Woke up feeling extremely well rested, so much so that I slept in until around one in the afternoon. Still feeling rough but much better for having a good night's sleep. Downstairs had a bowl of Nutri Grain cereal, a cup of tea, toast with Nutella and bundles of fruit. Today the Chizzoniti family were off to a wedding. I declined to go as I wanted to catch up on my blogging, still felt ill and also thought it a bit much to gatecrash someone's wedding that I hadn't been invited to (although if I had a buddy with me it may have been a different story; I love The Wedding Crashers).
However beforehand Robert said he wanted to take me out and give me a guided tour of some of the hotspots of Sydney's Royal National Park and the coastal road towards Wollongong. He took me out in his turbo charged Mini Cooper which was a cracking good drive; Robert was a bit of a speed demon and had a real love for life on the road. The Royal National Park is the second oldest designated National Park in the world (after Yellowstone) and it's awe-inspiring; there are acres upon acres of eucalyptus and warratah trees that line the edge of the road and beyond. Thick green canopies arch over like a tunnel and dotted around are ferns and other tropical shrubs you'd tend to find in a sub-rainforest. The roads are quite hilly and at one stage we are high enough to see the road stretching ahead, acres of forest on either side and the azure-blue of the sea several clicks in front. The trees closest to the road are blackened from bush fires past. Driving through we eventually come to our first photo opportunity; Garie Beach. This is something of a secret but there are warning signs of commercialism to come; a new visitor centre has just been built. Anyhow the beach is still fairly empty and it's quite something to have all this forest suddenly melt away behind the sand and the surf. A couples of photos and then it's back in the car and breakneck speed through the Park, until we come through most of it and reach our next port of call. This is I believe Bald Point, though it also seems to be part of something called Stanwell Tops. There are quite a few people milling around taking photos and also people hangliding or getting ready to hanglide, including the somewhat bizarre spectacle (at least for this neck of the woods) of an Indian man in an Airborne Elvis style jumpsuit. I film a glider and take a couple of shots looking down the coastal road and beyond. Back in the car and we head down the road towards Wollongong, passing through several coastal / mountain towns; because of where we are and our altitude they are simultaneously high up in the forest and near the sea. The houses are spectatular and I am told that real estate values have shot through the roof in recent years. Just from regularly driving around I have had time to ponder the genetic make up of Australia. In many respects it is the best of all possible worlds; it has big houses and big in your face advertising like America yet at the same time holds back enough with a calm reserve and the sense of humour of England. Then there is the huge mediterranean influence; walking around at night and I could be in Southern Spain. And finally everywhere I look there is the strong Asian migrant community; Thai restaurants in every high street, Chinese running most of the corner shops / convenience stores. It's really interesting, a real mish mash almost, choosing the things that work best or perceive to work best; the currency is the dollar but driving is on the left hand side like England, yet at the same time speed is measured metrically like in Europe. Very strange.
We continue down the road until we reach Wollongong beach. There is a disused light house and several cannon that Robert informs me were used to keep out the Russians. I personally am baffled by this; how on earth would communist Russia be able to not only take all of Eastern Europe but also spread as far (in boats of course) to Australia? A quick check on Google and it seems they were in fact installed to repel a possible attack by the Russian Navy. Well I'll be damned.
I take a couple of photos and then we hop into the mini to drive up through Wollongong town in order to get onto the freeway. We only pass through the town briefly but it seems okay, not too many houses though and mostly big high rise apartment blocks (albeit quite new and impressive). Finally we get onto the freeway and we hurtle back so Robert has time to get changed for the wedding. I spend the rest of the day ordering Chinese and blogging.