A blustery day at the blowholes

Hint: to look at any photo full-screen, tap or click on it.

Let's just say we're had more than our fair share of rain lately. After a weekend where I managed to read a whole book (that would usually take me at least three weeks), yesterday we were ready for a road trip.

Although the rain had subsided, we were faced with blustery conditions with a wind of 50 km/hr (31 miles) for most of the day. 

rough water all along the coast

Our destination was Kiama, the next seaside town to the south. Kiama is a quaint town, with a lovely harbour front. According to Tripadvisor, the harbour front is listed as the #2 thing to do in Kiama. As there's a weekly market there, we'll return another time to check out the harbour front.

Our first stop was Bombo beach, which I'm guessing would be more inviting in nicer weather. We did see some people surfing there.

We then walked out at the point, where we saw the lighthouse and museum, and stopped in at the coffee shop. Although it was really windy, there were still quite a few people there.

Also on the point is the blowhole. On Tripadvisor, this is the #1 thing to do in Kiama. A blowhole forms where certain rock formation, combined with the ocean movement, creates a spout of water that shoots up through the gap in the rocks. This is now the third blowhole we've visited in our travels (Mexico, Hawaii, Australia), but we had to visit. How can you pass up the #1 activity?

High winds allow the blowhole to create bigger spouts, so it was a bonus for us.

Similar to Shellharbour, this coastline has a built-in swimming pool. Unlike Shellharbour, however, the pool is formed using the natural rock formation, with ocean water filling the pool. Only the outer walls are man-made. There was a man swimming in the pool when we first arrived, along with a school of small fish that was staying far away from a cormorant also swimming in the pool, looking for a meal.

The foreground of this photo is the oceanside wall of the pool. Tap or click on the photo to enlarge it. Notice the black mark in the top right corner of the photo. That mark is actually two large dolphins swimming by. What a bonus!

We walked further along the waterfront, and I took this photo as the surf was breaking against the rocks. Just a short while later I turned around to see the path drenched from the crashing waves. I timed that one nicely!

We then went a little further along the coast to the Little Blowhole Reserve (#10 on Tripadvisor). It was away from the main town, in the middle of a residential area. I thought it might be a little bit of a letdown, given it was named the little blowhole, but it was also impressive, probably again because of the high wind. After the fact, I realized the little referred more to the hole size, rather than the height of the spray. You can see the spray behind Greg in this photo.

After a nice lunch at a cafe on the main street, we headed for the #3 Tripadvisor sight, Saddleback Mountain Lookout. As soon as we left Kiama town, we were on scenic country roads with farms and amazing views over the coast. The land rose steeply behind the town, and we were at 2000 feet (600 metres) above sea level within a 10-minute drive.

Click on photo to enlarge

The road to the lookout reminded me of the saying about it being the journey, not the destination. When we arrived at the lookout, although the view in one direction was excellent, it didn't match the all-around views we experienced as we climbed up to the lookout. The journey certainly had a wow factor for us, with amazing views and a great variety of lush vibrant shades of green.

We stayed inland and worked our way back up through the countryside to our home. By most road trip standards, we didn't travel far, but it was a really pleasant day.

Greg celebrates a birthday today. Can you name the Beatles song that best suits this birthday? For the answer, click here: Greg's birthday song.