Day 1 - NSW Southern Highlands and South Coast

Today is mostly going to be treading old ground. To get to Melbourne in 3 days I only need to do about 300kms per day, and I've been to most regions that close to Sydney already. Between orienteering, obstacle races and bushwalking, it's all familiar. The only difference is that I usually have a specific destination in mind and end up racing past a lot of places while thinking "I really need to come back here and look around a bit more."

The Sea Cliff Bridge is one of those places. I've probably driven it a dozen times in each direction, and have always wanted to come and take a closer look. Today, I finally got the chance. Though I left a bit later than planned, I had lots of time to make camp before dark so I could afford to stop and enjoy the views from Bald Hill and walk the bridge a little bit. I even managed to suss out a small hidden track to a higher vantage point and get some more interesting angles. I don't think I'd previously noticed the remnants of the old road still clinging to the cliff edge, while the new one snaked its way around further out over the water.

 

Sea Cliff Bridge, NSW

Other than that, there isn't much to note. My first planned campsite seemed like a beautiful spot overlooking the ocean, but turned out to be full even on a Monday. I scrambled to find another option and ended up at a small campsite along the Clyde River. It doesn't have the majesty of North Head Campground, but it offers that other thing I love most when camping: solitude. There are only two other couples here and both of them are in vans so I have the tent area all to my lonesome. So here I am, swaying gently in my hammock, writing blog posts, on the other side of the planet from where I wrote my final posts on the AT barely two years ago.

It's an ok life I'm leading.