Smith Adventures

Coffs Harbour From Sidney we have a day’s drive up to Coffs Harbor where we have our eyes set on one last camping day. Both Coffs harbour and the Holiday park we selected Park Beach Holiday park did not disappoint. The weather was perfect to the point of being very warm into the late evening. Ocean Beach Coffs Harbour is a smaller town situated on the east coast of Australia and Coffs Creek creates a beautiful backwater entry into the ocean with a sandspit that Park Beach and the Holiday park and surroundings sit on. It is such a beautiful spot with warm shallow water and the holiday park sparkled it was so clean and well outfitted, and, it was one of the last low season days so prices were reasonable and there were few people there. The RV park desk recommended the Parks Beach Bowls Club ( https://pbbc.com.au ) for supper as we were tired of the day’s drive and wanted to maximize our stay there similar to Kiama. While it did not have the elevated view that Kiama ...

Grand Pacific Drive  (Seacliff) Our three nights in Kiama were a nice break from our travel pace to date and we were re-charged and ready to head the 132 kms into Sydney via the Grand Pacific Drive and the Seacliff Bridge. Sydney Opera House The weather was 21C by 8:00am so after packing up our gear we already needed to head for showers again before getting underway. And it promised and was hot all day topping nearly 30 C with bright bright sun. The cliffs surrounding the Kiama to Sydney shoreline are quite different than those of the Great Ocean road and appear to have been formed in a similar fashion to Devil’s tower. So the Grand Pacific drive hugs the coastline near Seacliff, and then winds its way through the cliffs on its way to Sydney. We are lucky that our hotel is within (long) walking distance of the Opera House, The Rocks, and the Harbour bridge Harbour Bridge as well as the other downtown core tourist sites so after checking in early to our hot...

Seven Mile Beach at Sunset About 800 kms north of Melbourne on the Tasman Sea coast is an area made up of several communities, Gerroa, Kiama, Wollongong and Shell Harbor. While researching Australia we stumbled across what is called the Grand Pacific Drive which stretches fro these 4 communities north to  a rebuilt bridge called the Seacliff bridge that takes you all the way to Sydney. So Kiama, near the southern end of the highway 800 kms north was our first destination. Not knowing whether the M31 motorway could be travelled north in 1 day left us unsure about how much time to dedicate, so we gave ourselves lots of tie and did the road in 1 day, easily. However we arrived on a Saturday night and Kiama is the Banff of New South Wales. It was hopping. Fortunately we found camping at the Gerroa Top Holiday Park, and the receptionist there recommended for supper we try the Fisherman’s Club, their version of the Surf Club’s we tried in Southport on our first bike ride. ...

Melbourne National Art Gallery Melbourne is the capital city of the Territory of Victoria in SE Australia and thought to be a stepping off point to Tasmania. Our attraction to Melbourne is that our grandsons are playing in a major Volleyball tournament that has attracted 530 teams/138 schools/ 5000 participants. While we’ve over the past 2 years been able to see Kaden play for Gold in both court and Beach volleyball this is our first chance to see Riley, and as misfortune would have it, an injury to a senior player on Riley’s team and another players bad ankle; they needed backups. The director suggested calling up a player from the younger age group. Kaden, being the Captain of that team, with Riley the Captain of his team, and them having played beach volleyball together before it made sense.  It was nice when the Director of sports for John Paul College came up to us after learning we were there and spoke so glowingly of our three grandkids and of course their...

Split Point Lighthouse As we head back east toward Melbourne on the Great Ocean Road we are discussing how the road is divided into 3 distinct segments, plus the low beaches between Geelong and Split Point Lighthouse. The literature suggests the GOR starts in Torquay. How Split Point got it's name From Lorne to Apollo Bay you experience generally high cliff views and winding road as pictured in our first segment. Then from Apollo Bay the road enters Otway National Park and is mostly forested lands a ways away from the ocean. Then beginning with Castle Cove past Port Campbell to the London bridge lookout approx.. 26 kms. you see the distinctive cliffs and beaches that make this area unique. As we head back today toward Melbourne we stop at the Split Pt. Lighthouse since it was in the mist and rain on Sunday on our drive out. Today the sun is out and so are the novice paddle boarders Paddle boarders in Training taking their lessons in the estuary behind the ...

The Great Ocean Road The Cove from the Sea Today the weather has cleared up significantly and we’re able to continue our drive on the Great Ocean Road. One of the main features beside the drive itself are the rock outcroppings in the water that make up attractions like “The 12 Apostles”, The Arch, or London Bridge, or The Cove. All scenic and worth seeing. Continuing our good fortune while driving just 3 - 4 mins out of Apollo Bay we see our first  Wallaby in the wild as we were driving along. To quick an event to capture by photo. We’re finding a huge number of Asian tourists being bused on this route and suspect that this will only increase with vacation time setting in. It hasn’t yet. The London Bridge scene is interesting. There is a story to it. Right here . As we walked back from the viewpoint I said, imagine after walking to the end they turn back and say "Which way did we come, I can't find the way back". Hope you enjoy the photos. ...