Chapter 4: The Trip Begins

Tuesday Week 1

Dave woke up having spent his first night of his trip in Cooma. Yesterday had only been a short leg, but he wanted to sort out the RV and its configuration. He decided that today would be spent fixing a few minor problems that had arisen with his packing before continuing on the next leg to Cann River where he really regarded his round Australia odyssey beginning.

He also unloaded the 4WD and explored Cooma, something that he had not done despite only living an hour and a half away for the past 35 years.

Wednesday Week 1

After a leisurely breakfast and an easy drive he arrived in Cann River. He had stopped a number of times to enjoy the scenery and have refreshments.

The last part of his journey along the Monaro Highway, that ran all the way from Canberra to the tiny town on the junction of the Cann River and Princes Highway, was through the Cann Valley. On the way into town, there were two large sawmills denoting the towns main industry.

Not far south from Cann River was Point Hicks, the first land to be sighted by Europeans on the east coast of Australia, but that didn't interest Dave, Cann River was simply the start of his adventure.

That night, Dave cooked himself a nice, thick piece of fillet steak, wrapped in bacon and secured with a toothpick. He always liked to have his steak cooked rare, even blue rare. He often used to joke that when his fork was pushed into the steak it should go "moo!"

Dave threw together a Caesar Salad to have with the filet mignon. He also opened one of his good bottles of red wine, as he felt like celebrating and commiserating the start of his trip with the sort of food and wine he really enjoyed.

But he rationed himself to half the bottle of wine, putting a vacuum seal on what was left. That would do for tomorrow night. But he did treat himself to a small single malt whisky with a tiny splash of water.

Then it was time to retire onto the nice double bed that he should have been sharing with Chloe.

Thursday Week 1

The next morning, which Dave regarded as day one of his great Australian coastal adventure, he went for a ride on his mountain bike.

When he returned he did a few exercises and prepared a simple breakfast of fruit and cereal, washed down with a cup of freshly brewed coffee. Dave packed up and set off on the first leg of his coastal adventure.

As he meandered slowly up the coast, Dave turned into little roads that seemed to be interesting, providing they were driveable in his big RV. He spent some time at Eden, the most southern declared Port in New South Wales. Exporting woodchips was the major trade for the port which was home to one of the largest fishing fleets in that state.

Dave drove around the centre of the town and the harbour, then visited the Killer Whale Museum, where he discovered that it had been in operation for over 75 years and was recognised as one of the most progressive and innovative museums in regional NSW.

His second night was spent in the Caravan Park at Merimbula, the holiday 'resort' of the Sapphire Coast. Before dinner he decided to get his fishing rod and gear out and see if he could catch a feed in one of the most popular local fishing spots, the Merimbula wharf, which provides deep sea fishing without the need of a boat. Unfortunately, however, without any luck.

Although he knew that adults were well catered for with a number of licensed clubs and restaurants, being a good way to spend the day or night relaxing for many, his preference was to cook a good meal for himself, washed down with some fine wine.

Dave decided on a mixed grill for dinner that night, so he barbequed a sausage, a lamb chop, 2 rashers of bacon and a piece of lambs fry. He made his favourite Deb Mashed Potatoes and heated some peas in the microwave, all washed down with the half a bottle of red wine left from last night.

He though he'd have a treat tonight so got a Magnum ice cream out of the freezer and sat there enjoying it slowly, making it last as long as he could.

Friday Week 1

Departure the next morning was leisurely, as he was in no rush. He planned to drive along the coast to Tathra, a small but busy coastal town, and see the famous historical Tathra Wharf, which had been restored to its former glory.

Dave intended to spend the next night at Bermagui. He was determined not to try and travel too far each day, allowing time to take in the sights and scenery. He hadn't been down the coast for some time, so was keen to have a good look round. Dave wasn't really into water sports and he normally preferred to do what little fishing he did in rivers and lakes, so he wasn't a frequent visitor to the coast, unlike many Canberrans.

Fishing at Bermagui should be better he thought to himself, so when he arrived he got out his fishing gear and headed for a good spot of estuary fishing in the Bermagui River that he had been told about. He decided to ride his bike, on which he had rigged a holder so he could carry his rod.

A couple of hours later he had been rewarded with a two nice bream, more than enough for his dinner. It would leave him with some to have for breakfast the next morning. Not that saving money by catching his food was important, he had plenty of money really, it was just that it was very satisfying catching and eating one's own dinner.

Once he had scaled, cleaned and filleted the fish, he had simply grilled it on his barbeque, which he set up outside the RV. This time he had a green salad with a tomato, knowing that this was a good balanced meal. Dave only had one bottle of white wine that he had brought with him from home, but he drank it all with his fish dinner.

He didn't like eating junk food, preferring to make himself something that tasted good and that would be good for him. Still, he liked something sweet at the end of his meal, so had a couple of pieces of dark chocolate with his black coffee. He always tried to get the 70% cocoa butter.

Saturday Week 1

As he rejoined the Princes Highway just north of Bermagui the next day, he drove through Narooma. Dave had read that the town was built on land almost completely surrounded by the waters of Wagonga River, its estuary and the sparkling Pacific Ocean.

