So........ The final day on the road dawns to grey skies and a once again sleepless Wayne, this time not down to my snoring....
A quick breakfast and dollar-a-piece showers and we are on the road for the final leg, Ulladulla to Sydney. The going is slow, we are in rush hour and there are a great deal more cars on the road than we have seen so far in our travels. We have 221 km to go and the road takes us through Nowra, Berry, Kiama, Port Kembla and then Woolongong before we finally hit the Sydney suburbs. Pandemonium rules in Team Jucy as driver and Nagivator bicker out the final miles. The blue blob disappears on google maps and Wayne goes into one. Cheesy gets the map out and tries to go it alone with the map between his knees, reading it at the numerous traffic lights. Tension mounts and tempers flare. Cheesy soon gets the hang of abusing the Sydney traffic, saaahf Landan style.. Somehow we arrive back at Terminus Street without any exchange of blows, and are greeted by Philip and Harry with a comment from Philip of ' well that's rather green isn't it!'
A quick clean up and we are back on the road to drop off the van, with five minutes in hand after, with Philip leading the way in his 306. We drop off the van and head for the supermarket. Woolworths is alive and well in Australia but is a food supermarket and a bottle shop. For the uninitiated, a bottle shop is an off-licence, attached usually to a supermarket, or often a pub. But, you have to pay separately for your booze. Philip and I buy drink (hunting) while Wayne and Fairy buy fruit and tim-tams (gathering). We head back to Petersham and have a very late lunch.
So, after the last four days, what have we learned?
1) Man and woman cannot co-exist as driver and navigator. It's like putting a hungry cat in a mouse cage and expecting them to both be intact after ten minutes. Next time, a sat nav will be essential to preserve both sanity and life.
2) Australia is a bloody huge place. We did 1405km, or 871 miles in pounds shillings and pence, and yet we didn't even scratch the surface of this vast country. Bring on round 2, some day...
3) Australia is also bloody expensive. 38 dollars for breakfast says it all.
4) The Toyota Lucida is a fine old barge. It kept us safe and comfortable, sipped fuel and held together like only a Toyota can, despite sounding for all the world like it was about to fall apart.
5) Jucy rentals are to be highly recommended; they are friendly, helpful and their vans are brilliantly kitted out. Just don't examine the quality of the paint job too closely, view it at 200yards for best results.
6)England certainly does not have the monopoly on bumpy roads, road works and twat drivers. Although driving is generally better here, nobody is in a hurry outside of Sydney, which is in some ways good and others bad. As for Sydney, well... It might as well be anywhere in England. Everyone's in a hurry, all in the wrong lane and quick on the horn.
7) Even at our great age, camping is great fun although I baulk for now at being referred to as a 'grey nomad'.
8) I would love a camper van but would need either a zippy little smart car or a 500cc motorbike hanging off the back of it to get around on during stops.
9) Everybody should go to Phillip Island and to Paynesville. Someone from Telstra should visit Tathra and they should remake Carry On Camping in Ulladulla.
10) On balance, I love Australia and would seriously consider moving here if they'd have me, but I think I would have to live in Victoria, but not Melbourne. It rains faaaaaaar too much...........
We now have a few days in Sydney before heading off to Bribie for a week. Bring on a proper bed......
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