Next to the Sale showground is Greyhound Racing Victoria. There is a race track, club, cafe and restaurant. We had dinner at the restaurant both nights we have been here and the food was good and prices reasonable. You won't see many signs like this one. I guess a racing dog runs faster with an empty bladder and bowels. We won't be here on a race day to see if the greyhounds obey the sign. As we approach Melbourne we experienced 35 degree heat during the day, and a plunge in the temperature to less than 20 degrees this evening. The hot westerly wind changed to a cold southerly and Max was happy to have her coat on for the first time in ages. The wind today has been relentless with gusts over 50 kph whipping up the dust. If it rains overnight that dust will turn to mud!

Early this morning there were two dozen kangaroos on the footie field. At least the rain held off and we were able to pack up without getting wet. Yesterday we walked to town with the dogs to have breakfast. Later I left Anita with the critters while she prepared a late lunch. I managed to have a decent walk returning along this beach. We are now in Sale camped at the showgrounds with about 40 other vans. It is cheaper than caravan parks at $22   per day for a powered site. Dinner at the nearby Greyhound Racing Club was good except for a child who screamed so loudly it aggravated our tinnitus.

We had to take turns going for a walk this morning - I walked Coco as he can go at a reasonable pace, then Anita walked by herself. This is what we have to do to get our exercise as we are not allowed to leave the dogs by themselves in caravan parks. The sun came out for a while and the cats loitered near the door until I got the message. They had a good look around and delighted a few people in the park who were blessed with cuddles. The rain returned and thwarted our plans for lunch so we bunkered down for a lazy Sunday afternoon. Miki and Riki have to rest after their exercise.

We picked the Mallacoota foreshore caravan park because we had stayed once before on a grassy site overlooking the bay. This time the park is crowded and our allocated site is on bare dirt with a view of the footie field. At least there are no other dogs nearby. Last night we dawdled across the oval to the local pub (old Max is slow at the best of times but she had to sniff all the kangaroo poo). The dogs were ok in the outdoor eating area until the rain came. We stayed dry in a small shelter normally used by smokers. I took the dogs back when the rain stopped and Anita managed to get our meals as takeaways. Our dinners were worth the effort. This is boaties' paradise as you can put your boat in the water and leave it moored when not being used - saves the hassle of putting it back on the boat trailer every day. This fisherman was cleaning his catch and feeding scraps to the waiting pelicans.

There is an Italian restaurant at the marina and that is where we had dinner. Nice setting and the food was good. They serve lovely sour dough bread from a local bakery we had not yet idiscovered. It was so good I was there this morning when the bakery opened - fig and walnut yum! It was still light when we left the restaurant and I was able to take this pic of the sea-going fishing boats. This area is known as the Sapphire Coast because of the colour of the water. It must be a good fishing area from the number of boats around.

We loaded the dogs into the Jeep and had lunch at the Fisherman's Wharf. Later we did a short local tour. These people are swimming in the pools even while big waves crash over the rocks and cause surges in the water.

It was a slow drive from Gerroa to Bermagui because of the winding highway and some roadworks.  We needed to stop to get coffee at Ulladulla but it was hard to find a park. We settled for a side street near MacDonalds. Anita hiked down the hill while I got the dogs out to stretch their legs. Two women pulled up on the other side of the road and from their Kedron caravan I guessed we met them years ago at a party. Sure enough we have friends in common and they are going on the Beccy Cole trip in May!  The weather is good here today. We walked the dogs into town for breakfast and to see the harbour. The shags and gulls are at the fish cleaning station waiting for the fishing boats to return. Now we will spend some time planning our trip to the UK and Ireland later this year.

The rain eased off so on Tuesday we explored the historic town of Berry. These old boats are on the roof of the hotel - goodness knows why! A recently completed bridge means the Princes Highway now bypasses this tourist town.  The main attraction for us was the promise of gormet food. We found a fabulous bakery for morning coffee and enjoyed lunch at a local cafe. Anita bought some spices and other delicacies from the Treat Factory in the industrial estate. We headed back to our van to pack up ready for the next leg of our journey.

Our first stop south of Sydney was Gerroa, a small coastal village not far from Kiama. We managed to drive around the city from the northern beaches, rather than tow the Bushtracker over the Harbour Bridge. We pick destinations depending whether there is a pet friendly caravan park. We arrived in time to set up the van before the rain came. Our power awning is useless as it is only for providing shade not shelter from the rain - it also has to be put away if there is any wind. We know Bushtracker did not tell us any of this when they suugested this awning! We will have to replace it with a more practical version. The dogs stayed dry in their shelter, except Coco tipped over his water bowl! This pic is the rock platform at Gerroa. We also drove around the larger town of Gerringong. The big swell had the local surfers out in force.

