My flight out of LAX was very delayed so we ended up taking off at 1am. I had a good nights sleep in business class and 13 hours later we landed in Sydney. I remind myself how much I love my mother! When I am in economy on the way home I will appreciate her even more. With an express card I was through passport control, baggage claim, customs and sitting in my tiny rental car in less than an hour.

I stopped off at Abyss dive shop on my way south to pick up my tanks and weights. I went through the Royal National Park towards Stanwell Park stopping at beautiful looking places. An hour after landing at Sydney I was kayaking up Kangaroo Creek in the bush – modern travel is truly amazing. All sorts of animals were along the river – very noisy and numerous white cockatoos, a turtle sitting on a branch sunning itself, common ducks and many birds that I couldn’t name. I found a mud nest just above the water on an undercut rock face and had a quick face wash in the stream as far as I got up river. The vegetation was thick on all sides with a quite a few eucalyptus trees, lots of different shrubs some with blooms.

After a quick hot chocolate, chips and sausage sandwich for lunch it was off down the road south. I turned off at the Wolla exit and took a walk down to a beautiful lagoon where people were swimming in the warm shallow water. The water was a stunning blue and the beach was beautiful yellow sand a stunning view and nicely sheltered. Back in the car I stopped at Garie beach which was windswept and populated with people learning to surf. The sand was beautifully rippled by the wind and the grass was blowing at an angle – a different beach from a few miles north. There is a view point above the beach looking north and south very similar to the California coastline.

I had by now started to succumb to jetlag and thought it wise to continue onto my bed and breakfast after checking out my dive site for the next day. I stayed at Tudor Lodge a very friendly comfortable black a block back from the beach with a dog which of course I loved. I struggled to stay awake and managed till 7pm before it was bedtime!