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The Southern Cross

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Its a rainy weekend in Sydney - we're heading south out of Sydney in Alison's brand new company car.

The road winds around the airport and through the Royal National Park to Woollongong - with a brief detour over a nearby mountain when we miss the only turnoff...

So far the guides advice to head north is proving wise - Wollongong barely raised the pulse in the beauty stakes despite having fairly hefty breakers off its beach.

Fortunately the scenery picks up shortly after when we find the Kiama Blowhole - a natural gap in the rock that spurts sea-water up to 60m into the air as the waves crash in nearby. 

Several tourists find that standing too close to this formation can result in a free shower. 

We carry on south, stopping for a gentle stroll around the Minnamura rainforest.

Its 2.30pm and the park closes at 4.00 - we find ourselves at the turnoff for the Minnamura falls, which the sign claims will take 2 hours.  So (after a little gentle persuasion) Ali and I begin the hike up a 1km path.  

The gentle stroll turns into a aerobic workout as the path relentlessly climbs a slope under the rainforest canopy which ensures the humidity is high.  Fifteen minutes later, we arrive at the falls breathing heavily and with jelly legs - clearly the signs were designed for the unfit, or to give people like me a chance to crow about doing it in a quarter of the time...

We stroll down - chuckling at the people heading up and encouraging them with comments like "good luck" and 'you must be mad' stares. In mitigation for this behaviour, we received the same on the way up...

Next stop (or rather drive through) is the ridiculous Kangaroo valley which boasts a joke medieval bridge complete with ramparts (which it later transpires is for real!). 

The sun sets over the mountains as we head for Berry - a small town on the Southern Highway which is noted for a colourful motel called the Southern Cross.

The next morning (on advice from the locals of the Southern Cross) we head for Jervis Bay and go Dolphin watching.

Its a chilly day with occasional sightings of a pod of Dolphins and the unpleasant sighting of a builders-butt-crack.

I await the exposure of Alisons pictures which should reveal this not so rare sighting in all its splendour as unfortunately for her the ill-fitting t-shirt and jog pants of this creature parted just as she took a picture of a friendly flipper that had skilfully panned the splayed cheeks of said chap into her frame of view just as the wind did the rest...

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