Chapter 8 Sydney - Wilson Promontory National Park

Arriving in Jervis Bay, we walked from bay to bay and took a look at the beaches, although the weather was cloudy. However, due to the weather, we didn't feel like swimming.

The next day, we drove on and found a free campsite in Meroo National Park. Our parking spot was only 100 meters away from the beach and located in the middle of the forest. On the other side, there was a beautiful lake called Lake Tabourie. We spent four nights here before the smoke from a nearby bushfire forced us to move on.

On the first day, we watched a fisherman catching calamari and got some tips. Later, we tried it ourselves and caught a calamari after a short time, but we lost it when landing.

After Louis went back to the car, I met Jim, a local who lives near the beach. I got many fishing tips from him and in the end, he offered to bring fishing equipment for beach fishing the next day. Surprisingly, Jim showed up two hours later with a box full of weights and hooks, a fishing book, beach worms, and bait fish in front of our car. All he wanted in return was to make someone happy. A true Australian hero!

I was eager to start fishing, so I went out the next morning. Within three hours, I caught two salmon!

We spent the next few days at the beach, reading and playing cards.

Our neighbor Jeff showed Jonas how to catch beach worms with stinking fish, a nylon stocking, and plastic forceps. It was fun, but harder than expected, and Jonas didn't catch any worms.

But the biggest highlight at this beautiful place were the dolphins swimming so close to the coast! We had several opportunities to watch the dolphins hunting or surfing and jumping in the waves.

We had to skip Baitmans Bay and Pebbly Beach because the smoke from the bushfires covered the whole area in dense fog and a burnt smell.

Next, our journey took us to Lakes Entrance. Here, the bad weather and cold days began. We were not prepared for the 12-16°C, so we mainly spent the days in the car with our books and movies and continued driving down the coast.

Finally, we reached Wilson Promontory National Park. We waited for a dry day for two days and then went hiking in the national park. After four hours, we completed the Lilly Pilly Gully Trail and the ascent to Mount Oberon, although the fog prevented us from enjoying the view. So far, besides an echidna, we hadn't seen any other animals.

On the way back, the sun finally came out, along with kangaroos and our main goal in this national park: a wombat!

Half-time summary: As you can probably tell from our wild manes, three months have already passed. So far, everything has gone really well. We haven't had to deal with any major problems, Jacky has proven to be uncomplicated - except for not wanting to show us the speed anymore - and the two of us are still getting along like on the very first day.

Outlook for the second half: After Melbourne, we will drive back to Sydney via Canberra and spend Christmas and New Year's with Max.

Then we will slowly continue our way to Brisbane and try to sell Jacky, because Max and us will embark on a one-month expedition to New Zealand in January! Yes, you heard right, we will be off on a month-long adventure in New Zealand!

Now we're heading to Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road!

Until then,

Your Louis & Jonas