Camping Oz style

Well we left Suzy’s and Sydney on Tuesday to the sounds of coughing and fatigue. Poor little Alistair had been tested for whooping cough and we later found out that the test was positive and that Sammy had it too. Suzy was also ill but that was later found to be a form of cryptosporidium, a nasty parasite that gives you diarrhoea, which she had picked up from a swimming pool. We were feeling OK and hoping that we too didn’t have the whooping cough for fear of passing it on to mum.



We headed out of Sydney with expectation of getting to Canberra again for another dig at their great mountain biking parks and trails. Kat was slightly off colour and we quickly buckled and headed for the coast instead. On the coast we headed to a small bay called Pebbly Beach north of Bateman’s bay and a state park camping ground armed with chicken burger ingredients and some beers!



The campground wasn’t exactly as expected and the weather cooled off but it sufficed and the kangaroos on the beach, the chance to light a fire and a visit from a curious young Kookaburra and some Rosellas the next morning didn’t disappoint. What a perfect introduction to camping in Oz for Kat.



For more pics click here

The next day we drove further south on route to Eden, still on the NSW coast with a stop off at Mystery bay. This is a lovely little spot that Suzy and Michael regularly visit because dogs are allowed on the beach. It was here that we heard that Alistair indeed had whooping cough and hence we had fears that we too might have been infected.



We then spent a night at Eden an old favourite from my trip around Australia some 16 years ago but unfortunately the beach-side campground that I remembered was no longer. Nevertheless a walk on the beach, a quick swim (bit chilly) and another BBQ was all good.

Heading back into Victoria we stopped off in Lakes entrance and contemplated staying the night but decided to move one and head straight home. 550kms later we arrived, still feeling OK albeit a little tired. The high risk fire day on Friday thankfully didn’t materialise but a stomach bug did. It turns out that the pool we went for a swim at in Sydney was contaminated with Cryptosporidium so we’ve both been making regular trips to the thunder box! Thankfully we didn’t have whooping cough and hence a reduced risk to mum but it still knocked us around a bit.