Day 37 / 2016 - Berry to Kiama

Leaving Berry we headed for our next destination along the Coast, Kiama only 20km further to the north. We had planned to book in for a week but the weekends are booked out so we had to contend with 4 days. 

From Berry to Geringong they are extending the Motorway but is still under construction so we wound our way through the old Prince's Hwy which at times struggles to cope with the amount of traffic especially on weekends. Once we reached Geringong we then entered the completed upgraded section of Prince's Hwy which goes all the way to Woolongong and Sydney. 

Kiama is a seaside town with many beautiful homes perched high on hills giving them uninterupted views of the Coastline and Pacific ocean. Our caravan park is tucked at the bottom of one of the coastal bays just south of the main township. It is a large caravan park and well setup with swiming pool, spa, tennis court and direct access to the beach. There are some sites and cabins with beachfront views but as hard as we tried couldn't secure one they were resting the sites apparently. The evenings were quite mild and we could walk along or just sit on the beach watching the waves gently roll up the sand.

Touring around the township of Kiama we visited the Big Blow Hole just below the lighthouse. There are boardwalks built around the blowhole so you can view it from a number of angles as well as giving you a 180 degree vista out to sea. From the blowhole you can walk down to the sea water swimming pool which is carved into the basalt rock right next to the ocean and provides safe swimming for people of all ages. From the pool is a short walk to the harbour where you can buy freshly caugh fish where we purchased some fresh prawns for dinner.

Back to the car we took a drive to Bombo Beach to admire the Cathedral Rocks. These are columns of Basalt rock 10 metres high and the result of Blue Metal Quarrying carried out in the late 1800's. From here we drove further north to Shellharbour Village which is located in a sheltered bay next to a small fishing boat harbour of the same name. Here we stopped for a picnic lunch under a shelter directly across the road from the beach. Shellharbour is predominantly a residential area now from the housing developments pushing south from Wollongong.

Next day the sky was clear and the sky was blue so we took this as an opportunity to drive up into to the highlands west of Kiama. Travelling up through Jamberoo along the Jamberoo Montains road we arrived at Illawarra Fly. This a park which has a treetop counterleavered walkway with a viewing tower and an option to fly through the treetops on a zipline... we opted for the Walkway only option. Raised to approximatly 50 metres above ground level the walkway gives you a birds eye view of the rain forrest just below the main canopy. Half way along you climb the tower to a higher vantage point where you have a spectacular view of the valley below and out towards the ocean. Here you can see the coastal towns of Wollongong and shellharbour quite clearly. To give you piece of mind about the strength and durability of the walkway there are signs along the way that say this walkway can survive up to a category 5 cyclone and withstand the force of 800 charging wombats with a combined weight of 28 tonnes. It had me thinking about how they managed to get 800 wombats all together to test it.

From here we travelled towards the Town of Robertson to view Carrington Falls. Carrington is a plunge waterfall where the water plumits for about 50 metres into the valley below. There is a loop walk with a number of lookouts along the way. The top of the falls are accessable but there is a sign to warn not to ventre to close to the edge as a fall hazard exists... no kidding. Returnning to the picnic area we stopped for a picnic lunch listening to the birds and the distant sound of water falling.

Leaving Carrington our next stop was Fitzroy falls which is on the road between Mossvale and Kangaroo Valley town. At the falls is an visitors centre with lots of information about the fauna and flora of the local area. To access the falls you walk through the Visitors Centre and down a well constructed boardwalk. The water flows over the falls and plunges 80 metres into the valley below. There are rim walks you can take that lead to several vantage points in which you can view the falls. There are trails leading around the east rim and west rim which makeup part of the Highlands enscapment.

Once finished at Fitzroy Falls we then headed back towards Kiama. Travelling through Kangaroo Valley towards Berry we came across and drove over Hampden bridge the only surviving colonial suspension bridge in NSW before taking the winding but scenic road back. 

Next day we followed part of the Grand Pacific Drive which its full length stretches from Nowra to Sydney from Kiama to Stanwell Tops. The drive took us through Wollongong where we stopped at the tourist bureau to get more information on what to look at further on. Leaving Wollongong the road winds it way through costal suburbia until Bulli then heads on through the costal villages of Wombarra, Scarborough, Clifton, Coalcliff and Stanwell. Between Clifton and Coalcliff is the Sea Cliff Bridge which runs for 3 km around the coast over the water. The bridge replaces the old cliff road which was closed due to parts of the cliff face continuiously falling onto the road. The road was going to remain closed but the residents of Coalcliff and Clifton lobbied to have it reopened to relink the villages again. We stopped at Stanwell for a picnic lunch and watched the hanggliders that launch from Bald Hill come in for a landing. After lunch we headed up to Bald hill for a panoramic view all the way back towards Wollongong. We watch as Gliders launched themselves from the cliff edge some carrying passengers for a ride.