The locals around Bawley Point and Merry Beach are all extremely friendly. It makes it a very welcoming place to stay.

There is an abundance of wildlife in this area. Kangaroos graze all around you. The bird life swoops in during the mornings and again in the afternoon. It was really nice having all the animals around us, however, they are getting used to being fed and are also becoming quite a menace.

Kangaroos are not scavengers by nature, but due to being hand fed they are unafraid of people and will approach you face to face if you have anything in your hands. One afternoon we even had a kangaroo that waltzed into our kitchen and was batting at the rubbish bag.

Another example are possums. There was one in particular that brazenly wandered into our campsite while we were preparing dinner. He rampaged all over our camp area trying to nab food while we we tried to scoot him away. Then for the rest of the evening we were on possum watch making sure he didn’t return until we had finished dinner and stowed everything away.

It is important to avoid feeding the wildife (inadvertantly or otherwise). They become too comfortable around people. This isn’t good for their wellbeing and certainly not good for the safety of young children.

Something we have found to be very useful in these situations is our “Dity Things Bag” made by Michele’s Sacs. It is a durable bag that attaches to our spare tyre on the back of the Map Patrol. It is great for rubbish, dirty clothes or dirty dishes.

Our Dirty Things Bag has been through a lot on the back of the Map Patrol. It is very durable and has stood up to it all!

It took a while for me to wrap my tongue around this national parks name - much to Al’s mirth! We took the 4WD route through most of this NP. It was a great way to see the park but if you take this option make sure you check with parks Victoria as many of the roads have seasonal closures.

This national park was full of surprises. The most dazzling were the Dunes near the Point Hicks lighthouse. It was hard to get a photo with a good point of reference to show their enormity.

The camping areas were really well laid out and generally had plenty of privacy screening and there seems to be a camping area for everyone depending upon which leisure activities you want to partake in, be it fishing, birdwatching, motorised or non-motorised boating, bushwalking, or just plain relaxing! For more information see http://www.parkweb.vic.gov.au/1park_display.cfm?park=99

I am also pleased to report that the boys are earning their keep on this trip. Each time we stop to mark a point of interest, like a picnic area, I get a chorus of facilities I need to check off in the database. Their eyesight is outstanding - they have spotted toilets we didn’t and they are very good at interpreting all the symbols. With some of the information the boys feed us from signs Al and I are also trying to decide if the boys can actually read and just haven’t told us yet…

A must see destination!

The Buchan caves are in the Buchan Caves Reserve, Buchan, Victoria. The reserve itself is very peaceful. At this time of year, as autumn is beginning, the trees are changing colours and the leaves are snowing down as the gentle breeze blows. We spent the night camping there - it has made it onto my list of favourite campsites.

There are two caves that have tours; the Fairy Cave and the Royal Cave. The number of tours a day differs depending on the time of year. Check the parks website to find out more information so you don’t miss out. http://www.parkweb.vic.gov.au/1park_display.cfm?park=74

The Fairy cave was discovered in March 1907 and opened to the public in December of the same year. The Royal cave was discovered in 1910 and opened to the public in 1913. They have been wonderfully preserved in this time, please heed the requests of rangers when you visit to help continue their preservation for generations to come.

Walking through the caves is mesmerizing. The Royal cave has beautiful examples of calcite-rimmed pools - the most impressive is the font of the gods. The calcite sparkles with it’s “fairy dust”. The boys were in search for the fairies that left the fairy dust but came up short - probably too many disbelieving adults around for them to show themselves. The flowstone formations, which look like waterfalls, had the best fairy dust display. We also saw some fossils - there was a perfect fish fossil in the Fairy cave and shell fossils in the Royal cave. There were stunning stalagmites and stalactites and some shawls that had laminations where the calcite was stained in some layers by iron oxide in the soil above.

The boys were in their element no ducking or bumping of heads for them! It is probably not a great place to visit if you have a bad back or are claustrophobic, but there are plenty of relaxing walks in the reserve as an alternative! Definitely go see them for yourself - our photos really don’t do them justice!

There is a volunteer group called Friends of Buchan Caves. If you are a hands on person and love caves - this is the perfect group. Their main aim is the preservation of the caves and the fauna found in caves. They donate their time to work on cave conservation, rehabilitation, management and revegetation. If you wish to join them see their website: http://home.pacific.net.au/~gnb/fobc-bf
When visiting please donate to their work, every little bit helps them buy tools and other necessary things to carry out their work.

What a little treasure! This island is about 10km east of Nowra. The eastern coastal strip is all nature reserve, while the western side is dairy farms. There are two secluded picnic spots on the island with access to the beach and estuary.

There is also a lot of history surrounding this island, or rather the creation of this island. In 1822 an early European settler, Alexander Berry, had tried, unsuccessfully, to land at Shoalhaven Heads. He had to sail further south and so sailed up the Crookhaven river, only to discover that he could not get to the Shoalhaven river because of a sand spit.

He then got his men, who were mostly convicts, to haul his boat over the sandbar, then instructed Hamilton Hume and some men to stay there and cut a canal. It took them 12 days and became the first canal cut in Australia. This canal diverted the waters of the Shoalhaven and the canal widened as the river deepened and so Comerong Island came to be.

There is a car ferry that runs all day across Berry’s canal (from 6am to 11.55pm). There are plenty of warnings that the road is not suitable for 2WD vehicles. The track was deeply rutted and boggy in places after periods of rain, but definitely worth the effort with an appropriate vehicle!

Minnamurra Rainforest
Nature at its finest! The icing on the cake was that the rain stopped just before we arrived so the rainforest was at its sparkling best. The rainforest board walk is a 1.6km elevated board walk, the first part is suitable for wheelchairs. It takes about an hour. Apparently there are lyrebirds in the rainforest but our two little foghorns, who were excited about everything they saw, kept the lyrebirds hidden and quiet. All along the board walk were posts with information about the plants and trees. The boys are little sponges and had to read every single post! Their favourites were the stinging nettles and the giant strangling figs.