Staying in the South Coast

Okay, so we've decided to spend a few days on the South Coast of New South Wales.

The next huge decision is....do we stay in Shellharbor or Wollongong?

Well, actually it's not that big of a decision because they're right next to each other.   If we stay in Shellharbor, we can always pop over to Wollongong for a visit.   And vice versa.

The day I started thinking about changing our plans and going to the South Coast, Tim had mentioned Seven Miles beach in Australia.   I think what he meant was ONE Mile Beach--the place we went to in Port Stephens. I corrected him and said Seven Miles Beach is in The Cayman Islands.

He sheepishly accepted my correction.

Then later that evening I started doing research on the south coast and found there IS a Seven Mile Beach in Australia.  If I was nice, I'd say that Tim had probably done research on his own and knew there was a Seven Mile Beach. I'm not nice though, so I'm just going to say it was a lucky coincidence for Tim--allowing him a rare moment to be right.

I found this holiday park on Seven Mile Beach.   Wow!  It's won a lot of awards.  Although they haven't won anything in the last two years?   Should I worry?   Does this mean it has gone downhill in quality?   Or does it just mean something else came along that's better?   Or maybe they have won awards and they just haven't had time to update their website.   But if they're too busy to update their website, couldn't this mean they're too busy to do other things?  Like clean the pool?   Mop the floors?  Cut the grass?  Get rid of the Funnel Web Spiders?

Well, now I'm looking at the facilities part of the site.   This looks fun!  There's a giant jumping pillow.  This will be wonderful.   Jack and another child will collide.  The other parents will blame Jack.  We'll blame their child.   We'll get new enemies!!

Okay, this is awesome.  Not only is there is a beach, but there's also a river where you can canoe.  We should totally do that!   Oh and there's also a creek.  When we lived in St. Louis, we had a creek in our backyard. Well, just thought I'd tell you guys that. A little piece of Dina-Childhood-History.

Oh!   You can feed chickens here!   Tim worries about me being in contact with farm animals, and I think this is why he vetoed the whole sheep farm thing. It's not because he's scared of farm animals.  He's scared that when American immigration officers ask if we've been in contact with livestock/farm animals, I won't lie.  Well, he might be right. I'm not good at lying.   And what happens if you tell them that you WERE in contact with farm animals? Are you put in quarantine?    Well, that might be exciting.  Maybe?  It'll at least give me something to write about in the blog.

Hey, maybe they send you back to Australia!!  That would be totally cool. If this is the case, I'll say.  Sir.  Not only did I get near a farm animal.  I HUGGED a farm animal.   I kissed it.  I even tried to have sex with it.   I have total farm animal cooties.

The choices of accommodations looks great.  They have these adorable things called Safari Tents.   It's like a tent with furniture.   Although I wonder if it will be too hot to stay in those during February.    One of the first things I always look for is air-conditioning.  And I know that's so NOT eco-friendly.   I feel guilty about that.    I did go to camps in the American summer which had no air-conditioning. I survived that.  Should I be brave and try again?   I don't know.I've become very intolerant to heat.

We're going to be in the south though, and we're going to be near a beach. It shouldn't be that hot. I hope.



What would our world be like if we
knew for sure there 
was life after death, and 
we could easily talk to our 
dearly-departed on the Internet?

The Dead are Online a novel by Dina Roberts 



15 comments:

  1. No, they don't put you in quarantine. they make you clean your shoes :)

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  2. Suburbanhen,

    LOL. Thanks for the heads up ; )

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  3. Hi buddy,

    It's nice down there, though Wollongong ain't too far from Sydney really, about an hour to drive.

    I doubt if the immigration would care if you had come into contact with farm animals - they would maybe just make sure you haven't got any manure and stuff on your sneakers.

    There are some lovely beaches down that way, and you can just keep on driving right down the coast and finding more and more beaches and scenery.

    Sounds like fun.

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  4. Tribog,

    Maybe you can meet us at one of the beaches.

    We can all build a sandcastle together.

    Thanks for the farm animal info!!!!!!!

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  5. Sure mate, sounds good.

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  6. Personally, I'd skip both the 'Gong and Shellharbour and keep going further down.

    Last time we went south coast we stayed at Merimbula - lots of touristy things within a short drive including a great wildlife park (Yellowpinch)where we got to pat all manner of native animals without the crowds like you'd get at Sydney for example.

    Though if I had to choose between Shellharbour and Wollongong, I'd go Shellharbour. Last time I stayed there we had a cabin right on the beachfront (with airconditioning). Three steps from the front verandah and you were out of the park and onto the beach.

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  7. Bettina,

    I'll look into Merimbula. Thanks.

    Do you remember the name of the place you stayed at in Shellharbour?

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  8. I'm from Wollongong, currently living here right now. I would choose The 'Gong if you'd like something harbourfront and pretty but still a little city-slick.

    I would choose Shellharbour if you're more into something relaxed and non-city.

    Or Seven Mile Beach... that's one of my FAVOURITE places to be. No one in their right mind could come away from a holiday there and NOT love it.

    Manyana and Lake Conjola are also very nice if you want something secluded and discrete.

    Here ends my two cents. :)

    ~Melyssa

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  9. Melissa,

    Thank you for your 2 cents. I think it was actually worth at least ten dollars. But I'm not going to pay you. I need to save my money for the hotel and all that ; )

    I'm thinking we should probably do Shellharbour. The time we go will be between Canberra & Sydney....so I think we'll have enough city time.

    I'm glad you like Seven Mile Beach. That's a relief!! So, we'll probably definitely stay around there.

    I do want to see Wollongong, so I'm sure we'll at least drive there for a day trip or something. How far is it from Shellharbour? I'm guessing it's not too far.....

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  10. Hey there,
    As a person who lives in wollongong, for a more touristy feel shellharbour would definately be a go. As for how long it takes, personally the cinemas at wollongong are garbage so me and my friends go to shellharbour and it usually takes between 15~25 minutes depending on traffic. It's quite a pleasant short little trip that'll leave you scratching your head going "was that it?"
    Hope you enjoy your time in the Illawarra =D

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  11. Fentman,

    Thanks for the info! That helps clear things up for me. I wasn't sure if the two places were really close or not.

    I'd say 10-15 minutes is VERY close.

    I was kind of picturing 45min-1hr.

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  12. http://www.shellharbourbeachsidetouristpark.com.au/accomm.html

    This is the caravan park we stayed at at Shellharbour. Their onsite cabins are beachside and very nice.

    Kiama is only a short hop, skip and jump away which might be worth a visit to the blowhole and lighthouse.

    And while we are on south coast and your love of beaches........ if you got to Jervis Bay (2.5 hrs from Sydney) they have a lot of nice little villages and Hyams Beach - reputedly the whitest beach in the world.

    It's gorgeous!! We we swimming there in the crystal clear waters and watching fish dart around our feet. It really is one of the most beautiful places I have been.

    http://www.jervisbaytourism.com/

    Hope this doesn't spam me with the links in my comment! lol

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  13. Bettina,

    You can get spam from links in comments. I'm so lost about these things!!!!

    Anyway, thanks for the links, but sorry if you get spammed because of it ; )

    I will definitely look into Jervis Bay. It might be a good place for Tim to go Scuba-Diving. I think I remember hearing that it's one of the top places for that.

    I'm going to go look at your tourist park link now!!! I'll have to compare it to the one I was looking at....see which one looks better.

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  14. lol, I won't get spam, just thought I might have been listed on as a spam comment because of the links.

    Jervis Bay is magnificent and there is a huge diving tourist industry there.

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  15. Bettina,

    LOL. Well, see....I really AM lost about all of this!!!

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