For some strange reason you’re only allowed to go to Point Perpendicular lighthouse after 2.00pm until 8.00pm on Fridays and from 2.00am until 8.00pm on Saturdays and Sundays, this is because the rest of the time Beecroft peninsula is a live fire military reserve and presumably the army will only kill you on weekdays or before 2.00pm on Fridays!

After overnighting in Currarong and discovering that there wasn’t much to see or do in Callala Bay I timed my arrival at the Beecroft Weapons Range boom gate for precisely 2.00pm. I was the only one there and the soldier on duty warned me that the dirt road to the lighthouse was pretty rough. I told him not to worry as I’d been to Cape York and back and that’s the worst road in the country and after the Peninsular Development Road (the PDR is the name of the Cape York road) this one’s a walk in the park!

The road wasn’t bad but the location and scenery is next level even though it does seems a bit contradictory having a weapons range is such a pristine location? On the way out to Point Perpendicular I stopped by Honeymoon Bay, apparently one on many, but this one is pretty special and I had it to myself which is a rare treat as it’s normally overrun with campers. After a quick dip I set sail for the lighthouse.

Point Perpendicular has always had a special appeal for me, granted it’s a classic design, almost an identical twin with Cape Byron, but it’s the location that does it for me, almost surrounded by sheer cliffs with the ocean on one side and Jervis Bay on the other, it stands stately and proud on what seems like the edge of the World.

I managed to get some nice late afternoon shots at the lighthouse and headed back to Currarong for the night planning to return the next morning to catch the sunrise.

Plans are one thing and reality another, the long expected storm front finally came through overnight and even though I was out at the lighthouse again in time heavy cloud and rain put paid to any thoughts of seeing the sun rise over the horizon or getting the drone airborne. But even in the wind and rain, being by myself at such an iconic place felt very special.

As it was Saturday morning and I usually catch up with a couple of other grumpy old bastards for a coffee I thought I call in and have a whinge only to find them all horizontal in bed while I was in a distinctly perpendicular!

With rain forecast for the next few days I didn’t feel like hanging around the coast and as nice a place as Currarong is there’s not much to do there on a rainy day so I decided to head back to Berry and visit my relatively new friend Raj at Silos’s Estate winery. Raj is an interesting guy in many ways, he had a very successful career in the corporate World and most remarkably was inside the World Trade Centre on 9/11 which would have to be the most extreme experience anyone alive today has lived through. Not surprisingly this was a transformative event for him which saw him transition from a globe trotting executive to a man of the land, growing grapes and making wine. It’s always great to see Raj but he was busy with tastings so I didn’t hang around long and headed for Bundanon, a placed I’d heard of but knew nothing about.

I found Bundanon to be a place of rare beauty and tranquility and can understand why artist Arthur Boyd chose to make this home for the rest of his life and in an act of great philanthropy he bequeathed it to the national estate via the Bundanon Trust after he died. Since then the trustees have done an amazing job of blending the old with the new, the traditional with the contemporary, the natural with the built environment and created a beautiful art museum featuring some of Boyd’s most famous works alongside a carefully selected portfolio new works by up and coming artists who are offered residencies and run workshops to pass on their knowledge and inspiration to the next generations. This is all set in a 1,000 ha nature reserve framed by the river and surrounding mountains. Well worth a visit!

Not being familiar with Boyds works I was confronted by some of his impressionistic paintings which seemed to combine various unrelated theme such as biblical stories, greek mythological figures and set these in stark and unforgiving Australian landscapes. Even though I found these works quite confronting and aggressive, they had an originality and depth of feeling that was captivating.

The more contemporary works were an eclectic collection of abstract art in various mediums including a large real time machine creation on one of the walls. Over all the various artworks were diverse, thought provoking and challenging in their contrasting styles, subjects and mediums.

After spending a couple of very enjoyable hours soaking up the atmosphere at Bundanon I decided I’d head to Kangaroo Valley for the night. Even though google maps was telling me to head back to the highway and take the Cambewarra Mountain turn off but I’d noticed a small sign post at the entrance to Bundanon pointing in the opposite direction.

