We left Canberra in a cool slightly rainy morning, and it was on to Graeme and Katrina’s, my friends and our next host. Down the Princes Hwy we went. Made a few stops searching for the perfect hat, that I have yet to find, and arrived at our next destination in Lochiel.
We were greeted by my friends and Graeme instantly started working on my motorcycle while Katrina and Liz tackled the kitchen. Honestly, I didn’t see this, but I assume Liz just stayed out of the way.
Graeme and I hooked up a simple charger on the bike so I could have battery juice on my new cheap phone and he gave me a ball socket to hold my new camera to the handlebars. All said and done it took about 30 minutes.
Now let’s talk food.
Katrina prepared for us a delicious Australian meal of…you guessed it, Kangaroo Steaks!!! Let me tell you folks, they were tender and absolutely amazing! We also had chips, a salad with a vinaigrette dressing and to finish the meal, my first pavlova. OMG! It was my first pavlova and I will forevermore judge each pavlova to Katrinas.
We ended the night with wine and delightful conversation and a nice hot shower!
So as I may have mentioned to many of you, Graeme and Katrina are world travelers via motorbike. They were both instrumental in my planning and packing for this trip along with helpful advice in phone service choices. That is why we had a night off. As excited as we are to see as much of this country as possible it is essential to have an evening of rest. Don’t worry we made up for it the next three days.
Day two started early with a breakfast of my first Vegemite tasting. I had been waiting for this for weeks. Now, there are many videos of foreigners tasting this unusual delight and most are disgusted by the flavor. Here is my description. Beef Boullion. Katrina provided the toast and butter and allowed me to apply my own amount of Vegemite. I put on a minimal amount and tasted a large amount of salt followed by a beefy flavor. Trust me, by the end of this trip, I will probably be able to eat it by the spoonful. It wasn’t that bad but definitely an acquired flavor. Breakfast done and dishes washed, we were off for a tour of the area.
First up was Merimbula to the map store and on to Pambula beach. Pictures don’t do this place justice but I will do my best.
The first is black swans along with Magpie Geese.
We then stopped at a Roo park and saw plenty of Grey Kangaroos that although they are wild, they are used to people staring at them like idiots. Yes, I touched one and I liked it…lol
As we traveled throughout the area, Graeme was chock full of information about the areas and both he and Katrina filled our heads with flora and fauna knowledge.
The on to the last beach of the day short point. There we were able to find many shells, strange seasnails/slugs, and more massive rock formations.
After much excitement for a Sunday, it was back to the house where we were served homemade pizzas. I didn’t get a picture of the pie, but here is Graeme working the pizza oven.
Unfortunately for me, I had to call an early night. My wonderful rheumatoid arthritis starting attacking my shoulder and I had a fitful night’s sleep.
The next morning was an early one. Graeme had purchased whale watching tickets in Eden and we had to be at the boat bright and early for a tour of the waters. I hate to say I wasn’t in the most pleasant of moods due to lack of sleep and limited motion of my arm, but I made the best of it and hopefully didn’t bring the group down with my grumpiness.
We saw several pods of grey whales as they are making their way to Antarctica to feed and breed! LOL
We then toured the killer whale museum and saw Old Tom, a whale that was instrumental to the whale industry in Australia before it was ceased in 1978.
Liz and I treated Graeme and Katrina to a nice meal in town and then back to the house we went. I crashed early again because the next day would be a big one.