Coasts with the most
by Bob Holmes
LIFE just ain’t fair – not only does Sydney boast 58 beaches within its city limits, it has fabulous coastlines within a couple of hours’ drive both north and south.
And either way – whether it is south along the Grand Pacific Drive or north along the New South Wales Central Coast – there’s a lot more on the menu than sea and surf.
Delicacies include a brewery and a Buddhist temple, resident dolphins, commuting whales and queueing pelicans.
SOUTHERN COMFORTS
We could have been lost but for the sliver of smooth tarmac up ahead. There had been nothing but bush and ocean views – not a single car – for half an hour but then after one more incline, there she was – shimmering on the horizon just above the tree line.
Sydney’s skyline was unmistakable yet it seemed like an apparition. Surely, we could not be this close to a major city while surrounded by nothing but the Never Never?
Oh, yes, we could – we were in the Royal National Park at the northern gateway to the Grand Pacific Drive. Robinson Crusoe might have felt at home on some of the beaches yet we were just 40k from Australia’s biggest city.
We had begun this journey two days ago spotting dolphins. In between, we had dropped by a winery built by convicts, trodden a tree-top lookout, strolled through historic villages.
The Grand Pacific Drive is New South Wales’ answer to Victoria’s longer and more celebrated Great Ocean Road.
Made possible by the completion of the spectacular Sea Cliff Bridge at Wollongong, a 665m engineering marvel perched on stilts high above a rocky headland, the Grand Pacific Drive snakes around spectacular cliffs and seaside villages for 169km, yet is short enough to be done in a day-trip from Sydney.
Far better, though, is to take your time and make a few detours – if you can drag yourself off the road.
» Illawarra Fly
(www.illawarrafly.com.au)
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Lookout point at Illawarra Fly. | There are adventures, soft adventures and there are Gucci walks. Our guide came up with that name after telling us a vast swathe of New South Wales rainforest could be seen without getting our shoes dirty.
Guccis? Cinderella could have done it in one slipper.
We had zigzagged up Jamberoo Mountain Road in the Southern Highlands, listening to birds, marvelling at the scenery until we reached the Illawarra Fly, an exciting, new A$6.5 million (RM15.8 million) addition to the region’s must-dos.
Straddling the top of the Illawarra escarpment, the 500m walkway is 25m above the ground but as solid as Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Think FRIM for grandmas or, for those who know their Malaysian canopy walks, Mat Chinchang in Langkawi.
Below is the forest and in the distance, lush green valleys and the Pacific coastline.
If you do as the brochure suggests and ‘Go to the Edge’, the extended cantilevers do offer a slight sway but you’ll be so taken by the view that you may not even notice.
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Des res for dolphins
(www.dolphinwatch.com.au)
They are so sure you’ll see dolphins in Jervis Bay you get a free return trip if you draw a blank. But with over 70 bottlenose dolphins in residence and a boatload of hawk-eyed passengers, sightings are guaranteed.
And if you don’t see them from the decks, someone somewhere will.
After 20 minutes of false alarms, a fisherman radioed our skipper to tell him he’d spotted a school near a beach on the starboard side.
And before we knew it, the engines were cut and they were frolicking around the boat.
Just beyond the southern end of the Grand Pacific Drive, the sheltered bay is the ultimate des res for dolphins as well as being a favourite pit stop for whales during the southern migration.
With beaches the Guinness Book of Records says have the whitest sand in the world, it isn’t bad for humans either.
» Coolangatta Winery
(www.coolangattaestate.com.au)
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Coolangatta Winery. | You do not just sip fine wines at Coolangatta, you quaff large gulps of Australian history.
Nigh on 200 years since the first European settlement of the New South Wales south coast, Coolangatta Estate offers luxury accommodation, restaurants, conference facilities and a golf course among other namby-pamby comforts convicts could only dream about.
But it was the convicts – 100 of them – who cut the first trees, turned the first sod and broke their backs to carve out a bit of civilisation in this southern wilderness.
Vines were first planted in 1850 but after an early flourish, the whole place went into decline. It wasn’t until 1971 that it began to be restored and new vines were planted. And how!
Coolangatta is now the South Coast’s most-awarded winery besides being a great self-contained resort.
CENTRAL EXPOSURE
» Glenworth Valley
(www.glenworth.com.au)
The figures are impressive – 3,000 acres of unspoilt wilderness, 200 horses, one hour from Sydney CBD (central business district).
That is the boast of Australia’s largest and most spectacular horse riding centre that lies in the glorious hinterland of New South Wales’ Central Coast.
But there’s much more than equestrian activities available – kayaking, quad biking, abseiling, laser skirmishing and orienteering are also on tap.
However you get your kicks, you can’t fail to marvel at the surroundings – forested hillsides, natural rock pools, lush green valleys and ancient rainforest trails. Horse riding lessons are available.
» Feeding frenzy @ The Entrance
(www.theentrance.org)
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Feeding pelicans @ The Entrance. | It’s billed as a highlight of any visit to the Central Coast and they’ve even built an amphitheatre to make sure you can get an unobstructed view.
Every day at 3.30pm they come, the spectators as excited as the participants. It is described as a feeding frenzy, but the orderly way the pelicans line up, it might be high tea for little old ladies.
The Entrance is now proud to be called pelican capital and the event pulls in 20,000 visitors annually.
Not bad for something that started 20 years ago when a local fish shop worker started throwing them his scraps during his lunch break.
The writer’s trip is courtesy of Tourism Australia and Tourism NSW.
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