Mollymook, Milton and Narrawally - where?

Coastal New South Wales is stunning, especially the south. . My husband says the cows lean into the hills because it's windy most of the time.  (and when the wind abates momentarily, the cows fall over!  - that's the rest of that story..   Few Sydney residents know how beautiful it is.   It's somewhere past Wollongong, which long ago was not a great place to live....
We headed south a week or two back for a weekend with friends in Narrawally.  We turned on "navigator" in the new car, and continued to defy the directions being given.  "must be something wrong with it - have to take it in and get it adjusted."   but when we arrived at Berry for breakfast, and Navigator said 1000 kms to go, we decided to re-set the system, only to discover we'd been heading for Berri in South Australia!  Hence the repeated cry of "do a U turn now".  I 'd set Berry up as Berri - like in fruit juice!  So much for my navigation skills, or is that spelling skills?  Berri has become overcrowded.with tourists, but it's still quant and interesting.
Further South, Kiama is very pretty and less crowded, and hosts a world class seafood restaurant at the end of the pier!   Milton, near Mollymook, is a small, even more unspoilt historic village, and tipped to be the next Berry!  The lush countryside is gradually being "coloured in" by beautiful houses on acreage, wineries, red barns,  and black and white cows.
But the reason for the trip was Rick Stein's Bannisters Beach Restaurant, the jewel in the crown for the area.  The evening meal was perfect.  The service was exceptional, and Len Evan's son was the wine expert.  Well worth making a booking a few months out. Not as expensive as some Sydney restaurants, but exceptional - and if you're an abject devotee of Rick Stein on the Food Channel, just being there is euphoric, without $90 bottles of wine.  We will go back.  It was so special!
Other high points in an eventful weekend were a 4WD on its roof in the middle of sleepy Milton, and Bannisters Beach being closed as the Tsunami was about to arrive!
The coastal journey is amazing - especially the stunning bridge suspended from the cliffs, and the string of old mining villages perched on cliff tops above a bright blue sea.   Take the weekend and see just how beautiful Australia is!

More of Africa - Sun City and Capetown by Mary Helen

I arrived home last night after sleeping most of the way on the flight, felt as if I had missed out on the luxury of the flight but sleeping on the flat bed was a luxury one does not enjoy in 57A - my usual seat!

The trip was amazing and when I do get my head together I will send you the images of your good self with the lion cubs, they are wonderful and something to show the grandchildren. It was lovely spending only a few days with you, I thoroughly enjoyed our chats about such a range of things and yes, age does has its benefits sometimes - actually, most of the time.

The flight back must have been a hoot, I'd love to hear your stories about it - I am sure Sir Richard was the life of the party.

When I left you Pam and I drove to Sun City about 2 hrs from JNB where we stayed for the night. An incredible oasis of four hotels ranging from 5star deluxe to 4 star - I was expecting it to be a tad tacky but was pleasantly surprised - the 5 star deluxe property (The Palace) was amazing and somewhere I could bunker down for a few weeks. Pam then came back to JNB and I went on to a game park for an overnight inspection. Instead of staying at the lodge when I arrived I went out quadbike riding through the villages with one of the boys from the lodge - what an experience. The local children came from nowhere and I gave then a ride - I wanted to take them all home with me! I then did a safari trip at sunset and saw elephants, rhinos and all assortment of animals including a wild dog kill - luckily the "dinner" was already dead but it was a bit confronting for a city chick - my stomach was churning as everyone was marvelling at the near extinct dogs doing their stuff.

We flew to Cape Town and met up with one of Pam's guides, Mark was just wonderful and he took us everywhere. Cape Town is such a beautiful city - you would love it - great setting on the water with Table Mountain in the background, fantastic shopping and restaurants.