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After absorbing the quiet beauty of the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney it was time for a change of venue – this time to the relaxing beaches and charming small towns on the South Coast of Australia.  First stop on the itinerary: Wollongong (which actually isn’t small at all but still had a bit of charm after big-city Sydney).

Now to be honest, there really isn’t a whole lot to do in Wollongong except relax on the beach and head to the pub in the evenings. The water was a bit too chilly for my tastes (what can I say, I’ve been spoiled by growing up on the bathtub waters of the Gulf of Mexico) but I was clearly one of the only ones who thought so.

The North Beach of Wollongong had some really great waves…and in Australia, good waves means surfers.  The white capped waves rushing toward the shore were dotted with tanned bodies tense and prone on their boards while only a few of the more timid souls sat on the beach and watched.

For me, after wading into the spectacularly crystal clear blue ocean for a few minutes, careful not to get my pants soggy with salt water, I made a hasty retreat and instead slathered on the sunscreen, grabbed a delicious spinach and ricotta veggie patty sandwich from the small food kiosk (why don’t we make these in the US?!), and played in the sand.  Now, I might not win any awards for creativity and skill, but I think that my little sand turtle here is quite cute.

That about sums up everything to do in Wollongong as a backpacker during the day. Truly, it’s that chill. To see the nightlife in Wollongong I hunted down a quick Thai dinner in the Asian quarter (food is hugely cheaper if you eat ethnic), and then a found my attention drawn by the music blaring from the Hotel Illawara Bar.

There were a good number of locals milling about and it didn’t take long to find a challenger for a game of pool with some of the locals. One interesting tidbit, Aussies don’t call the pool balls “solids and stripes” but rather “smalls and bigs” – see you really do learn something new everyday!

With pool played and drinks consumed it was time to head back to the hostel with hopes that the train ride to Kiama goes flawlessly.