Last week was a pretty normal Thursday, when my supervisor called me into his office and asked if I'd be willing to travel to one of our job sites in Bomaderry, NSW. The next morning I was up at 5 AM to catch a flight to Sydney for what ended up being a very long day trip. Unfortunately, my visit turned out to be a bit premature as the work I was meant to oversee was delayed until Monday, so I flew back to Melbourne Friday evening, only to turn around again and fly back to Sydney early Monday for the 3 hour drive to site. Yay for frequent flyer miles!
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| view of the sunrise from the plane |
I only spent one night in Bomaderry and didn't have much time to explore, so really can't provide any insight on what it might offer travellers other than a good meal at the Bomaderry Bowling Club.
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| view from Lady Fuller Park rest area |
On Tuesday afternoon I finished up my work at site early so had a few extra hours to travel back to the Sydney airport, and decided to enjoy a leisurely drive along the Grand Pacific Drive. Bomaderry is situated near the southern end of the Drive, so it was a convenient location for me to jump on the road and see what the NSW equivalent of the Great Ocean Road had to offer.
The beginning of the Grand Pacific Drive wound through dense woods along the Shoalhaven River before emerging at beautiful Seven Mile Beach. After snapping a quick photo, I continued on my way to Kiama, a charming town on the ocean full of cafes and apparently home to a popular tourist destination, the Kiama Blowhole. Unfortunately, I wasn't aware of this when I drove through the town and missed seeing it, which turned out to be the theme of my drive: finding out too late that I had passed something worth seeing.
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| Seven Mile Beach |
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| Coldale Beach Park |
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| Bald Hill |
After Kiama, the Grand Pacific Drive becomes a 6-lane highway through Wollongong, with hardly any views of the ocean. Not exactly what I was expecting when I started on this drive, and definitely worth skipping in my opinion. Things improved significantly once I traveled north of Bulli, as the drive once again ran along the ocean. A few kms from Bulli I arrived quite suddenly at the Sea Cliff Bridge, which was the highlight of the drive. The suddenness of my arrival was such that I rounded a bend and to my left were magnificent sheer cliffs dropping into the ocean. This was finally a destination that I wanted to explore and appreciate, but the lack of any signs prior to my arrival meant it was many kms after the bridge before there was an opportunity to turn around. I decided not to go back as I was a bit concerned about making my flight on time, so hopefully I'll have another chance to visit the cliffs again.
All in all, the Grand Pacific Drive is a refreshing break from the main freeway and features some really nice views. Hopefully I'll have another chance to enjoy the drive someday and visit all the interesting things I missed!
BK
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