While he was there, he discovered that Narooma's name came from an aboriginal word meaning clear, blue water. Fairly appropriate, Dave thought, as he spent a little time looking around the town. He enjoyed eating his lunch looking at the beautiful water while enjoying the peaceful surrounds. He expected to repeat this many times over the next year.

Dave then continued on to Batemans Bay, where, because he decided to stay two nights in the caravan park, he off-loaded the 4WD ready for use in the morning.

That night, Dave decided to pan fry a chicken breast fillet. He took some frozen mixed vegetables from the freezer and cooked them in the microwave. He realised that he didn't have any white wine left, but thought it a good idea to have a night without drinking. He tried to do this once a week, but didn't always manage it. There always seemed to be an excuse for having a drink.

Sunday Week 1

On the second day in Batemans Bay, he set off in his 4WD exploring around Batehaven and Tomakin, before finishing up at Mogo, an historic gold mining village. Here he went to the privately owned zoo that had won the Regional Attraction Award in the South Coast Awards for Excellence in Tourism many times. The zoo caters for endangered species and participates in animal breeding programs as well as providing a sanctuary for displaced, endangered, exotic species due to the neglect and degradation of natural habitat.

Chloe and he had been going to go to the famous Mogo zoo for years, but somehow they never quite made it. Now was the time to make up for this and over the coming year he hoped to make up for all the things they had been going to do but didn't get round to. Although he knew that undertaking these activities by himself would not really make up for what Chloe had to miss out on seeing and doing.

There was still time to throw in a line again late that afternoon; this time he got a couple of reasonable flathead that once again was more than he could eat for dinner. Actually, he thought to himself, there's nothing like flathead fillets on toast with a little Soy sauce for breakfast.

He decided to buy a few more bottles of white wine before the bottle shop closed, one to have with the flathead tonight (although he wouldn't drink it all; he'd keep some for the next night) and a couple to keep in the fridge for when he caught his next fish meals. Plenty of time to drink his red when he didn't have fresh fish to eat; something that he and Chloe has both enjoyed when they could get anywhere coastal, as fish could not ever be that fresh in Canberra, even if the markets advertised that the fish were brought in fresh each day.

When he got back to camp after shopping, Dave stored the 4WD on the trailer, cooked his dinner and prepared for departure in the morning; a routine that he expected to get very proficient at over the next year.

Monday Week 2

Once he had finished his breakfast, Dave set off north towards Ulladulla, planning to spend a little time in the beautiful coastal town. He planned to call into Lake Conjola after that, but wasn't certain where he would stay that night.

As he drove into Ulladulla, Dave noticed the unmistakable silhouette of Pigeon House Mountain, which rises 719 metres above sea level, which he knew was part of the Budawang Mountains in the Morton National Park.

When he entered town, the sparkling blue water of Ulladulla harbour and the impressive array of boats was the first thing to catch his eye, especially as the harbour is central to the town.

The foreshores were dotted with picnic tables and he decided that it was a great place to enjoy a leisurely lunch and relax for a while.

After setting off again, a short distance up the highway he turned right to Lake Conjola, a deep coastal lake regularly open to the sea, about 10 kilometres off the highway. When he had spent a few minutes looking at the placid, blue waters, he decided to chill out for the rest of the afternoon and stay in this beautiful place overnight.

For dinner that night Dave made himself some spaghetti carbonara, but with lots of freshly ground black pepper, washed down with half a bottle of red wine. Then it was early to bed, where he read a book.

Tuesday Week 2 Continued

Dave decided to stop that night at Huskisson. He soon found that at least Peter wasn't pushy or expecting favours. He asked Dave "should we set up our tent next to your vehicle?"

"No need", Dave replied "you're welcome to have the double bed at the back of the RV. I will sleep above the driver's cabin on the double bed there. It's time I changed the linen on this bed anyway. Here Jill, you and Peter can make it, and then we will have dinner. How does steak with mashed potatoes, beans and mushroom sound?"

"Sounds too good to be true" Peter said, "are you sure it's OK for us to stay and eat with you? It's really generous of you."

The bed above the cabin was already made up, so Dave stripped the rear bed, got fresh linen and handed it to Jill then she and Peter made the bed.

"You're more than welcome" said Dave "I'm glad of the company for a while" giving him the flexibility to part company when and if he decided that he had had enough of them around.

"There's probably time for a quick surf while I cook dinner if you both want to go down to the beach. Try to be back in an hour, though."

"Why don't I stay and help you with dinner?" Jill asked, so Peter found his way to the beach with his board, walking back down the track then along the path that lead to the beach. There was no one around, so he surfed by himself as the sun went down, conscious of the time as he didn't want to upset Dave by being late for dinner.

Meanwhile, Dave asked Jill how they liked their steaks cooked and asked her if she would like to set the table and make the potato mash. He showed her where everything was, told her how he liked to make his mash with half boiling water and half hot milk, well seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper and then add a cup of caramelised onion. "I'll caramelise some onions for you to put in it" he told her.