Cruising the Sapphire Coast!

Our route that day was: Lakes Entrance - Orbost (nothing much) - Marlo (small fishing town) - Cabbage Tree Creek - Cann River (where we stopped for lunch) - Genoa (where we witnessed deliberate bushfire) -Mallacoota (watched the national hobby, fishing & where Pasci brought on dog poo into the car) - Genoa (where we nearly ran out of petrol) - Eden.

Another day of long driving to our final destination for the day, Eden.. / Und wieder ein Tag mit einer langen Fahrt vor uns...Ziel: Eden


Eden, gateway to the New South Wales and gem of the Sapphire Coast - aptly named as the sea here was of a beautiful mix of sapphire blue and emerald green. The caravan park was situtated between a lake and the sea.

The beach was really fine and squeaked under our feet when we walked. Here, we had a lot of fun with the docile and curious lorakeets, beautiful green birds - members of the parrot family. Pasci also cooked dinner this night - and treated us both to his version of Macaroni.

View along our drive...we do like the Australian blue sky / Aussicht auf unserer Fahrt....wir sind fasziert vom blauen Himmel Australiens

We are very proud of ourselves for surviving the one month of driving without any GPS and not ending up in a divorce....yet / Wir sind sehr stolz auf uns, dass wir einen Monat herumfahren ohne GPS überlebt haben ohne eine Scheidung....(noch nicht)

Apparently, Pascal's qualification for the CFA has another meaning alltogether here in Australia. We think it stands for something related to the fire department / Angelbich hat Pasci's CFA Qualifikation eine andere Bedeutung hier in Australien. Wir denken es hat etwas mit der Feuerwehr zu tun

Showing off his FC-Basel t-shirt...thank you JPS! / Pasci ist stolz auf sein FCB T-Shirt!...Vielen Dank JPS!!

Self-Portrait.. :=) / Selbst-Portrait... :=)

We soon had our 'dashboard essentials': Mandarin flashcards? Check. Hand cream? Check. Ipod? Check. Mint? Check. Mobile Phone? Check Water? Check. / Wir hatten bald unsere Ordnung im Auto: 'Mandarin Kärtli'? o.k. - Handcreme? o.k. - Ipod? o.k. - Täfeli? O.k. - Wasser? o.k.

Stopping at Cann River gay cafe for our lunch / Mittagspause im Cann River Restaurant

Not bad a burger. / Das war kein schlechter Burger....

Bushfire precaution. We had to wait for about 15 minutes since only one lane was open. So we chatted to the guy about kangaroos and koalas - and how they made sure that animals dont die in the smoke. / Vorsichtsmassnahme gegen Waldbrände. Wir mussten ca. 15min warten da nur eine Fahrspur offen war. Also haben wir mit dem Verantwortlichen über die Kangoroos und Kualas gesprochen und wie sie sicherstellen, dass keine Tiere ums Leben kommen

Mallacoota - love the name!

Mallacoota lake - shortly after taking this picture, we got into the car and we smelt something baaad..... something that Pasci picked up in his shoes when he went for a pee in the bushes. / Mallacoota See - kurz nachdem wir dieses Fotto gemacht haben und zurück ins Auto gegangen sind haben wir etwas komischen geschmeckt.....etwas das Pasci am Schuh kleben hatte nachdem er in den Büschen pinkeln war...

Shortly after that, we had another 'tragedy'. We were running out of petrol..and there was no petrol station in sight....AND the road was uphill....When this happened, we vowed to ourselves to stop shopping for cheap petrol in the future... lesson learned. / Kurz danach hatten wir die nächste Schwierigkeit. Uns war das Benzin am ausgehen...und es war weit und breit keine Tankstelle in Sicht. Wir haben uns geschworen in Zukunft nicht mehr nach günstigem Bezin auschau zu halten...

As if by magic, about 50kms after the fuel light started flashing, to our relief - we saw the sign 'petrol station'. PHEWWW!! / Aus dem Nichts, ca. 50km nachdem das Lämpchen für das Benzin anging sahen wir das Zeichen für Tankstelle. PHEEWWW!!!

