Day 9- Wollongong

May 4, 2011- Day 9

Where: Depot Bay to Wollongong

Dinner: Bread and jam. Haha, for reals.

        Today started out with an especially unique event. We woke up in the van and just as I was about to open the sliding door we heard a scratching at the back window. Our garbage was hanging from our back windshield wiper (because for some reason that seemed more secure to me that leaving in on the ground?) so I figured that some animal or bird was trying to get into it. I was correct, and to my amusement there was a kangaroo standing at the van using its stubby little arms to try and get the bag open! There were two other little kangaroos there with him, cheering him on in his efforts. They didn't get scared when they saw me so it's obvious that they are used to people being around. I got up close to him and he was checking me out, hoping I had some food. I didn't touch him because I was a bit nervous, but there ended up being kangaroos around the campsite all morning and at one point I finally did get up close and stroked one on the back with my finger. They are soft little guys and he seemed only mildly interested in the fact that I touched him. He was probably still hoping I had some food for him.

        Along with the kangaroos in the campsite this morning, all the colorful birds were back. Pat pulled out a piece of bread and was able to get two friendly little red and green birds to come sit on his shoulders. In fact, the green bird wouldn't get off of his shoulder and it took some convincing to finally get him off. This has been the coolest campsite by far, and it's basically a wildlife reserve as well! We walked back down to the amazing rock plateaus on the beach. It was sunny this morning, and while the tide was further in than last night, we were still able to walk out on the rocks and around the bend to see huge waves crashing in. Because of the shallow rock formations we could walk quite a ways into the water out to where the rock flats dropped off into deep water. The big waves would break right at that point and because of the drop off there was enough protection from the waves that we could stand really close to them breaking. That's a bit confusing to try and imagine, but it was crazy being so close to the huge powerful waves as they broke. We got some cool shots on Pat's camera that I'll try to upload at some point.

  We considered staying an extra night at the campground, but at $30 a night we decided to head closer to Sydney.

        Pat drove for a couple of hours today and we ended up covering more ground than we planned. We decided that we would try to find somewhere near the beach to park for the night instead of staying at one of the few campgrounds up closer to Sydney. We made it to Wollongong just south of Sydney. It's a big city and we ended up in a quiet neighborhood down by the ocean. We found some ocean parking across the street from a line of house. It reminded me a bit of The Strand in LA, only smaller. There were no “No Parking Overnight” signs so we decided we were probably OK. It was only 7pm but there was nothing to do and we didn't want to draw too much attention to ourselves by cooking food in front of the houses, so I ended up eating bread and jam for dinner. What a well balanced meal! Tonight was the first night we were able to get internet reception in the van at night (because we're not in the woods) so it was nice to have some time to browse the internet a little. I must say. I think I like being in civilization. Being out in the forest is enjoyable for a while, but I really do like being closer to people and the amenities that I'm so used to having. Perhaps balance is the key here. We're getting a pretty good balance so far.

        We were able to use some public beach toilets nearby and other than that we just hid out in the van until bedtime. No one seemed the least bit bothered by us being there and we took off early to head into the city. Finally get to see Sydney!