Wollongong - 'Life's better in the Gong'

Thankfully, I keep a diary as it has been over a month since my last post!

On November 11th we set off for Wollongong as Canberra had got rainy and, well, boring!
We were lucky to experience the beautiful route through McGuiness Drive, a stunning windy, if not sometimes hairy, decent down a narrowly carved road through temperate rainforest with breathtaking views over the fields and coast below and beyond.

McGuiness Drive

We arrived in the evening and tired to find the campsite recommended by the Lonely Planet Guide (LPG) - Coledale. When we finally found it (50 odd kms out of Wollongong town centre!) we were a little disappointed as it wasn't anywhere near as amazing as described, so, armed with our impromptu purchase of beer and port, we set off to find another one a little closer to the town...
We returned to Coledale, half an hour later and one beer down (Luke was drinking and navigating, who says men can't multitask!?) and in convoy with two other nomads we collected en route.

Coledale campsite is nice enough, really it's just a glorified lay-by with access to showers and kitchen services. What they should mention in the LPG is that you can enter all hours, so if you happen to arrive late in Wollongong you can rely on Coledale campsite to be available for entry and avoid driving up and down the coast being disappointed by the campsites that closed 10 minutes before you arrived... I am only too happy to share this information so my hard lessons can be learned from *cough, cough.

We woke next day to pancakes and hangovers and moved Autumn back down the coast to the town centre. We parked up at the beach and walked into town opting for coffee reinforcements on the way. The town centre is very nicely laid out with a pedestrianized high street containing all the basic necessities although, driving to the town centre and finding parking near by is a little more challenging, as we later discovered!
We enjoyed lunch at the infamous Diggies (also recommended by the LPG. Faith restored), overlooking the Ocean and decided to get in burgers for dinner later on. On this day, Monday 12th November, we bought me my first coffee cafetiere, a since very used and greatly loved essential. Sorry Dad (aka - Mr Tea), I am now a 'coffee person'. Whoops! Please don't disown me.

On Tuesday morning we went for separate runs as we had a bit of a debate about when to make our way up to Cairns, confirming in the process, that we are clearly running out of suitable subjects to argue about! Upon reuniting half an hour later, we made friends again and did yoga. It's hard to hold a grudge whilst balancing on one's head with your left toe in your right armpit!
We went to the library where I last blogged on Canberra, did a food shop and enjoyed Luke's lovely seafood stir fry.

Wednesday and Thursday saw rain like Tuesday and after buying some lovely new active wear from Lorna Jane, sending some emails to rellies from the Library and visiting the Lighthouse with fish 'n chips, we got itchy feet again.
We arrived at the Burt household (Luke's cousin) in Manly, Sydney, New South Wales on Thursday 15th Nov at 4:00pm, where we were very warmly greeted with dinner and a bottle of Black Sheep Shiraz, which we had been carrying in Autumn since the McLaren Vale. Thankfully, it still tasted like wine!