The Beautiful South Coast

For what seems like forever, Gav & I have been talking about taking a trip to the South Coast and this weekend we finally got to do it! As I’m back to working full time we only had the weekend free but decided to make the most of it by heading off early (ish) Saturday morning.

Gav and I have always loved long drives together - we take our favourite drinks, put on some music and just chat about anything and everything. I think some of our best conversations happen in the car as neither of us are attached to our iphones, ipads, laptops etc like we can be at home.

Part of the attraction for a trip to the South Coast was doing the Grand Pacific Drive. It’s a 140km coastal drive from south of Sydney to Wollongong. Wow, it did not disappoint. There were so many quaint little coastal towns along the way like Thirroul, Scarborough and Coledale, full of cafes, old pubs and non-stop beaches. We also drove over the Sea Cliff Bridge which was really cool but kinda freaked me out as I’m scared of heights and the bridge is suspended over the ocean. It offered great views but I was happy when we were off it!

We spent some time exploring Wollongong but it was windy, cold and started to rain so we decided to head to Kiama where we were staying. Kiama is such a sweet little town! We strolled through the small Terrace Houses that were built in 1886 for quarrymen but are now used as lolly shops, boutique’s, antique stores and restaurants. We stumbled across a second hand book sale where I scored a book I have been wanting for a long time but hadn’t been able to find and Gav grabbed an old Dr Karl book he hadn’t read.

Seeing the Kiama Blow Hole was a must for Mr Geology (aka the husband) and he was definitely in his element. I was surprised at how much I liked it – before we went I thought “meh, it’s some water coming through a hole in some rocks, big deal” but it was bigger and better than expected. I could have watched it all day!

The hotel we stayed at was the Sebel Harbourside which we were treated to by my parents (thanks mum & dad!). It was a beautiful hotel across from the harbour and had a very cool old stone school attached to it which is now used as a function centre. Our room was perfect, the staff were super helpful and breakfast and dinner were amazeballs! We were happy that the restaurant/bar were showing A-league games live so we got to catch a bit of the Sydney v Wellington game before watching our Jets play the Central Coast. Will definitely stay at this hotel again!

On Sunday morning we noticed markets along the harbourside as we were checking out of the hotel. We LOVE markets so spent some time wandering around the water’s edge looking at all the different stores. Great relaxing start to the day!

On the way home we again took the Grand Pacific Drive before heading into the Royal National Park once we got closer to Sydney. Neither of us had been through the park before but the scenery was breathtaking – beautiful green, lush forest then turning into real Australian bush as we got higher out of the park. It was well worth the extra time!

As usual, as soon as we hit the F3 freeway back towards home I fell asleep! I don’t know what the reason is but this happens every time we are driving home along the F3!!

It really was a perfect, relaxing weekend together. We have both been quite busy lately with work and general life so it was good to take some time out to just be together. Definitely the refresher we needed!

We are hoping to do lots more of these type of trips this year, quick little weekend’s away exploring NSW. Where should we go next?

Here are a few photos from our trip...