South West Rocks: Day Eight

In typical style we gave ourselves a lot to do in the morning as we wanted to squeeze in a trip to see the dolphins in Nelson Bay. So we got packed up in double quick time and got down to the bay by 10:30.

The whole bay is built around trips to see the dolphins. We jumped on the nearest boat with an impressive 99% sighting success rate. That sold me so we climbed aboard. The trip is one and a half hours long. The first half hour is very much scene setting and an opportunity to sell some woeful dolphinesque merchandise.

Obviously it only gets exciting when in a hushed voice the Captain says: “Okay guys about 5 metres to the left of us are three dolphins.” At that point, 30 people run into an area the size of a small garden shed, dropping flip flops struggling to focus cameras and generally missing the fleeting glimpse of a dolphin which makes my own picture all the more impressive. (You may not get to see this for awhile but take my word for it).

We did see some dolphins very close up which was wonderful. The whole boat experience was slightly beyond Cassius and Hero but I was glad we had seen them. I love dolphins and they are inspiring to see outside of a Sea World environment. Dolphin Fact: They hold their breath for around 2 minutes until coming back to the surface for air. n.b. There is more exciting dolphin news to come from today’s adventure!

After the dolphin trip we hit the road. We expected a 3-4 hour trip so we fed the kids and put our foot to the floor. The legal speed limit is 110 km per hour that surprisingly from driving in the UK everyone observes. So you settle in and watch the picnic stops fly by every few clicks (military expression for Major Mills – hope you are feeling fighting fit again!) until the sign tells you it is time to turn off.

We were on our way to South West Rocks! Everyone was getting very excited about seeing Jude and James. We called them and said we were on our way so they said they wait at our chalet.

We would have been there in a few minutes but I slammed on the brakes when I saw three kangaroos in a field just a few metres ahead. Hero sat in the back saying “Roo! Roo!”.

As planned we arrived at the Trial Bay Eco Resort in South West Rocks to find Jude and James waiting at our cabin. The cabin is set in a semi-tropical forest by the beach so you are constantly surrounded by all the local sights and sounds.

It’s great to see Jude and James. It is obvious to say but they haven’t changed a bit. Well better tans but that is the only discernible difference. Oh and Jude’s tattoo (only joking Ruth).

After a few hours in the car the kids were desperate to get to the beach. James and I headed for the supermarket and Katy, Jude and the kids headed for the beach on foot. South West Rocks is a small holiday resort - bigger than Shoal Bay but similar in size to a small Cornish seaside town.

We met up at the beach nearest the resort where the sun was just setting. It then very quickly gets dark so we left for the campsite. As we turned into the site we saw some more kangaroos which was fine until Jude opened the door to show Cass who was definitely unsure about being so close.

That night we cooked some food and caught up on the last few months. We went to sleep with the sound of the ‘wild’ still ringing in our ears. Until tomorrow my little Pommies.