We hoped that traffic would be light in Sydney over the long Easter weekend, so we headed that direction, planning to make an Easter church service there. It was Good Friday. Every single store we passed was closed. Thank heavens we were able to find a few gas (petrol) stations open.
We had intended to travel to Wiseman’s Ferry to camp the night but made the turn and discovered we had to travel there on a gravel road. Since we can only take our campervan 12 kilometers up a gravel road, we had to change direction. We ended up at a Mogo Creek Campground, a small, free camp in the Yengo National Park. It, too, was full of holiday campers.
A kind gentleman, Greg, let us squeeze our van in next to his spot. Greg was a wealth of knowledge about the area and its wildlife. He showed us our first koala in the wild. The koala had climbed up a eucalyptus tree not more than 15 feet from our site.
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| Koala high in a eucalyptus tree |
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| Wombat burrow |
David had tried to find RV park reservations for us in Camden but everything in the area was booked. He finally found a vacancy at Lone Pine Cove on the north side of town. While we were setting up camp, a kookaburra landed in a tree right above us.
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| Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree... |
We encountered a first at this campground… one I will never forget. The folks who were setting up camp next to us brought a leaf blower and vacuum cleaner with them. They blew the entire area, set up their tents, then vacuumed every inch. The noise was intolerable. I felt so sorry for the mother behind us who was trying to put her baby down for a nap. The blowing and vacuuming went on for nearly an hour before David hiked back to the office to ask for another site. Thankfully, they had a cancellation in with the larger rigs, and we were able to move.
Easter morning, we went to the Ryde Presbyterian Church and greatly enjoyed their Easter service. We planned to take a drive into downtown Sydney to see the skyscape. One of the parishioners, however, suggested we take the high-speed passenger ferry into the city. She told us that the ferry landing was at the end of the road from the church.
It sounded like a grand idea, so we parked the van and walked to the ferry landing. We bought tickets for Circular Quay, a major stop in downtown Sydney near their famed Opera House.
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| Sydney's high-speed ferry |
We were so glad that we did! What a shock it was to see so very many people… on the ferries, at the wharfs, in the restaurants and stores, and on the streets. What we had thought would be a leisurely stroll through downtown became a mad house. We found a semi-quiet restaurant, had breakfast, walked about an hour downtown, then headed back to our quiet ferry landing. Wow!
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| Downtown Sydney near wharf |
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| Downtown Sydney near Wharf |
The good news is that we didn’t drive downtown. I can’t imagine trying to maneuver The Beast (our semi-affectionate name for the campervan) through all that traffic. Even better, the ferry was the best opportunity for us to photograph the Opera House. The high-speed ferry was fast and easy. And Sydney is an exceptionally beautiful city. How I wish we could have toured it on a less busy day!
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| Sydney's famed Opera House |
With the campground we were staying at booked the rest of the week, we left the following morning. Our new-found-friends in Oxely had suggested we go to Pebbly Beach, known for its surfing kangaroos. We just had to see for ourselves.
The holiday traffic continued to plague us. We learned that Queensland children were out of school the two weeks prior to Easter, ending Easter Monday. The New South Wales children, however, had their holiday the week before and after Easter. While it was great to see so many families camping together, it seemed like everyone was on the move. Traffic coming out of Sydney was terribly heavy. It was even worse for those traveling into the city.
David called for reservations at Pebbly Beach only to discover that every single campsite in the entire national park was reserved. We didn’t know what we would do for camping, but we drove on to Pebbly Beach anyway.
When we arrived, we found a group of folks feeding apples to a delightful array of parrots. Unfortunately it was right in front of the “do not feed the wildlife” sign.
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| King parrot |
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| King parrot |
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| Ring-necked parrot |
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| Crimson Rosella |
As we entered the beach, we found people photographing, feeding, petting, and even hugging the kangaroos. We didn’t find any kangaroos swimming, but it was fun to watch them so close to the beach.
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| Kangaroo at Pebbly Beach |
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| Kangaroos lounging at Pebbly Beach |
Perhaps had we been able to camp nearby, we would have seen the kangaroos in the surf. Instead, we needed to find a place to stay the night.
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| Pebbly Beach, NSW, Australia |
Thankfully, we had learned from an Aussie trucker that we could camp free at any state park. We had seen one just up the road from the turn to Pebbly Beach. We spent a most quiet and peaceful night there, nestled in the trees.
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