We’ve been in Shellharbour for almost a week now and we are settling in okay. Yesterday was Australia Day and the park here was alive with kids playing in the quiet streets and Aussie flags proudly displayed on almost every tent, caravan and camper. Everyone was cheerful and the smell of barbecues mixed with the salty sea was in the air. It turned out to be a good day, Ben sat back in his camp chair and drank Corona’s for most of it and I had a few with him and then a bit of wine. We finished it off with a nice barbecue with steak, flathead tails and homemade chips. Australia Day has always meant a lot to us but this year, because we are traveling around Australia and trying to learn and see everything we can see… it seems to mean more.
The park here has pizza night on Wednesday and Saturday nights, they have an outdoor pizza oven and you just make your own pizzas and then take it over to the pizza oven and cook them. Then sit at the benches and have dinner with everyone. It is good fun and we’ll probably do it again on Saturday. Pizza’s, especially homemade ones, are a great feed, fairly cheap and there is always enough left for lunch the next day.
Ben has found a job not far from here laying bricks, he starts Monday. If it works out ok, then we could be in Shellharbour for a few more weeks. We’ll build up the bank account again and then head North.
We have met a few couples in the park here and are still keeping in contact with a family we met at Regatta Point as they live near Wollongong, which isn’t far from here. Over the last two days we have spent a bit of time with a man who has travelled to Australia from New Hampshire. He has family here and has made the track over to Australia with his wife a few times. He was an entertaining guy, his stories about hold cold London is and how bad the traffic is there kept us amused for a while. The last two days haven’t been too hot (only early to mid 20’s) yet it was still too hot for him to be out of his air conditioning for too long.
Killalea State Park
Killalea State Park is an old farm that they have turned into a state park. There is a beach there that the surfers call The Farm, it’s a gorgeous piece of beach and much loved by surfers… have a look at the pictures.
Robertson and Belmore Falls
Robertson is about 40 to 50 minutes drive from Shellharbour, you drive into the National Park and through the mountain pass to get there. It is a stunning drive through the forest and past the sheer rock faces. It is a small, wooden town but has a reputation for having the best pies in New South Wales. We stopped at the Famous Pie Shop for lunch, which was pretty good. We visited Robertson again today, not for pies, although we did get some while we were there, we detoured out to Belmore Falls. The falls were really pretty, thin, long drops of water into pools among thickly growing forest and tall rock faces.
We hope all our friends and family back home had an awesome Australia Day! We miss you all.
Food & Fiction 