11.11.2018 | Australia, Travel

Melbourne to Sydney? Exploring Wilson Prom and Shoalhaven

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Hey, my loves! Most people heard about the Great Ocean Road or about the bigger cities Melbourne and Sydney. But what is between Melbourne and Sydney? In my last post, we visited Melbourne, St. Kilda and the Brighton Beach. Now we are moving on from the crowded city to silent nature:

Wilson Promontory National Park

The distance between Melbourne and Wilson Prom was a little longer than expected, mainly because of the heavy traffic in Melbourne. But when you made it, you will find idyllic and calm nature, the roads are getting smaller and twisty roads are winding through beautiful woodlands. The way up to the national park leads up on a hill, already at the entry, we saw two emus. First stop was the tourist information with all the maps for the hiking trails. Afterward, we drove to the “Telegraph Saddle”, to climb the Mt Oberon. The big serpentine path without a view was a bit boring at first, but when we reached the summit we were rewarded with the best view over stunning beaches all the more. There are steps on last few meters until you reach the summit with 558 m. Luckily we had the best weather, sunshine and a blue sky. From this point, we saw all the offshore islands and the surrounding hills. There was no wind and the ocean was quiet. The rocks were perfect for climbing. After climbing down the hill, we drove to the “Squeaky Beach“. From the parking space, a little trail leads to the beach. It is called Squeaky Beach, because of the high quartz content squeaking under the feet. The beach was absolutely fantastic and the sunset transformed everything into red and warm light. The offshore islands reminded me of Thailand.   However the second beach “Whiskey Bay” was even better. On the left there were big rocks like on Seychelles, the offshore islands are in front of you and on the right, the sun goes down behind the rocks. What a dream!   There are a lot more hiking trails at Wilson Prom. However, we left the national park, because there is only one campsite in the national park for 60 AUS Dollar. You aren´t allowed to camp anywhere else. Therefore we stayed outside the park at the “Prom Central Caravan Park” in Foster for 28 AUS Dollar unpowered. But be careful when you leave the national park in the twilight, there are hundreds of animals! In general, there are animals everywhere in the Wilson Prom. We saw 3 wombats, kangaroos and wallabies on the roadside in the darkness. Accordingly, we drove walking speed. I can´t understand how people can race the streets in the darkness killing the animals.

The Border between Victoria – New South Wales

So let’s move on, we got closer and closer to Sydney. After visiting the Wilson Prom we crossed beautiful main roads leading through forests and fields. Just before Longford, there was a beautiful picnic space next to a river with a bridge. We decided not to take the big detour to the Gippsland Lakes. Instead, we crossed little towns like Lake Entrance and Orbost, always seeing bigger hills in the background or driving through a hilly landscape. We than reached the inconspicuous border between Victoria and New South Wales (there was only a sign). We slept on a beautiful free rest area in the forest short after Narrabara, turn left to the Wombat Road, then turn right. In the morning a beautiful fog had come between the trees and everything was bathed in golden light in the sunrise. We crossed the town Eden, drove over wooden bridges, fields and forests.  We then drove the scenic-route through Bournda NP along Merimbula, then reaching the towns Bermagui and Baragundi, crossing rivers and lakes. The beach in Narooma had a strong surge. After crossing another sea-bridge and after passing Moruya beautiful lakeside landscapes and ocean roads led us past Bateman Bay and Malta Bay to our final destination: Kioloa.

The most beautiful campsite at Merry Beach

We reached the most beautiful Merry beach with only a campsite. This was my favorite paid campground on the whole road trip! The campsites were directly next to the ocean and they had modern luxury sanitary facilities, even a big pool. I would highly recommend going there!! However, there was no mobile reception. The ocean is wonderful turquoise and there were at least 50 kangaroos on the campground and on the beach (not locked up). They seemed to like it. Some of them could be stroked. The campsite cost 41 AUS Dollar unpowered. We had the best place in the whole area (number 138), it was the last site next to the rocks with a private beach access. A hiking trail led directly from our campsite to the Pretty Beach next to the Merry Beach. You can also walk on the rocks directly next to the ocean, the rocks looked like corals and there were beautiful high rock and cave walls. Suddenly we saw 2 big humpback whales in the ocean, they were swimming to Queensland at this time of year. They jumped out of the water again and again. Climbing up the rocks, we reached the normal trail to the Pretty Beach. And this beach was really pretty because the water was extremely turquoise and nobody was there. We only met a few kangaroos.

Shoalhaven Coast – Surfer Coast

Merry Beach is part of the Shoalhaven surfer coast. After our wonderful night at Merry Beach, we passed Kioloa and the Bawley Point to Termell. Then we visited the “Dolphin Point/Beach“. The beach was beautiful and the water absolutely turquoise, but unfortunately we saw no dolphins at all. The next town Ulladulla is perfect to fill up the food stocks and to watch the surfers at “Mollymook Beach”.

Booderee Nationalpark

Along the highway and smaller streets we reached the “Booderee National Park”. The entry was 11 AUS Dollar for 48 hours.  At first, we drove to the “Green Patch” beach. This beach was amazingly beautiful and had very clear water, perfect for long walks and swimming. Afterward, we visited the “Hole in the Wall” beach, as you can imagine, there was a big washed out hole in the rocks. Next stop was the “Cave Beach”. A hiking trail with a wonderful view over the ocean leads to the beach, located directly next to the “Ryan Swamp” moor. A big sign informs you, that there are 3-4 meter long Pythons, 1-1,5 meter long and very toxic black and red snakes, sharks and red jellyfish. Funnily it is described as a surfer beach – perfect conditions though xD. The beach has high rock walls with caves. We then drove out of the national park.

Hyams Beach – the whitest sand beach in Australia

Yes! The Hyams Beach is really white and squeaky because of the high quartz content. The water was extremely blue and families swam with their kids. We continued our road trip on the Jervis Bay Rd and the highway to Kiama. It got dark very quickly and I saw the moon extremely big on the horizon. We stayed with our campervan in Kiama on the parking space behind the fish market. According to the wiki camps app, this parking space belongs to the fishermen and the Rangers aren´t allowed to charge you. As long as you don´t leave rubbish behind, the fishermen let you sleep there. The next morning we visited Kiama. We were already pretty near to Sydney and our next stop was the famous Bondi Beach. *** Dieser Artikel enthält Werbung, da Marken genannt werden.