My Aunt the Carnivorous Moose: Hands Full of Glitter and Tofu : 2011 Day 298 (Tuesday 25 October) - Roadtrip 3

8.55 a.m. We slept in and it was freaking gorgeous! I did have vague thoughts that we should be out and about touristing our brains out till they’re sauteed in a pan and served with dinner (how very holidaying Hannibal Lecter of us I know) but frankly lying in bed, way after I would normally be at work, with my guy beside me, with no desperate need to be anywhere, was deliriously good. I could seriously learn to live like this, but as my gorgeous guy reminded me, they don’t pay you for this. That seems odd since the universe wants me happy right? Well, yes it does, but it seems to have fairly restricted cash flow so I best enjoy all this lazing around while I can until next Monday comes around...

10.01 a.m. Finally showered, and up and about, and watching Home Heist where two very camp, funny Scottish guys, makeover a house. I know it isn’t edifying, deeply intelligent TV but frankly I don’t care. It’s so much FUN! God bless cable TV...

11.58 a.m. We finally made it out the door after one of those long lovely breakfasts you wish you could have on a week day morning when you’re working, but never have the time to manage since you’re rushing for the train, trying to find the right connection, and wishing you were anywhere but on the way to work... we ate the Coco Pops that Silvana gave me - see my blog of my last day at Optus - followed by crumpets slathered in peanut butter and honey (well I slathered; Steve demurely spread which is far healthier) ... and hit the road, chased by ever more substantial drops of rain, headed for Tathra, a small town nestled about 25km from increasingly un-sunny Merimbula. We did the obligatory ‘are there funky shops, and engaging slightly idiosyncratic town centre?’ drive around, decided there may not be, so instead headed for the Old Tathra Wharf, the only surviving South Coast wharf from the old steamship days (build in 1860s), which also has, or rather HAD, a museum, Even sans-museum, it was fun to look at and the views gorgeous... and there was a gull being all Alpha-ish so all was well...

12.25 p.m. A very friendly beer-holding fisherman told us that he’d just seen whales go past so we dashed up to a nearby lookout, and tried in vain to find said whales which must have moved insanely fast, or been quite adept at not being spotted because all we saw was of rain pelting the windscreen, choppy waves and nary a cretacean...

12.45 p.m. Whale-less, but happy we tried, we hit the road again (I love road trips!) for the Mimosa Rocks National Park, which turned out to be down a winding two way narrow dirt road, fringed by tall gums, and orange dirt ant mounds, and totally worth the trip. We were alone, save for a party of Swedes who turned up just after us, and headed for the 250m walk to Moon Bay beach while we walked the 450m to Wajurda Point which overlooks stunning Nelsons Bay. Inbetween delirious gasping and oohing and aahing at the sheer beauty of the crashing waves, craggy headland, and ragged rocks, I tried out my new 360 degree app which allows you to capture a, you guessed it, 360 degree wrap around view of the scene before you, and renders it as a fabulous photo which my blog may not do justice to, but which makes up for the frustration you feel when a single photo or two (or 300 in my case) doesn’t adequately capture the beauty you’re witnessing... and the beauty was considerable. Still wishing we could stay longer at Wajurda Point, we headed down to Moon Bay, passed the Swedes on the way, and walked onto a beach on which we were alone, with only driftwood, and seaweed strands for company. To be alone on such a pristine stretch of beach, with the man you love, is romantic beyond all else, and in-between taking huge amounts of photo, we strolled along the beach from one end to the other, walking along the sand and admiring gum trees that grew up and down the cliff face to amazing effect. It was beyond beautiful, and I am so thankful that someone somewhere thought it a good idea to save these areas for posterity, a sentiment no doubt shared by the kangaroo that bounded across the track as we were driving out of the park (far enough ahead that we didn’t hit him thankfully), and very helpfully stopped in the scrub on the other side in relative plain sight so we could snap some photos of him. What well trained compliant wild life!

2.55 p.m. Back to civilisation and the urban thrills of Bega. It is a lovely town and we had a great time walking around it but finding somewhere distinctive and one-of-a-kind to eat lunch was a challenge, late though the lunch was. We settled on Pepper Beef pies (and for dessert for me at least a pineapple tart, which I haven’t had in years) at Wood’s Bakery and Cafe, which while making ‘famous’ very yummy pies, lacked a great deal in the cosy, unique eating establishment atmospherics. Hilariously we had no sooner walked out of it and back to the car than we passed the Red Cafe, a funky cafe, with a cool menu, mismatched furniture and all the Newtown vibe you could ask for.Still, the food we ate was yummy, so I am sure we will cope with missing out on the charms of Red Cafe....

3.57 p.m. We ate cheese in Bega! Naturally, we had to go to the Bega Cheese & Heritage Centre just out of town, tour the cheese-making museum (using a lot of castoffs from dairy farmers in the area), find a giant 3 uddered plastic cow (as you do) on the upper floor, shopped in the gift shop upstairs with pensioners (as one does on a week day when normal working folk are chained to their cubicles, crying into their lattes), and bought delicious cheddar in tins (for export only usually; reminds of the Kraft cheese I had in my childhood), 19th Century Cheddar Cheese and Kameruka cheeses which you can only buy in Bega. Love the cheese tasting as we chose them!

5.35 p.m. Back to Coast apartments, via a fine foods store for duck/pistachio & orange sausages, and Woolies for dinner supplies (potato for mash, squash/carrots/broccoli for veges) and a whole lot of chilling while we watched the news. I almost fell asleep but we realised we had no red wine for dinner so we dashed back out and drove the whole 2 minutes to town (so far!), got back, decided we needed some pre-dinner white wine, and spices (it’s a serviced apartment so all the groceries have to be brought in) so dashed back out again convinced the lady at Woolies Liquor would think we’re alcoholics, and came back home for what can only be described as a gloriously romantic dinner. My gorgeous guy had secretly grabbed some candles at the store next door to the fine foods place, put them on a tray surrounded by grapes (red & white), and we ate the duck sausages covered in a fabulous red wine & orange juice gravy with a funky caramelised onion chutney on the side. My god can he cook and the presentation is always superb! So delicious and romantic and we had the loveliest time lingering over pate/crackers for entree, the sausages/mash/veges for dinner and icing sugar covered strawberries with ice cream. I love being surprised like that, and it makes me love him, and this wonderful holiday, all the more....