We had a great time at the wedding. The setting was Avalon Beach and fortunately it was a sunny day. There are no pics until the newly married couple post theirs on social media.  On Sunday we caught up with friends at Cirrus Dining at Barangaroo. This was the first time we had visited that new development in Sydney and I was impressed by some of the architecture. There are dozens of restaurants and gormet food stores for us to explore at a future time. On Sunday evening we farewelled family and friends from the wedding at the Newport Arms Hotel.  This morning I collected excited dogs but very grouchy cats who hadn't been fed enough during their weekend incarceration. We drove around Sydney heading for Gerroa on the South Coast.

We don't normally stay in holiday parks but this one is close to Avalon Beach in Sydney where we are going to the wedding one of my nephews and his lovely fiancee. Some other family members are staying in cabins in the same park. Cooking dinner in the camp kitchen was a collective effort and the result was much nicer than last night's meal at the Boathouse restaurant. The tall fella in the pic is my niece's partner and the little ones are their delightful kids. They take after their father in terms of height - my great nephew is only three and a half but is as tall as most 5 year olds, and my great niece is just two but could be mistaken for a four year old. They are both very polite and outgoing. This was the first time our father met these great grand children as they live interstate.

We left our critters at our friend's house and had lunch at Mumm's on the Myall (river) at Tea Gardens. This was the view we enjoyed. The food was good though not brilliant. For dinner we went to an old favourite but were sorely disappointed. The Tea Gardens Boatshed has previously served interesting tasty food, but last night we didn't enjoy any of the dishes we ordered. The menu was limited and the food served was uninspiring. The only good things were the view and the fact we didn't have to do the dishes!

Dogs are not allowed on the section of Jimmy's Beach near our caravan park, so I left them with Anita while I had a dip (after emptying our toilet cassette at the dump site). That job used to be unpleasant but with new septic-friendly chemicals it is not so bad. Anita spotted a snake cross the track to the beach so all dogs stayed on leads. It is warm so we wet the dogs before they walked the track. Both of our dogs are very reluctant to swim these days and that is such a change from when they were younger. They still play in the sea and seem to enjoy themselves. We saw one dolphin swimming close to shore parallel to the beach. This afternoon we have retreated to the air conditioned comfort of the Bushtracker.

On our drive south from Woolgoolga we called into Pet Barn at Coffs Harbour to buy a stronger dog crate for Coco - so far so good. We had booked to stay 2 nights at Jimmy's Beach caravan park but decided to stay 4 nights. This beautiful protected beach is on the north eastern shore of Port Stephens near Hawks Nest. There is a large bush reserve around the park. Last night the dogs barked and I looked out to see a dingo trotting away from their crates. It was sniffing around the backs of caravans where it is darkest. We went swimming today with our friend and the dogs. At this time of year on a week day that section of beach is very quiet. The humans and canines had their exercise so I brought the cats to our friend's house so they could run around - so much for that idea! Our critters can all stay here safely while we go out for dinner this evening. 

When we last stayed at this caravan park there was no sign of this ship wreck. It is sometimes completely buried in sand and other times uncovered to varying degrees. These are the remains of a Canadian built ship named Buster. It was wrecked in a storm in 1893. What is amazing is the iron has not completely rusted away in all that time. The timber is rock-like and has taken on the colour of the rusting steel. We didn't have to wait long for our cattle dog Coco to escape. I made the mistake of walking him alone, then taking Max by herself. As I went around a building Max pricked up her ears and instead of seeing something like a bush turkey, there was Coco literally sneaking along behind us. I hadn't forgotten to zip and clip his cage - he had simply pushed the zip door open. I made a temporary repair with some shade cloth, but we will have to buy a stronger cage for him.

Yesterday we hit the road again towing the Bushtracker to Woolgoolga. This time the critters are with us. As the van is not big enough to accommodate the dogs I set up a sun/rain shelter for them at the rear of the van. When travelling the cats go in one of the dog cages, Max in the other, and Coco on a bed in his harness.  We had only just arrived when two lovely people we met on our last Aussie Road Crew trip walked by! Julie and Danny are staying in the same park - it is such a small world. We are going to a wedding in Sydney and to the Port Fairy Folk Festival in March. The rest of our itinerary is flexible.