CAMPSITE # 9 - Naomi & Dan's place in Gymea, Sydney

The Aussie soapie fans inside of us came out to play. And of course, when I say 'us' I actually mean me. Did you know, the beach setting of Home & Away isn't actually called Summer Bay? :) It's shot at Palm Beach- about 1/2 hours drive from the city and located on a beautiful spot, the houses in Palm Beach certainly aren't those run down surfers shacks you see at Summer Bay.

(I particularly like the name of the Club Official in this photo - Tom didn't get it).


Tom's contemplating-life's-decisions-while-overlooking-the-bay pose

The infamous walk up the sand with shoes in hand...

Again, we were spoiled for the next 'campsite' & poor Charlie the Troopcarrier sat on the street all alone. But, we had some serious socialising to do & the cost of an unpowered site anywhere within 100km radius of Sydney city were at least $40+ per night... NO THANKS!!!

It was lovely catching up with Naomi & Dan... us girls reminiscing on the 'good old days' was a lot of fun. Was a shame that Dan had to work but Naomi still flew the tour leader flag for us - even taking us to spots she hadn't been herself before.

Day trip to Manly via the ferry. Was a beautiful day & we enjoyed some super cheap gourmet burgers & beer overlooking the beach... was perfect.

The park was shut so we couldn't go on any rides, not that we were going to anyhow. 

Tom made some musical friends at Circular Quay. Whenever you drop your coins into their little hat, the guy on the didgeridoo says "Thaaaank You" in this freaky voice echoing through the Doo. Was SUCH a tourist attraction, as you could imagine. Tom couldn't help himself and had to get involved. He did a great job with the sticks & it was very entertaining. 

We went for a lovely tourist drive along the south coast of Sydney, between Sydney & Wollongong. There's a bridge there called the "SeaCliff Bridge" which you may recognise from all of the car ads as they drive around the bends over the sea..

The Seacliff bridge was only built 5 years ago because the original cliff side road became too dangerous from falling rocks above. A tradition has started along the pedestrian side of the bridge where couple get a padlock, engrave their name & details on the padlock and lock it onto the railings then throw the key into the water. While yes, this is considering littering in more ways than one - it's tradition and quite sweet really. And considering we just so happened to have a spare padlock in the Troopie's man draw AND a rock engravy thingo mobob (Tom used some technical term I can't quite remember)... we decided when in Rome...

We even had some whales swimming south to wish us well...

Great shot hey!!

Bondi Rescue - Charlie Troopcarrier on patrol

All in all, we had a lovely time in Sydney. It was really lovely to catch up with friends & to see some familiar faces. But, Australia is calling and we must continue our adventure to see as much of this beautiful country as we possibly can before we run out of cash lol.