Albury

Today, and the coming days, are mostly driving with an occasional stop. Today, we followed Zoe to Moruya. Now, Moruya is a great example of the constant problem we’re encountering. I say this town as Mo-ru-ya. I learned to read phonetically, so when Zoe and Di said we were going to Maria, I assumed Ma-ri-a. I looked on the map, and there was no Maria to be found nor was there anything that looked like Maria. I found a way to ask again and clearly heard Maria. I feel like there are only so many times that you can ask people to repeat themselves before you look like an idiot, so I decided I would be patient and just read the road signs. Imagine my surprise when I saw “Moruya 26km.” The fun of traveling is that we have these surprises everyday (eg: Kim and Zoe had some confusion with tiebill - table).

Zoe and Di passed us off to Margaret, who hosted lunch for us. She provided several suggestions for sightseeing along the coast but warned us about the mozzies (how is this the word for mosquitos?). She confirmed that Gipsy Point was beautiful, but insect repellent was crucial.

On our way to Gipsy Point, we stopped in Merimbula. There is a wooden boardwalk on a portion of the lake and it was a great refresher, after driving a couple hours. The water was crystal clear and the wooded path moved in and out of the bush and out over the water. It was a beautiful walk.

Lucky for us, the mozzies were minimal, and we had an amazing stay at Gipsy Point. The lodge we booked was in the bush and adjacent to a national park. As we approached the drive, a koala was spotted high in one of the trees. We got registered as quickly as possible, so we could go watch the koala. We spent half an hour with our necks cranked upward, watching a little ball of fuzz stuff his mouth full of eucalyptus leaves. Occasionally, he would stretch to reach more leaves, but he had found the perfect branch; there was a second branch supporting his back, sort of like a koala lazy-boy. As we stood there, we realized there was another koala, a bit higher, is a nearby tree, as well.

We decided to give our necks a break and got settled in our room until dusk. Not surprisingly, when we ventured out, the area had turned into a veritable zoo. We couldn’t see a lot (it was getting dark), but the sounds were intense. We couldn’t believe how active it was; birds were chirping, bats were flapping, and the bush crackled with the steps of strange critters. We could hear the kangaroos jumping about but couldn’t see them, so we headed back to the lodge. Ironically, we walked up on a kangaroo eating the grass in front of the lodge. We watched for a while and then we heard the bouncing of two others coming our way. Shortly, two small kangaroos hopped right by us. Wish we would have thought to stay here for a week. What a gem! We’ll be sure to take a walk tomorrow morning before we leave.Lue lisää