Wednesday

2019 South Coast Adventure
WEDNESDAY MORNING At camp We're packed and ready to go. We decide to leave one day early, otherwise we won't have enough time to get back to pick Mackie up and Jenni has work things to do. Packing up takes a long time so we leave camp a bit late at 10:40 and head for Bega. TUESDAY On our way to Bega This is dairy country and quite beautiful. It's interesting to compare the number of native trees remaining on Australian farms with those on NZ's dairy farms. TUESDAY Bega On the way to Bega, we stop for roadworks that delay us for another 15 minutes. We park just outside Bega and walk into town. TUESDAY Bega Bega is a typical prosperous NSW country town with a past and future in dairy farming. The Bega Valley Shire itself has timber and fishing operations with both of these industries suffering from overextraction.
TUESDAY Bega The Court House was listed on the Register of the National Estate. That register was replaced by the Australian National Heritage List. That is, Governmental activity = governmental achievement. TUESDAY Bega Many of these old pubs had their origins in the 1880 Bermagui gold rush and the economic boom that followed. TUESDAY Bega Here's your chance, a 40 acre hideaway including a "rustic" residence for only $249,000. Sadly, the last kilometre to the property is accessible by four-wheel drive only. The house might needs some newspaper jammed into the cracks, but still? TUESDAY Bega The town itself is really not all that interesting so we plot a route to the Bega Cheese Heritage Centre which is on the other side of the Bega River.
TUESDAY The Bega cheese factory The Bega Dairy Cooperative Limited was set up in the late 1890s and is the manufactuer of the Bega Cheese brand. Bega products are exported around the world and distributed widely across Australia TUESDAY The Bega cheese factory This is the original cheese factory building from 1890. It is now the home of the Bega Cheese Heritage Centre. TUESDAY The Bega cheese factory It's quite a nice little cafe/cheese outlet. Jenni orders scones for me and a mixed meat/salad/cheese platter for herself. TUESDAY The Bega cheese factory It actually has a nice atmosphere in here.
TUESDAY The Bega cheese factory The heritage centre is upstairs and contains some memorabilia from the early days of settlement. TUESDAY The Bega cheese factory When I see stuff like this, it reminds of how similar our heritage is to that of the Americans. TUESDAY The Bega cheese factory TUESDAY The Bega cheese factory That TV running continuously in the background left pours out a continuous stream of drivel: "World's best" everything. It even claims that the cows are very contented, look forward to their daily milking and this is one of the numerous reasons the milk is world's best. It's so awful that it's actually worth watching.
TUESDAY The Bega cheese factory I've been watching on You Tube a guy in Montana who builds and rebuilds these steel rimmed, wooden waggon wheels. He usually builds four at at time and the process is boring, repetitive and highly, highly skilled. He repairs and builds wheels for historic sites right across the USA. TUESDAY The Bega cheese factory There is a contrast between then and now though. Jenni has to plug in her Apple Watch into the power and recharge it. The battery in my watch lasts a couple of years and the battery in my cheapie Casio lasted ten years (as did the watch and I never needed an updated model). TUESDAY The Bega cheese factory What confusing signs these are; both signs point in opposite directions. The yellow painted footsteps help me work it out. TUESDAY The Bega cheese factory Now we head for home. We stop for coffee at Bodalla again, but otherwise it's a straight line to almost home. We stop at Pennant Hills and buy a couple of kebabs. RETURN TRIP DATA: Drive time 7 hours. Distance 504 kms. Fuel economy 14.1 L/100km or 20 MPG Imperial. Obeyed speed limits. CAR VERDICT: Bought as a "tow-truck"; Excellent towing. Extremely comfortable. Power when needed like in overtaking lanes. Seats great, no back pains. No dust entered the car. Doesn’t rattle. Doesn’t squeak. I like the car. That's the end of our South Coast Adventure