Up the Coast

Day 8: Wednesday, 26 September
After the introduction to Kogarah, downtown Sydney and the Eastern Suburbs, we struck out up the coast to the holiday house on Lake Munmorah. Soon after we left the city, Claude pulled over and let me drive the rest of the way up. I've been mentally trying to prepare myself for months, but there's not really much you can do without being in the driver's seat, so it still felt very strange at first. I am relieved to tell you that the worst mistake I made was turning on the windshield wipers when I was trying for the turn signals.

So far it doesn't appear that Australia has an equivalent to the Interstate Highway System of the USA. There are limited-access divided highways with a maximum speed of 110 kph (68 mph), but they are dotted with 90-degree side streets and alternate between interstate-style and surface streets depending on whether they are in rural or urban areas. There certainly is no such thing as a multi-lane highway that whisks you from one side of the city - or the state - to the other. All the lines in the roadway are white (except where the *curb* lines are yellow - that's not well thought out), so it's not abundantly obvious which lanes are going which direction. Roundabouts are everywhere, and if there is more than one lane going your direction you had better be alert to make sure your lane doesn't become a turn-only lane or the curb lane becomes a parking area. The lack of anything resembling a through-lane results in lots of traffic jostling. Fortunately, most drivers seem to be aware that a modicum of aggressiveness can actually be a good thing, whereas competitiveness is a very bad thing.

The drive north was marvelous, with a mantle of profuse vegetation clothing the steep, rocky hills. Occasional water crossings and views interspersed with spectacular rock cuts that in Colorado would have merely been tunnels made it difficult to keep my attention on the traffic where it belonged, and made the somewhat lower speed than I'm used to seem more sensible.

We didn't go directly to the lake house. Claude has some friends at Cooranbong about 15 miles away to the northwest who were leaving for a week to go on a dirt bike racing holiday. The couple have two young boys, the older of which does well racing motocross. Claude volunteered to take care of their pets while they were away. They don't currently have livestock, but it is a large property with citrus trees, wisteria, a large Japanese pond complete with island, a practice motocross track and a picturesque rustic cabin near the back of the property. Here's a view of the front of the main house.

The wife has started a new cafe in town, which seems to be going gangbusters, so we said hi to the proprietor. After making a sashay down to the Sanitarium factory (not what you think - they make breakfast cereal; link to their site), we went back to Cooranbong Takeaway and feasted on huge, messy and tasty Aussie-style hamburgers. Aussie burgers include beetroot (canned or pickled beet slices) and a fried egg (Victorian burgers add a pineapple ring, no thanks!), and mine also had bacon. Yum!

Cooranbong is a Seventh Day Adventist community, and the cereal factory is apparently on the campus of their school and college. We dropped by and picked up some "Weet Bix" and "Light 'n' cereals, which I love. I got the varieties with oats. Unlike any of the cold cereals I've tried before, these really soak up the milk. You can start out with the cereal swimming in lots of milk, and before you're half done the has all been absorbed by the cereal and you're scooping up soggy but extremely tasty spoonfuls.

Having fortified ourselves and acquiring the week's breakfast, we headed down to our destination on the shores of Lake Munmorah. The house was originally only one level, up on stilts. Since the purchase the lower level has been enclosed and finished, and a room on both levels on the lake end added on. The interior has been upgraded and remodeled. There is a veranda on the upper level stretching the whole length of the side with a view of the lake. All in all, it is a picturesque and relaxing setting. I'll close this post with some pics that will hopefully convey some of the serenity of the property.

The front of the holiday house.

The back of the holiday house from the adjacent reserve.

Sunset across the lake, taken from the veranda. Those smoke stacks are the Lake Munmorah Power Station. There are two other power stations in the area.