| By Gabrielle & William Beams |
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Journey to Gerringong
To fulfil a life long dream, Bill and I decided to retire and travel by caravan, around Australia to visit far away places with strange sounding names.
Being first time caravaners, we sought the assistance of Prestige Jayco in Geelong and purchased a 24 foot Jayco Sterling caravan and with great trepidation and excitement commenced our adventure.
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Although familiar territory, we decided to drive along the south western coast of Victoria through Warragul and Lakes Entrance into New South Wales via Eden and Moruya Heads to our first “red” stop at the beautiful coast town of Gerringong on the Illawarra Coast. This small hamlet was founded as a harbour town and for many years served as an important shipping port for timber to be exported to Europe and Asia. The demise of the port was caused by the introduction of the railway and now cattle graze where forests once stood.
At Gerringong, we enjoyed the wonderful hospitality of our friends Jennifer and Bob Stafford and we were thrilled to be able to participate in the photographing of the “Calendar Girls” mature “bare it all” models calendar in aid of the Children’s Medical Research Institute. Aimed with a hairbrush and hairspray, together with our qualified make up artist, we ascended the hill overlooking Werri Beach where Jennifer was immortalised as “Miss March.” The beauty and tranquillity of Gerringong Lagoon was evident from this wonderful location.
Much celebration followed at the Crooked River Winery, for a scrumptious meal among the serene green grape vines dotting the rolling hills overlooking Gerringong.
From there, we drove to Budderoo National Park to stand in awe observing the spectacular Minnamurra Falls which pour over a 50 metre drop on the edge of Illawarra Escarpment.
Our trip would not be complete unless we visited the Albion Pair Air Museum where a unique collection of fully operational aircraft is available for public viewing. This collection includes the refurbishment of “Connie” – a super G constellation airliner.
From here, we hitched up our caravan, said goodbye to delightful Gerringong and continued our journey through the wonderful Australian countryside. |
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