We had a brief stint at home, long enough to fulfill our duties at the Tilligerry Habitat and to discover this little chap had vandalised our bird box and moved in! He is a Brush Tailed Possum and we have heard him munching at the hole but didn't really think he would be able to make it big enough to get inside. The box is at eye level with our front door and the possum is driving Monty crazy every evening.
We hit the road again at the crack of dawn to visit our friends in Mount Warrigal, south of Sydney. After the, now traditonal, stop for a bacon and egg McMuffin we had a pretty good run down to Wollongong, about four hours which is better than expected when towing a caravan at the height of the holiday season. 

Most of the trip was motorway so the change in countryside came as a bit of a surprise when we took the Wollongong turn off. The road took us down the, alarmingly steep, Illawarra Escarpment which was surrounded by landscape that could be mistaken for the Sussex South Downs. It was beautiful and very hilly all around as we descended to huge Lake Illawarra. Our friend's house is in a lovely setting looking over the lake itself which is in turn, on a fabulous stretch of coast.
We went for lunch at the wonderful Gerroa Fishermens Club which served possibly the best fish and chips I have ever tasted and has a view to die for of Seven Mile Beach. This was followed by a trip to Kiama, a little north back towards Wollongong where we inspected the Blowhole, a hole in the rocks where spray shoots out when the surf is up. The sea was pretty quiet while we were there so it didn't perform its party piece but we got the idea, there was a fantastic ocean pool though. 

Next morning we were taken high up to Jamberoo which is a good spot to get a proper perspective on the area. From there it was just like looking over English fields of cows and trees and we got an idea of just how big Lake Illawarra is. It really is a glorious part of the country.
We had brought the van because we wanted to do a stop off on the way back at St. Albans, across the Hawkesbury River north of Sydney. We have both just read the book The Secret River, recommended to us by Zoe. It is based on the Hawkesbury around the area of Wiseman's Ferry and I wanted to have a look. We arrived in the town and eagerly headed for the pub which was originally the home of Wiseman and features in the book.

Unfortunately the staff were so rude there we did not stay to look around. I have never said this before in my blog about anywhere but...don't bother to visit the pub in Wiseman's Ferry!
It was a shame because the area is staggeringly beautiful, the ferry crosses the river where there are huge, tree covered cliffs on both sides with very pricey houses dotted around, it is extremely difficult to take a decent photo because the cliffs are so steep but, take my word for it, the place is gorgeous.
We boarded the ferry for the short trip across the river then made our way along the winding roads to St.Albans. After pulling over opposite The Settlers Arms we enquired in the pub if it was ok to free camp opposite and the response could not have been more friendly.

 The barman told us that settlers had been camping there for 200 years and we had as much right to as they did. What fun!
The campsite was a stretch of green on the banks of the river with toilets and running water, all free. 

St.Albans itself is a quiet, lush green little town with peacocks and chickens strolling around, it is commuting distance from Sydney so property prices are high and the pub get surprisingly busy in the evenings. We will come here again, it's a very special little place.