Batemans Bay and Canberra

It took us almost one hour to drive out of Sydney. If we had realized that the airport was at the south side of the city we would have picked up our rental car at the airport and headed off for the south coast immediately. We drove along the coast of New South Wales (NSW) to Kiama where we had a delicious lunch of fish and salad on a pier overlooking the ocean.

As we crossed the bridge into Batemans Bay (BB) and drove along the waterfront where the fishing boats are moored, we couldn't help but recall some of the sites and smells from our last visit some 18 years ago. It felt good to be back! We went to the Information Office and the officer was very helpful and gave us the names and addresses of at least 1/2 dozen holiday parks and private homes for rent. Fortunately, the second place we visited is managed by a very nice fellow (Alex) who offered us a 3 bedroom place overlooking the pool for a very reasonable price. As soon as we saw it, we jumped on it. The place is a block from the beach and shops. In fact there is everything we need including an IGA, a great pastry shop, butcher, fish & seafood store, newspaper stand, etc.














We spent the next couple of days getting settled and exploring the area. We even went to Mossy Point where we used to rent a place when Justin was little. This brought back some really good memories of the time we spent playing on the beach with Justin. It is hard to believe that almost 20 years have elapsed since we were here and that Justin has grown into a man now.














On Wednesday we headed off to Canberra to see some of our old friends, especially Fred and Olga. We spent 2 wonderful days getting reacquainted. It was great to see some of our closest friends after all these years. It was like we had never left and we were soon laughing about all the good times we spent together. These 2 days alone made our entire trip worthwhile!

Justin will be pleased to know that we drove by our old house in Torrens and Lucille went to visit one of her friends (Valeria, who used to be Justin's teacher) at the French/Australian pre-school.

We left the rental car in Canberra since it was the nearest drop-off point to BB. We then took a bus back to BB which dropped us at the shops mentioned previously. Everything went very smoothly.

We have really settled in now and have purchased a used bike for Lucille and David is borrowing Alex's bike for the duration of our stay. As a result, we will give Alex, Lucille's bike when we leave. David also bought a fishing rod and the rest of the stuff needed for fishing from the beach/stone jetty; it should be a good way to pass the time. We also intend to play a little tennis on the 1/2 size court at our apartment. The tennis court is just the right size since we can't run as fast as we used to! We are also hoping that some of our friends will come to visit us since we have lots of spare rooms. David may also go deep sea fishing once or twice during our stay here.

We will try to post any noteworthy information which may happen during the course of our stay.