Kiama NSW

I just realised it's been a month since my last post.

It's nearly the end of the winter break for my girls. I have been quiet on the blog front due to the holidays and also my sis and her family who were visiting from the USA. We had a great time with my sis, BIL and nephew. The first weekend, we flew down to Melbourne for a family reunion with our cousins and aunt there. Our cousin, Jenn, her son - Jayden and our 2nd aunt joined us in Melbourne from Malaysia. The four children had a fantastic time bonding. We were blessed with fab weather, which was good to be outdoors exploring. We took trams around town, feasting on Malaysian food in Melbourne. I think we did more eating and walking as well as catching up with everyone. We're planning another reunion, maybe Perth next year but definitely in Malaysia in 2012 for our grandma's 90th birthday.

One of the places we visited whilst they were here was a coastal town in the South Coast of NSW called Kiama. Kiama is located about 90 minutes south from Sydney. It was a beautiful clear blue sky and windy day when we started our journey south. Our first stop was Bald Head Hill Lookout close to Wollongong, where bikies congregate on the headland. You can also hang-glide off the cliff and land on a beach somewhere in the Gong. It was so so windy that I literally had to hang on to my girls as soon as we got out from the car. We met Kevin at Bald Head  lookout. It was a quick introductions and photo op before we hopped back into the car for a drive south on the 665m Seacliff Bridge along the Grand Pacific Drive for our next stop, AustiBeach Cafe at Austinmer Beach.

View from Bald Head Lookout. Photo from July 09

Here Kevin joined us for brunch. We warmed up with hot chocolates, flat whites, cappucinos, vienna coffee and babycinos as well as hot breakfasts for all.

Austinmer Beach

 Then it was onward to Kiama and the famous blowhole. The name Kiama is from the aboriginal word Kiaram-a, to which some sources give the meaning "Where the sea makes a noise" as reference to the famous Kiama Blowhole. Here are some photos of Kiama.

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Location:Sydney, Australia

NSW South Coast

Warning: Long post.

Since it's the winter school holidays, we decided to take a short break to the NSW South Coast. I know it's cold now so they will be no swimming or surfing, but it's still nice down the coast. We've booked a holiday home in Gerroa to share with another family who have two girls like us. The girls attend the same primary school.

We decided to take the scenic route via Sea Cliff Bridge along the Grand Pacific Drive. The views from the bridge are absolutely stunning, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The bridge is a popular drive for weekenders and it was opened in 2005.

We also stopped to have brunch at Austinmer Beach. Here's a look at what we ate.


The section of NSW South Coast that we visited is known as Kiama Shellharbour and it is only 90mins from Sydney. The area is famous for its surfing beaches - Werri Beach, Seven Mile Beach and also the Blowhole in Kiama.


The house we stayed in was spacious with four bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. It had fabulous panoramic views of the ocean and mountains. We spent the 1st day relaxing in the home despite the lovely weather outside. Friends who moved to Gerroa visited us in the afternoon and brought muffins with them.

The next day after a hearty breakkie which the men cooked, we set off to the Illawarra Tree Top Walk, which is a fun but cold adventure. The views were lovely and breath-taking. The girls were frightened because of the heights but the structure was pretty sturdy. We were walking 25m above the ground.


After the walk, we stopped by at The Abbey run by Benedictine nuns, to buy some candles and also attend a prayer session in the church there. The Abbey is a lovely, serene and peaceful place.
We had a late lunch at Berry, which is so full of Sydneysiders on weekends now. It was really busy. We were tired after the walk, so we headed back to the house to relax before dinner.

I'll end this post with the food we had on our last night.