25th November - Canberra

After one night at Batemans Bay (there really is nothing there unless you like fishing or boating) drove up the Kings Highway to Canberra via Braidwood and Queanbeyan to spend a couple of nights with my daughter and her husband. Arrived Friday afternoon

On the Saturday made a brief trip into the centre of Canberra to visit the National Portrait Gallery which I had not seen before – the paintings used to be housed in Old Parliament House. Finding a parking space in the Parliamentary triangle was hell but eventually managed to find one right next to Lake Burley Griffin.

After visiting the gallery walked beside the lake and then visited Magna Carta Place next to the old Parliament House Gardens.

As you can see the day was a beautiful sunny day however in the evening  the heavens opened and hail and rain poured down. We were going to Belconnen on the other (northern) side of Canberra. Until the Woden turnoff the rain and hail continued when, just as suddenly as it started, it ceased and the roads were suddenly dry.

23rd November – Eden to Batemans Bay

Distance: 212Km
Fuel: 34L

Only about 200km to Batemans Bay so didn’t leave the Eden camp until nearly 10am. Really leisurely drive northwards, had intended to stop on the way but the few rest areas seemed rather desolate with little shade.

Found a caravan park off Caseys Beach near Batehaven just south of Batemans Bay proper and set up the camper. Poor TV reception here, they are in a slight depression, so I didn’t bother to get out the aerial especially as we are only staying one night.

It was 1.30pm by the time we unhitched the car and we were pretty hungry so drove down the road to the shopping centre at Batehaven and bought the inevitable seaside fish and chips (and gravy) which we ate on the waterfront.

To be honest we saw a Thai restaurant on the way past but after turning round could not find it again, or at least not until after we had bought the fish and chips.

By the time we finished eating the sky had darkened and thunder could be heard in the distance, back at the park just made a cup of tea before the rain started. There was thunder and small hail  for about 20 minutes then light rain for another half an hour.

By 6pm the sky had lightened and we were able to make tea, a toasted sandwich and spend time outside before it got dark.

22nd November 2017–Eden and About

Distance: 84Km
Fuel: 51L

Explored Eden and its surrounds today – First stop was a drive to Bega to visit the cheese factory. The interesting thing is that the original ‘factory’ is inside the Heritage Centre and the Heritage Centre itself was once the factory though now it is surrounded by the modern works which employs hundreds of people (judging by the car park). Didn’t buy any cheese because Bega’s ‘Strong and Bitey’ cheese is already in the fridge.

Had coffee and cheese cake in their cafe though.

Back to Eden and the Killer Whale Museum. Whaling ceased in 1930 but Eden originally was the centre of the east coast whaling industry. The museum contains the skeleton of killer whale ‘Old Tom’ who worked with the whalers to herd whales into Two Fold Bay in return for food rewards.

Made a quick trip to Eden Wharf followed by an equally quick visit to the look out over looking Two Fold Bay.

Somewhere I have never visited before is Ben Boyd Tower originally conceived as a private lighthouse by a whaler in the 1840s. It was just visible from the Eden lookout across the bay. Click on the photo for a larger version.

It was never used as a lighthouse but was used as a lookout to see whales as they made their way up and down the coast. It gave those whalers the jump on their rivals.

On the walk to the tower I came across this rather nice goanna who didn’t seem at all worried by my presence. I’d guess he was a bit under 2 metres from head to tail.

Talking of native animals the caravan park sems to get visitors just before dusk who seem to prefer the grass,