When we were booking our trip home to Australia, we have flights from Vancouver to LA to Hobart, then Sydney to LA to Vancouver. We hadn't booked Hobart to Melbourne to Sydney. Mainly because we couldn't decide on dates. In the end that was a good thing. We flew from Hobart to Melbourne with my parents who were on their way to New Zealand. Then we hired a car to drive from Melbourne to Sydney and see some sights. Hubby's bright idea was to drive from Melbourne to Adelaide, then up to Cooper Pedy and Alice Springs, turn right in the desert and head to Mt Isa, and then down to Sydney. Okay.... Not going to happen, have you ever looked at a map of Australia? Not to mention, we are not driving in the desert in a tiny little Toyota Corolla hatchback. Maybe next time.
Instead we (I) decided on the coastal route. That was all I decided, once we picked up the car and hit the highway Hubby was in charge of directions and stops. He apparently doesn't like to stop much, an likes to go as far as possible. We didn't stop in Victoria at all. We drove through Morwell, Traralgon, Sale, Bairnsdale, Lakes Entrance, Orbost and Mallacoota. Finally stopping in Merimbula just over the Victoria/NSW border.
Lucky for us, my Dad has a cousin in Merimbula. I felt a bit weird phoning someone I hadn't seen since 1988. That's over 20 years ago, I wasn't even sure Lee would know who I was. But Dad had said if we were in Merimbula we should give Lee a call. Lee and his wife, Sue, own and operate the Comfort Inn and they very kindly put us up for the night, cooked us breakfast the next morning and took us on a whirlwind sightseeing tour of Merimbula. It would be nice to spend a couple of days there, but Hubby had an itinerary in mind.