Apparently, the Ute came from Australia -and this is how its spelt. It means 'Utility Vehicle'. How clever. / Angeblich kommt der UTE aus Asutralien. Es bedeutet Utility Vehicle und man sieht diese Pick-ups überall in Down Under

Feeding the Lorakeets in Eden Caravan Park / Füttern der Papageien im Caravan Park in Eden

The guy tried to get them to go onto Mishell's head / Unser Nachbar versuchte die Vögel auf Mishell's Kopf zu bekommen

There were A LOT of them! / Es waren VIELE Vögel!

Our Spaceship with the 'bedroom' set out - we can unzip the 'windows' for more ventilation. :) Like our own little 'air-conditioning system'. / Unser Spaceship mit Schlafzimmer - wir können die 'Fenster' öffnen für mehr frische Luft :)

Eden Beach / Der Strand von Eden

Pasci's farmer-tan-feet plus the mosquito-bite / Pasci's Farmer-Braune-und-Mückenstich-Füsse

We never knew that one can fish directly from the beach as well... / Wir wussten nicht dass man direkt vom Strand fischen kann..

Amazing views at Eden Beach / Wunderbare Aussicht vom Strand von Eden

Daily Exercise before dinner / Tägliches Spazieren vor dem Abendessen

Pasci cooks dinner! What a treat! :) / Pasci hat das Abendessen gekocht! Was für eine Verwöhnung! :)

Amazing sunset view... / Wunderschöner Sonnenuntergang..

Dinner is served! / Abendessen ist parat!

Next morning, we went to Twofold Bay which was one of main whaling stations back in 1900s and ceased only in the 1960s, when humans ran out of whales to kill. Apparently, Killer Whales i.e. Orcas used to work together with humans to herd in the other whales into the shallow bays for men in whaling boats to then harpoon and kill the whales.

The dead whale would then be left overnight for the Orcas to feed on the lips and tongue of the dead whale, a delicacy for the Orcas. The men will then harvest the catch the next day. Thank goodness whaling has now stopped, except in Japan and Norway where its still going on (!!).

Eden beach with the beautiful blue waters in the morning / Der Strand von Eden ist wunderschön am Morgen mit dem blauen Meer

These were the jawbones of a blue whale...massive! / Dies waren die Kiefer-Knochen von einem Blauwal...Massiv!

Education session about whales... / Etwas zum lernen über Wale..

Apparently, in Twofold Bay - the teamwork between human and Orcas was particularly remarkable as Orcas would 'flap' their tails on the waters, making a lot of noise in the middle of the night to wake the Whalers up to come out in their boats. One star Orca was called 'Old Tom' - who would be so impatient and ended up pulling the whalers' boats out himself. Pretty amazing story.

Different kinds of whales...never knew there were so many. The Orcas are the 'kings of the ocean' ...not sharks. :) / Verschiedene Wale....wir wussten nicht dass es soviel verschiedene gibt. Die Orcas (Killerwale) sind die 'Könige der Meere'...nicht Haie. :)

Our route was: Eden - Merimbula - Bermagui - Narooma - Batemans Bay - South Durras. This stretch did not really have anything worth mentioning.

After another day of long drive, we decided to call it a day in South Durras. We read that there were many resident kangaroos living in this area especially on Pebbly Beach, and they were known as the 'surfer kangaroos'. Cute.

Upon arriving at the entrance of the caravan park, a family of kangaroos greeted us in the middle of the road.

Here, we had no camp kitchen but an old school bbq provided. No problem, we felt like pretty expert campers by now. Even our neighbours were impressed by the speed we got set up.

Pasci also built a bbq fire from scratch, i.e. wood & matches. We had the best tasting steak ever. After a tasty dinner, we had a 4-minute limited hot shower - powered by 20cents coin inserted outside the shower cubicle.

