2/9 Homewood bound. We drive through the day, with only a stop at Eden for lunch and a new wiper blade. Get home about 5.30.

What a great trip. Saw some fantastic and diverse places. You don’t realize what a huge country we live in until you drive around it, and the vast distances between towns in the outback. We covered 16,000 kms in 15 weeks, and were extremely lucky that we had no problems with the car or van, particularly considering some of the spots we managed to get to. I strongly recommend that people consider visiting some of the more remote parts of Oz while they are fit enough to enjoy them fully, rather than wait to join the geriatric bus trip brigade. Lastly thanks to my beautiful wife for her company and her adventurism, that often took us to places I was sometimes reluctant to go, even if they were often unplanned and we were under prepared for. Who need food and water anyway.

26/8 Leaving Nicoles tomorrow so I decide to walk up Mt Coolum. Great 360 views and I even see one of Clive Palmers dinosaurs. We are a bit concerned about flood warnings for northern and central NSW, as we are heading in that direction tomorrow.

 278 Drive all day through teeming rain and spend the night at Port Macquarie. Caravan Park is just about under water and the site is flooded. Buckets rain overnight.

28/8 Off to Port Stephens/Nelson Bay to visit Roses niece.

 Roses sister Linda is also visiting. Weather still pretty miserable.  Nelson Bay is a very nice spot. It’s a massive 98,000 hectare marine park that is home to a large population of dolphins, penguins and turtles, amongst other critters. Have a nice lunch overlooking the marina, where are moored some pretty impressive boats. Spend the afternoon looking at Lindas photos of her Europe trip. Walk back to van park in the dark.

29/8 Rain again. Visit Murrays Brewery/Port Stephens Winery. Fairly typical craft beer you come across in little breweries. Enjoyed the Porter, and buy a couple of Stouts untasted. Not overly impressed with the wine.

30/8 Wild and winy night and we pack up in the rain and head further south. Decide to go to Booderee National Park at Jervis Bay just sth of Nowra.  Arrive latish and find a nice bush site. Good spot, hot showers and bbq’s. Lots of birds and thousands of croaking frogs.

31/8 Oh Oh crook throat again this morning. We go for a wonder which turns into about a 4 hour trek. Walk along the beautiful beach dodging the incoming tide. Incredibly clear water and white sand. Eventually we run out of sand and have to head into the scrub to get around rocky headlands and eventually make it to a jetty where we can walk the 4 kms back along the road.

Stuffed by the time we get back but decide to have a fish on the beach. No luck per usual but do see a couple of dolphins cruising along the beach. Starting to feel pretty ordinary and it looks like Rose has it to. We spend the night coughing and get no sleep.

1/9 Both feel awful and we decide to head off. Stop at Batemans Bay for the night as we don’t  feel up to driving any further. Get some supplies from the chemist and sleep for the afternoon. Weather forcast is looking rotten so we will probably head straight home from here, should get there Wednesday.