The time had come to leave Jervis Bay and it’s beautiful beaches. As the weather had been horrific on the drive down we had the choice again of beautiful coastal route home or Kangaroo Valley – and we decided to go with Kangaroo Valley. Jeremy had told us it only took about 10 minutes longer but clearly he had no idea about timescales as it took a lot longer.
First stop after leaving our house was Camberwarra Mountain Lookout. It gave a good view of the valley below but it was a little hazy so we continued on our way towards the Valley of Kangaroos. Despite lots of signs promising us kangaroos and wombats we didn’t actually see any which was a little disappointing but then I guess it was probably quite unlikely anyway – it was nice to just see the real life signs though!!
Kangaroo Valley itself was lovely – and very English. The towns were full of campsites, garden centers and little shops – it had a strong feel of Derbyshire about it – but although it looked lovely there was no stopping until we reached Fitzroy falls. Again there were signs talking about wombats or platypus but unfortunately they are all sleeping in February (allegedly) and as a result there was no sign of them. There was, however, a pretty impressive waterfall and view along the valley too so we shouldn’t grumble:
After leaving the falls we continued up to Bowral where we stopped for lunch. Bowral looked my kind of town with some very nice houses on the outskirts – not sure how expensive they would be there but they were very nice.
We stopped for lunch at a wild food cafe which was very nice and then we filled the car up with gas and then set off back to Sydney. We left Bowral at about 13:15 and at 13:19 Harry was given a talking to about the inane prattle that falls out his mouth continually once he is in a car. At 13:24 he was told off again for starting to make that very same drivel again. By 13:32 he was in trouble again and we turned the radio on in an attempt to drown out the noise. I don’t know what it is about Harry and sitting in a car but it makes him talk utter nonsense!
At just before 4pm we arrived back in Sydney at our next and final hotel – the Swissotel. It was right in the middle of Sydney and would be a good base for our last few hours in Australia. We unpacked what was required for the remainder of our stay before heading out to the streets of Sydney for some last minute shopping. Then it was back to the hotel where we took advantage of having a proper sized bath before heading out to find something to eat. Although it was clearly a premium price for the tourists we ended up in the circular quays – down near the Opera House – where we found what looked like a nice Chinese. Luckily it turned out to be an excellent meal that was only nearly ruined by Toby having a tantrum about not getting a king prawn dish. Fortunately the crispy shredded beef dish made up for the lack of prawns which should come as no surprise as the best crispy shredded beef was the best that Tracy has ever had – high praise indeed; the chinese van in Turvey needs to raise its game!
After a short walk to the Opera House to take a few pictures we walked our way back to the hotel and collapsed into bed for our last sleep in Sydney. Shame!
A few extra pictures here…