On The Road Again
It was our last day in magnificent Jervis Bay and we were up nice and early, not as you may think, to watch the sunrise or stroll along the whitest sand in the world, but in fact, to wash the sheets. Ross was the self-appointed laundry monitor and he whisked those sheets out from under our dozing offspring with the precision of a magician pulling a tablecloth cleanly out from under a tea set. It was a three load affair and let’s just say Stu’s washing machine was very thorough with its cleaning cycle. At one stage, Ross set up camp on the laundry floor with a good book, just to keep an an eye on the progress of the machine. Just as it was in the violent throes of its last spin, he hauled the sparkling load out and had another load on and soaking, well before you could say “I think the washing machine may have finished”.
While the front-loader was busy doing its thing, we managed to fit in a refreshing dip back at Maisy’s favourite spot, Greenfield Beach. The water was so incredibly clear and best of all, the sun was out! The white sand, patches of blue sky and sparkling water meant a smorgasbord of photo opportunities for Molly, Sam and I, who just love taking photos. Toby can often be heard complaining that being in our family is like being a celebrity, having to constantly look over your shoulder lest the paparazzi snap you when you least expect it. We are learning to warn him before we pull out the camera, giving him time to escape if he feels the need.
Once we were all packed up and the sheets had all been extracted, fresh and clean, it was time to re-plump the pillows, pull down the blinds, lock the doors and get back in the car for the next leg of our journey south. We stopped in Huskisson to grab some takeaway from Salty Joe’s, which we planned to eat in the car so we could make a quick get-away. My Vegemite Turkish toast presented a bit of a challenge, with little pots of butter and Vegemite, but no knife for spreading. I managed to MacGyver myself a little ‘knife’ from a cardboard box that did the trick.
Sam had requested a stint at the wheel today, so we buckled up, ready for the car to be pointed in a southward direction, with Sammy at the helm. Since the Spotify “Your Top Songs Of 2021” stats were hot off the press, we decided that each of us would have a day to play through our own Top Songs list, so today, not only was Sam in command of the car, he also controlled the tunes. Since a lot of his songs were from his ‘songs-to-run-to’ playlist, it was a fairly upbeat sort of day in the car with solid beats setting the mood. Traditionally, when the whole family is in the car together, Ross and I sit in the front seats and the kids sit in the back but for this trip, with everyone being adults (Maisy’s almost there), we have decided to do a bit of a rotation, adopting a more egalitarian approach to the seating plan. Today Ross and I were relegated to the very back row, which let’s face it, is basically in the boot. Legroom was at a premium and we got to spend some good quality time together, squished in like little sardines.
Some time during our drive today, Molly made the suggestion that it would be fun to take a family selfie in the car. This suggestion was great in theory but proved a little bit harder in practice. She and Sam hatched a brilliant plan. They would perch Sam’s phone on the dashboard, wedged against the window, facing us all. She would then use his Apple watch to activate the camera and take a photo and we’d get our money shot. So Molly set it up and we all poised to say “Cheese” as she counted down from 3…. ”Ready: 3, 2, 1…” then bang. The camera fell over. This process went on and on. “3, 2, 1…” bang. “3, 2, 1…” bang. “3, 2, 1…bang”. Ross made the clever observation that going downhill was preferable for keeping the phone wedged in place. As soon as the car ascended up any kind of slight incline, the camera would topple off its perch. As we were driving on a stretch of the highway that resembled a giant version of the Big Dipper from Luna Park, this became increasingly difficult. Every time we were approaching a descent, Ross would yell from the far back seat: “Molly, we are going downhill, go now!” but then we’d go uphill again and we were back to square one.
In the end, we did get a few good pics and as we massaged our cheeks to relieve the soreness from having to sustain those smiles for so long, we were immensely proud of our perseverance. Scrolling through the photos later on my phone, I noticed the GPS had put a location on each of the images and they were taken in at least 3 different towns! Oh well, it did while away the time and spice the trip up a bit more than the average game of “I Spy”.
We made a quick stop in Mollymook to admire the scenery and then stopped again in Bateman’s Bay for a look around. We have noticed that drivers in the country are way more courteous than their city counterparts, happily letting you in when you have to merge, or letting pedestrians cross in front of them without any worries in the world. I know it’s a cliche but the pace is definitely wound back a notch or two once you leave the big smoke.
Our destination for this afternoon was the pretty little coastal town of Dalmeny, just south of fishing village, Narooma. We swung into the main street to pick up our keys and noticed the gelato shop had diversified and was actually selling bikes and scooters. Narooma, the only place I know of where you can purchase a bike and then grab a double scoop of bubblegum and chocolate chip for the road. Ross’ sister, Annette, her husband Craig and their 3 girls, Suzanna, Jessica and Heidi live in Dalmeny, along with Ross’ mum Helen. We have planned to spend a couple of days catching up with them while we are here.
Ross spent a fair bit of time in Narooma when he was growing up so wanted to give us a ‘local’s only’ tour of the place. He and Siri were facing-off about which roads to take. Siri would say, in her calm, professional tone: “turn left in 200m” and Ross would counter “nah, keep going straight, Why would she ask us to turn here? Has Siri ever even been here?” Siri-ously.
The coastline really is striking down here; the cliffs rugged, the rocks jagged. The kinds of rocks you would see seals reclining on. We were hoping if we zoomed in with our cameras we might be able to spot some camouflaged there. The surf was pretty decent and was pounding the shoreline, sending up a spectacular display of spray when it met with the rocks. It’s a very different landscape to Sydney. Our familiar Norfolk Pines are replaced with rounder, squattier little trees that look, (minus the hundreds and thousands of course) like those little meringues you used to be able to get at your local cake shop back in the day. Ross pondered whether these maybe South-folk Pines, since we are on the South Coast. It makes sense. I’m probably not the most qualified to make a call, my house is filled with plastic plants after all. Annette is a trained horticulturalist and tree expert so I’m sure she’ll be able to set us straight when we see her.
Pulling up at our accommodation, which is an Airbnb house this time, we were pleasantly surprised. We even have a view of the ocean! As we hauled the last of our bags from the trailer, Maisy mentioned that the top of her head was a bit sore. We’d noticed earlier that the lymph gland behind her ear had been up. After a quick inspection, Rossco discovered a healthy looking tick, making itself at home in her soft and cosy mane. Knowing you are not supposed to pull ticks straight off anymore, without blasting the little blighters with an arctic freeze first, we began Googling chemists that might be open. Unfortunately, there were no late-night chemists within coo-ee of Dalmeney. Luckily, it looked like Maisy’s little mate hadn’t burrowed in too far yet, so Ross, who is a deft hand with the tweezers at the best of times, was able to carefully extract the little sucker all in one piece.
Along our route to dinner, we came to an incredible lookout, with an amazing vista, right out over the rugged coastline (NB Ross had over-ridden Siri to find it). Sam decided it would be the perfect spot to give his drone a whirl, so we pulled off the road for an impromptu drone session. Tobes grabbed his skateboard and made the most of the smooth, hilly roads while we marvelled at the bird’s eye view on Sam’s screen. It was really windy and I was scared the drone might blow into a tree or hit a cliff but Sam was in control and he got some incredible footage, making it well worth the stop.
Dinner in the Narooma Golf Club, with its huge windows overlooking the beach, gave us amazing views of the pink sunset strewn across the sky and afterwards we marvelled at how many more stars and planets were visible away from the lights of the city. So beautiful!
