Tuesday 15 February 2011

Back on the road

Well, here I am under a cloudy sky in Moss Vale, up in the Southern Highlands.  I have spent the second half of December and almost all of January in Sydney, so have only been back on the road since 29 January, heading south, aiming for the coast.  The temperatures initially have been quite high, mostly in the high thirties, but also a few days around 43 degrees.
 
Looking across the Harbour

My friends, Aenpo, Paul and Christine
My first stop & rest was at Bendeela Pondage, located in a valley not far from Kangaroo Valley.  If you expected ‘roos, I only saw one or two but instead, quite a few Wombats came out every evening feeding on the fresh green grass on the campground.  Some of these were quite large, seeming to delight in crawling under Motorhomes, rubbing their backs on the underside of my vehicle – in the process rocking the whole rig while I am inside watching TV.
Morning fog rising at Bendeela

A Wombat being padded by a girl
It is a really great spot where I spent 4 nights before moving on, driving further south to the town of Nowra with the intention to have my fuel injection inspected which seems to cause the engine to go into what they call ‘Limp Mode’.  Ford Service, as usual is not able to help suggesting to wait for 5 days before they are able to even look at the vehicle. (Someone ought to tell them something about what I call ‘Customer Service’)  Went to a Diesel Specialist, who unfortunately was not able to fix the problem.  I have since made an appointment with a company at Berrima who has been highly recommended, for tomorrow morning (16.2.)
My neighbor fishing in the surf at Congo Beach
To fill in time I drove further south to Pebbly Beach, then on to Congo Beach near Moruya, yet another great spot where I met a German couple from Berlin who have come there every year for the last 10 years, spending most of their time fishing.  I can report that Bernd is pretty successful and happy to share his catch, fresh fish (Atlantic Salmon) often on my menu.  I stayed there for 5 nights before making my way back to somewhere closer to Berrima.  I stopped at Shellharbour over the weekend, the weather having finally turned to showers, the temperatures again in the low 20s.