Kangaroos that 'greeted' us as we entered the caravan park. :) / Kangoroos die uns begrüssten als wir zum nächsten Caravan Park gekommen sind. :)

Pasci starts the camp fire / Pasci startet den Grill

Our fridge (right) and 'pantry' - where the dishes and gas stoves are stored...all these under the bed! How efficient! / Unser Kühlschrank (rechts) und die Pfannen, Teller, Besteck etc. alles verstaut unter dem Bett! Wie effizient!

Yummy steak marinated in Madras curry paste. / Super Steak marinert in Madras Curry Marinade

Vegetables to keep us all healthy. :) / Gemüse hält uns gesund :)

The kangaroos smelt our food and came to have a look if they could have some too. / Die Kangoroos riechten unser Essen und kamen um zu schauen ob sie auch etwas bekommen

Pasci really got the fire going - all that with some branches and matches. Well done! / Pasci hat ein super Feuer gemacht - alles mit nur ein paar Zweigen und Streichhölzern

Later when it went dark, we heard some noise - and shone our torchlights. It turned out to be a possum, which went for a small piece of melon that we dropped.

Our late night visitor - the Possum. Cute little fella. / Unser Besucher spät in der Nacht - das Possum. Lustiger Geselle!

The next morning - we had more of the Lorakeet visitors! They are really friendly and curious...but they do give you some nasty scratch marks afterwards on the hands! It looked like Mishell slit her hands/wrists for the next few days! / Am nächsten Morgen hatten wir mehr Papageien zum Besuch. Sie sind sehr freundlich und neugierig...aber sie hinterlassen ziemliche Kratzer auf den Armen.

This one got VERY curious and decided to sit on Mishell's head watching the others feed...was just hoping it didnt poo all that time! / Dieser Papagei war sehr neugierig und entschied sich auf Mishells Kopf einen besseren Überblick zu verschaffen....Mishell hoffte das er nicht 'kacken' musste!

A very curious fella.... / Ein sehr neugieriger Geselle...

Cute love pair...they were preening and 'kissing' each other in their little spot.. / Süsses Liebespärchen...Sie haben sich gegenseitig gereinigt und 'geküsst'...

The next day, we drove on: Ulladulla (little boring town with great lemon & fruit juice) - Nowra (where we stopped for lunch) - Kiama (went to see a blowhole that didnt quite blow that day) - to Woolongong (along the Pacific Coast Drive which pretended to be the Great Ocean Road but not quite).

Ulladula Coast.. / Die Küste von Ulladula..

We love the sign posts in Australia...one cant get lost in this country for sure! / Wir sind fasziniert von den vielen Schildern in Australien....man kann sich nicht verlaufen hier!

East Greenfield, Nowra: We drove all the way here just for the fish & chips...it was not too bad. / Greenfield, Nowra: Wir sind hierhergefahren um frischen Fisch mit Pommes zu essen...es war zimlich gut.

Blue-something fish...not as tasty as butterfish. / Blauer-irgendwas Fisch...nicht so gut wie der Butterfisch.

Instant salad made from the Spaceship with fresh corn from the cob :) / Frischer Salat zubereitet in der Spaceship Küche mit frischem Mais :)

We saw a threesome of white parrots.. / Wir hatten eine Dreiergruppe weisser Papageien gesehen

Kiama Lighthouse / Kiama Leuchtturm

The blow hole that doesnt blow (at least the day we were there).. / Das Spritzloch das nicht spritzt (zumindest als wir da waren)..

We decided to drop by Kuin & Simon's place that night - so headed straight on to Sydney, driving across the Sydney Harbour bridge.

Somewhere along the way to Sydney from Woolongong - we saw a sign post for public toilets...and there was this pool just opposite the toilets. One's own infinity pool! / Auf dem Weg von Woolongong nach Sydney - wir sahen ein Schild für öffentliche Toiletten...und da war dieser Pool gegenüber den Toiletten. Ein Endlos-Pool

The infamous bridge along the Pacific Coast Drive / Die 'berühmte' Brücke entlang des Pacific Coast Drive

Ahh...finally...Sydney Harbour Bridge!! / Und dann...endlich...die Sydney Hafen Brücke

We were pretty glad to have a proper 'bed' to sleep on that night. Ahhhhh...........