it seems like every darned one of them is undergoing some restoration or replacement!!!!!  However we couldn't help but have a chuckle at this stop sign guy who looked completely uncomfortable with his role.  He spent the entire time looking down or away from the traffic as though he was embarrassed that he had had to stop us.

NSW certainly does huge rivers.  Even some of the creeks were massive.  So it stands to reason there are a lot of bridges to cross and many of them actually open up to allow tall boats to pass through.  These bridges have been a constant source of opportunities for personal growth as there isn't much room between you and the railing especially when there is a truck coming the other way.  

It is also worth noting at this point how few caravans are on the road now.  Where before vans have probably made up a good 50% of the traffic on the road, we are only seeing a handful now so it is very clear the peak season is over and we are on the tail end.

This fact was also confirmed on our arrival at Tathra.  Having stayed in this park twice before I have never seen it so empty with less than a dozen vans occupying sites.  Still - it was a little like coming home.  I don't know what it is about this place, maybe the happy memories of previous visits when my much loved dog Hogan was alive, and the trip with did with Lakeisha and her doggies a few years back.  But whatever it is, I always seems to feel very much at peace and relaxed here.  We picked out a site that backed onto the beach and all you can hear is the sound of the waves on the beach and a few resident birds and then took the dogs for a walk on the beach.  I don't know if it was a coincidence or whether she remembered the previous two trips, but Miss Kitty took the detour to the beach as soon as she got to it and that beach tail didn't stop wagging until we had got back to the van.  

Lots of people walking on the beach today!

The sun was shining, and we are feeling very fortunate to have a couple of nights to chill out here before our last two days heading home.