The Road Trip ... the first week

Well we've been on the road for a week now, at a pretty leisurely pace. Setting off last Friday we drove down to Sydney via Byron Bay, and a night in the tent at Nambucca Heads. Ingrid and Phil (Ella's sister and her boyfriend) put us up for a couple of nights in Sydney - thanks guys! We had a lovely time there, based in Kirribilli which is very central and almost underneath the famous bridge and opposite the Opera House. We took a ferry trip out to Manley and had a nice walk up on the North Heads National Park. Great fun and lovely weather. There'll be some photos to follow when we get home.

After Sydney we continued down the coast, spending a coupl of nights camping in Deua National Park - 40km down a dirt track in beautiful forest with a pristine river by the camp site.

The roads opened up the further south we drove - nothing particularly twisty but curvy enough to be interesting, which is an improvement on the desolate straight roads of Queensland!
The landscape has changed surprisingly often as well to add to the fun.

Cape Conran was the next two nights' resting place. Right next to the beach with good facilities and BBQ ... so we're eating very well!

Now we're in Melbourne staying with Vanessa and her Mum. Again we're near the city centre. Today Nessy has been great, she took us into the city for coffee, then we went to see the Archibald exhibition (the national portrait prize) and on to St Kilda for a wander. Now we're enjoying a beer before heading out to dinner.

Monday morning we'll be heading off to look around the Parks of Victoria. The climate's great down here, a lot cooler even in bright sunshine.

All our new camping equipment has proven to be fantastic, waterproof and hard wearing!