Vacation fun? You betcha!

So I sit here writing this post at 5:29am on the train from Nowra to Sydney thinking, well, this all could have been prevented by putting on a different pair of board shorts. Yup, that's the reason we're heading back to Newcastle to break into our own home, retrieve a spare key for our un-break-into-able Holden Astra, drive the Holden Commodore back down to Jervis Bay, and continue on the trip. That being said, the first day of sights was great and I recommend the South Coast of New South Wales to all our potential visitors. Why don't I just start back at the beginning though...

We woke up yesterday, got the car loaded full of food (sweet, new cooler in the back), clothes, guidebooks, and our new Navman satellite navigation system. Yup, $226 at the Good Guys for a computerized Australian woman to get me out of navigational hell. Well worth it, I thought. Fortunately, she's not locked in the car down in Jervis Bay. I'll get back to that. We rolled out of the house by 9am, got everything locked, the grill stowed in the garage, and hit the road for points unknown to the South. Weather was a bit blaek, but there were hints of blue sky above the low-lying clouds. Hey, we're on vacation so there's always a positive, right? Our Nav woman, let's call her Bonnie, helped us out getting out of Newcastle, through Sydney (through the tunnel, not the famous bridge) and down toward Wollongong. We decided to take a detour through the Pacific Beach Drive to the south of Botany Bay (where Sydney was first discovered and now the sight of Sydney Intl Airport) to explore a few beaches - however the weather was not the greatest and we made mainly drive-bys of the beaches in the National Park. 16 degrees Celcius is no time for sand and surf, let me tell ya. Anyway, we continued down Highway One along the coast to Wollongong, driving through a few nice beachside communities and stopped for some fries at McDonalds (Australians call it Mackers) which was situated right next to that great Australian Steakhouse we all know and love, Outback Steakhouse. Really? Outback, in Australia? Pretty cheesy to say the least....

Uh oh, running out of battery - I'll (or Nina) get back to the story when we have some mo power and fill you in on the saga. Hugs and kisses from the train!