One of the luxury’s of this journey is that I’ve got time to explore and I figured even if the road went nowhere it was worth a try. As it turned out it was a good call, it’s not often these days you can get off the beaten track and drive along a road that doesn’t exist in the digital World. This was such a road and it was definitely less travelled, through the Budgong National Park, with light rain falling the mountains were shrouded in mist and wildlife abounded, lyre birds, kangaroos, wombats and a million other birds calling but unseen, occasionally interrupted by remote farms that must have pre-dated the National Park, all the animals apparently oblivious to my passing or each others company. There were a few hairy moments forwarding causeways of indeterminate depth and with rain falling and the water levels rising there was no time to wait. After about 20kms of sublime isolation I emerged onto Mt. Scanzi Rd and followed it into Kangaroo Valley.

Arriving into Kangaroo Valley I did a recce to figure out where I’d spend the night and found an out of the way place next to the tennis club and then headed for The Friendly Inn for a pub meal and to get out of the increasingly heavy rain. The meal lived up to expectations although the Fijian band playing South Pacific tunes did seem a little incongruous in these surrounding but added to a the ecclect mix of people enjoying themselves on their Saturday night out.

Returning to this pub reminded me of one of the funnier moments we had on a farm stay holiday we did with the kids years ago. As we were packing the car in Sydney I noticed my wife loading up a esky full of meat. I suggested this was a bit like taking coal to Newcastle because the meat had probably come from where we were going. Reluctantly she put it back in the fridge and we headed off. Arriving in Kangaroo Valley I enquired where the butcher shop was and was dismayed to learn it was in Bowral, about 20kms away. With nowhere to hide we drove on to the farm we were staying at in deathly in silence, nothing needed to be said! As dinner time approached and with nothing to eat I suggested we go to the pub for a meal, which we did and it was good and as we were finishing a guy approached us selling tickets Friday night chook raffle tickets. We bought a couple and though nothing more of it until they called out the winner…it was us, and we’d won a massive platter of meat! Feeling vindicated (or at least like I’d dodged a bullet) thanking my good fortune I asked who the raffel was in aid and was told it was for the Kangaroo Valley Fishing Club? When I gently pointed out that the nearest ocean was forty minutes away I was told they fished in the Tallowa Dam which was only 20mins down the road, and evidently the fishing was good thanks to a $ 35m fish lift the government had recently installed. This all sounded too weird to be true so we headed off to see what a $ 35m fish lift looked like. Arriving in the dark we heard it before we saw it, a fantastical contraption that looked like it was made from a Meccano set, rattling and splashing it hauled buckets of water up the dam wall and deposited them in the dam. I seriously doubt if a fish has ever taken the ride, much less lived to tell the tale, but it appeased the Greenies and allowed the dam wall to be heightened, and yes the guys in the fishing club were happy too!

So it was with this fond memory, a good meal and a couple of beers I headed off to my Tennis Club home for the night, not realising the intensifying storm and heavy rain would keep me awake pounding on Max’s fibreglass roof. When I ventured out in the morning I understood why I’d been keep awake, it was like a cyclone had gone through town overnight, trees were down, the tennis courts underwater, roads were closed and no one was to be seen anywhere, I suspect they were all happy to be in bed this Sunday morning.

Eventually I found an escape route via Berry I cautiously wound my way up and down the mountain, dodging trees and wash outs and made it to the highway. What to now on a rainy Sunday, head south get through Nowra (again) and visit the Fleet Air Arm Museum at HMAS Albatross. One of the guys I met at the seaweed company was a part time kombucha maker full time Navy helicopter pilot. Tim is a lovely young fellow who’s needs to curtail his flying days due to a chronic back injury which is evidently fairly common amongst helicopter pilots due to the vibrations they experience flying their whirlybirds.

In addition to Tim I thought of my brother-in-law John who was a pilot and is still a keen aviator (as is his son Jacob) and whiled away a couple of hours getting up close and personal with all sorts of flying machines including the legendary Huey of Vietnam and Apocalypse Now fame. A particularly poignant display was devoted to the vital role the Air Arm played in saving over 200 sailors from the HMAS Voyager after it collided with the HMAS Melbourne off Jervis Bay in 1964. Sadly 82 sailors were killed and this remains the worst peacetime accident in Australian military history.

As I headed further south the clouds and my spirits lifted further and as I rolled into one of my favourite towns in the World, Milton, I felt that I was back where I needed to be, and as I drove down the main street the sun began to break through! Happy days!