Heading south from Sydney an easy 2.5 hour coastal drive will take you to the gorgeous region of Jervis Bay. It was a surprisingly welcome break from the city and we fell right into the more relaxed pace of life in Vincentia where we stayed. This would definitely be a regular weekend spot if we were locals in Sydney 😉 On this road trip we spent three nights in Jervis Bay and one night in Australia's Capital Territory of Canberra for the sole purpose of seeing some wombats! More on that later in the post.
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| Hyams Beach in Jervis Bay |
Jervis Bay
We took the scenic route down to Jervis Bay, stopping at lookouts along the way. It reminded me a bit of Highway 1 in California, or even parts of the Great Ocean Road near Melbourne. We love coastal drives!
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| View from Bald Hill Lookout |
We stopped for lunch in Wollongong, and discovered a really high tech parking deck... though I think these are pretty common here it was just the first time we saw one. Basically as you look down the rows of cars there are light indicators above each spot showing green or red. It makes it super easy to see which row has free spaces or not so you don't waste time going down a full row. There is even a sign out front with the number of spaces available before entering the deck. Pretty neat!
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| Parking space indicators |
Another stop along the way was the Kiama blowhole. Unfortunately we didn't catch it at the right time but the views from the lighthouse were really pretty.
And we made it to Vincentia! A beautiful beach a few minutes walk from our motel welcomed us with views overlooking Jervis Bay. I could tell this was going to be a good few days.
Vincentia is a quaint town with such a relaxed beach vibe. We really enjoyed the peace and quiet here. There was a path that ran along the beach up to Huskisson so we ran that some.
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| Mailman rides a dirtbike! |
Booderee National Park
Outside of the white sand beaches, one of the main attractions of Jervis Bay is the neighboring Booderee National Park. Booderee means "bay of plenty" in the Dhurga language of the region - very fitting for this area. Our motel gave us a map and circled the best sites to see... we didn't really have a plan but that made it more fun in the end.
Cape St George Lighthouse to Stony Creek
After a rainy evening and morning, the afternoon looked ok so we set off on a little hike to the Cape St George Lighthouse. Upon entering Booderee that afternoon we were greeted by a group of kangaroos! Since you don't see them at all in the city it was exciting for us. The lighthouse itself has quite a haunting past... seems like it was bad luck to be the care takers of the lighthouse. A lot of tragic accidents were involved, and now the lighthouse remains in ruins.
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| Gorgeous cliff views from the lighthouse |
We continued following the gravel road and ended up at Moe's Rock... not sure who Moe is but it was a neat formation. Justin walked pretty far out on the rock but I stayed closer to the stairs :)
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| So much wildlife around - we were in heaven! |
Green Patch Beach
Since kangaroos and wallabies are nocturnal we would drive back into the park near dusk to try to catch some activity. Our motel was so close to the park it made it easy to drive back and forth. The first night we headed out to Green Patch, which is a beautiful white sand beach along the bay but still within Booderee.
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| Green Patch Beach at dusk |
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| The water is so calm and fun to swim in... it was chilly though! |
After hanging out on the beach until close to sunset, we started walking back and caught some wildlife near the barbecues.
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| crazy looking kookaburra |
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| hi there! |
Steamers Beach
Our second day we headed out early with a packed lunch since we knew the day was going to be full on! We started off with a hike to a lookout and on to Steamers Beach. Since it's about a 5km hike round trip we had the beach all to ourselves for a bit. We didn't stay long since we wanted to see more beaches but this one was beautiful. Not recommended to swim here though... the waves were huge!
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| The hiking trails in Booderee were nicely maintained. |
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| A glimpse of Steamers |
The last bit down to the beach was pretty killer... in the pic below you can see the start of the climb back up where the white stairs are. Yeah the path was up at the very top, lots and lots of stairs. When we were leaving a solo surfer was walking down in bare feet with his surfboard... I still can't believe he was going to surf by himself with no one in sight :-/
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| time to climb back up! |
Murrays Beach
Our second stop was the beach at the very south end of Jervis Bay in Booderee, Murrays Beach. The sand was a powdery white and the water was so clear and blue. This beach is easy to get to but less popular than Hyams Beach.
Hyams Beach
Our last stop was the famous Hyams Beach... and wow it was breathtaking. Crystal clear waters and the same powdery sand as Murrays. In the distance you could see the white line of the beach curving around Jervis Bay. I definitely fell for this are and want to come back!
Cave Beach
That evening we set out again to Booderee and headed down to Cave Beach to see some roos :) We were not disappointed! In fact there was one in the parking lot that greeted us. A local then walked past with his surfboard and said there's heaps more of those down that way lol. I know the locals probably laugh at us taking pictures of roos but we don't have these in America! haha.
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| hi friendddd |
It was the perfect setting walking down the path to Cave Beach... the sun was low and it was such a beautiful beach. Cave Beach faces the Pacific unlike the bay beaches, so the waves are stronger here like Steamers.
Once we reached the barbecue area we finally got to see a group of roos in the wild! hehe. They seemed so peaceful just munching on grass as the sun set. There is a campsite right beside this so these roos are super comfortable with people.
We watched them for a bit and then wandered down to the beach. It's called cave beach for a reason :)
When we came back up to the campsite things weren't so peaceful anymore! hahaha... we saw our first kangaroo boxing match 😂
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| the boxing kangaroo does exist! |
For me it was one of those days that really fills you up and makes you feel like yourself again... it was really nice to be in nature the whole day. I didn't realize I needed that but nature is healing that's for sure!
