Day 29 / 2016 - Eden to Berry

Leaving Eden we headed north once again this was going to be a very long drive of 50km to Bega home of the Bega cheese factory.

The road to Bega was more of the same as the drive to Eden with big hills to climb over but beautiful scenery to look at. We stopped at the only caravan park in Bega which is perch on top of a hill with sweeping views over the Valley. After setting up we headed into town then onto the Bega Cheese Factory just the other side for a look and that all important sample tasting. The Cheese factory is large with a visitors centre out front which use to be the old cheese making building. Unfortunately there are no tours of the factory but you cab see the inside of the factory from the video played at the information centre. Also at the centre is a Heritage museum located upstairs, Coffees Shop where sampling is done and a tourist information bureau. The Heritage Museum contais lots of old artifacts from a bygone era of milking, butter and cheese making. Bega is quite a large company with factories in Victoria and NSW.

Next day we took a side trip without the caravan to Cooma about 100km away located approx between Bega and Canberra. To get to Cooma you drive along the Snowy moutains Hwy up and over Browns Mountain onto the Monaro plains. Halfway up the pass we had to stop and wait because recent rains had washed half the road away and was down to a single lane controlled by a set of traffic lights. Along the way we stop at Piper point for a magnificent view over the valley bellow. You can walk along a wooden boardwalk to a series of lookouts which gives you a view of the Sapphire coast where you can see the ocean on a clear day... apparently.

Cooma is the homebase of the Snowy Hydro Scheme where the Snowy Hydro Discovery Centre is. In the centre there are lots of static and hands on displays about the construction and operation of the Hydro Scheme. The Hydro project is considered the birth place of multi culturalism in Australia as over a 100,000 imigrants came from all over the world to fill the much need shortfall in skills and labour. The Snowy Project had a number of functions or goals  to achieve firstly it stored the water that would normally make its way to the east coast. Then through a series of tunnels, would channel the water through a number of Hydro power station finally sending the water west where it ended up in the Murray and Murrimidgee rivers to be used for irrigating farms west of the great dividing range. It was an ambitious scheme on a scale we haven't seen since and took 25 years to complete.

Cooma also has a corrections centre which is still in use today. There is a Museum attached which allows tourist to wander through the history of criminal corrections in NSW. The unique thing about Cooma is that the tour is conducted by inmates and prison officers. Our guide was a prision officer and gave a more on the ground or an at the coal face type of tour reciting many incidents and events from a personal point of view. We looked a many artifacts and displays particullary disturbing was all the nasty illegal weapons manufactured by inmates for there own protection while inside. We stepped into the padded cell as well as looked at a normal cell finishing of with a demonstration of how the Gallows worked.

Next day we hitched up and and were off again North. The next place I wanted to visit was Nowra where the Fleet Air Arm Museum was located. Here there are various aircraft used by the Australian Navy over the years. There were a number of full sized fixed and rotating wing aircraft on display which had been specially adapted for navy use such as for landing on aircraft carriers. There is lots of information about aircraft use and there operational specifications. The Helicopter flight simulator I just had to try and yes I did crash and burn on takeoff not as easy as it looks.

Leaving Nowra we were heading towards Kiama for a week stay by the beach but unfortunately they couldn't fit us in over the weekend as they were booked out. We ended up stopping in the town of Berry about 18km out of Nowra. Berry is a small town on a busy hwy with loads of vehicles travelling through at times you cant even cross the main street. They are in the process of building a bypass road around the town. The town has a very thriving cottage and cafe scene. There are many cafes in town and lots of antique, nick nacks and condiment outlets. Annes favorite was the Cuckoo Clock shop which had a whole wall dedicated to cuckoo clocks. Mine was the treat shed which had lots of chocolates and sweets. We stayed at the showgrounds convienently located within a short walk of the main centre of town.