Sunrise at Hyams
On our last morning in Jervis I convinced Justin to catch the sunrise at Hyams Beach. I wanted to soak in every last moment of being in this area. It was very peaceful morning.
Canberra
After one last swim at our beach in Vincentia, we were off driving through the bush to Canberra. And it was definitely the bush... I think it may have been the most remote road we've been on in Australia so far. Parts of it weren't fully marked and it really didn't pass through many towns. But it was all good, we had peanut butter sandwiches with us and found some public toilets along the way :)
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| yeah in swooping season you have to be careful about territorial birds! |
A couple hours later we made it to the Capital of Australia! I still find the story of why Canberra was created so interesting. If you missed my Sydney post basically Sydney and Melbourne argued over which one should be the capital of Australia. Instead of choosing one or the other, it was decided Canberra would be created in between the two. And it's not really in between the two is it? It's a lot closer to Sydney but pretty far inland compared to all the other major cities of Australia.
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| View of Canberra from Mount Ainslie Lookout |
We spent the afternoon exploring the city stopping at the Old Parliament House, the High Court, and the actual Parliament House. The layout of the city was created by the winner of a design competition launched in May of 1911. Canberra has a lot of circular patterns, and a straight path from the Australian War Memorial all the way to the Parliament House. You can kind of see that in the picture from the lookout above. The lookout is closer to the Australian War Memorial and the red path leads across the bridge to the capital.
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| Aboriginal flags near the Old Parliament House |
Canberra has a totally different vibe from both Sydney and Melbourne... definitely a more business-like atmosphere. It's a pretty city but this fish was missing the coast already 🐟
Sleepy Burrows Wombat Sanctuary
At one point in the trip we were thinking of going to Tasmania, and one of the highlights of Tassie was seeing the wombats of Maria Island. Since we decided not to go, my compromise was to find an equal experience with wombats closer to us. I discovered Sleepy Burrows Wombat Sanctuary outside of Canberra and am so glad I did! Sleepy Burrows is a family run sanctuary where the owners live on the property and keep baby wombats inside their house. We really enjoyed the couple hours we got to spend touring the sanctuary and learning about the wombat.
And if we thought Jervis Bay to Canberra was in the bush, this was really in the bush! We took a gravel road past Gundaroo to Sleepy Burrows.
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| Lady Jane in showing off her burrow |
Each of the large wombats outside have their own burrow which has a cement border going underground around the perimeter of the enclosure. This is because in the wild the wombat is actually a solitary animal and they sometimes fight to the death over who gets a single burrow. The cement perimeter prevents any issues of wombats digging into the other's enclosure and causing any incidents. The wombat lives underground and has these really hard back plates to help with their digging.
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| this wombat lost an eye and is transitioning through the care of the sanctuary |
The sanctuary rescues all sorts of wombats, ones found on the road with injuries, others crying out in the bush, and even pet wombats that owners can no longer care for. I could see why people choose to get them as pets since they are so cute as babies... but wombats are in fact a pretty vicious animal when full grown. Some of them can get up to almost 100lbs and they are very territorial in the wild. Advice is not to go up to them in the wild since at their size they could take a human down. So I guess they aren't as cute and cuddly as they look!
At the end of the tour it was time to meet the babies!! They sleep all day in these little wool sacks inside a sling bag and all of that inside of a crate.
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| really tiny wombat |
After seeing the tiny wombat, our guide brought out two other baby wombats for playtime/feeding. Bear and Eminem were so cute! I guess their two sling bags had been placed in the same crate and one of them wandered in to the other's sack so they both ended up in the same bag. They are definitely besties!
No they don't have fleas, just scratching themselves to wake up... I am someone who understands waking up is a process (unlike Justin haha).
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| they went straight for the shoe laces hehe |
As babies wombats are really friendly, they sort of behave like dogs do where they get wound up and start moving around faster. They let us pet them but they don't really register you all that much. They would play some together too.
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| Justin & Eminem |
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| Me & Bear |
After some playtime the wombat babies were hungry, so we got to bottle feed them :) You had to hold them really tightly since they like to feel secure.
Learning about the wombats and getting to play with them is an experience we will never forget. We left Sleepy Burrows with a huge appreciation and respect for the wombat and even more so for the people at the sanctuary itself who devote their lives to these creatures. We became "wombassadors" so we now get a newsletter every so often on how the sanctuary is doing and what the wombats are up to :) Last year Sleepy Burrows took in 300 wombats! Amazing!
After saying goodbye to the wombats we headed to the airport to catch a flight to Melbourne where we are now. This part of the trip was only five days long but it's near the top of my favorite Australian adventures so far. It doesn't get much better than a week full of wildlife and nature!
Thanks for following along as always, sending love to everyone back home!
Sarah
"When your world moves too fast
and you lose yourself in the chaos,
introduce yourself
to each color of the sunset.
Reacquaint yourself with the earth
beneath your feet.
Thank the air that surrounds you
with every breath you take.
Find yourself in the appreciation of life."
~ Christy Ann Martine
💙
For me it was one of those days that really fills you up and makes you feel like yourself again... it was really nice to be in nature the whole day. I didn't realize I needed that but nature is healing that's for sure!
