We left Batemans Bay by 9.15am on the next leg of our travels, this time on Kings Highway to Canberra. We had to go over the Great Dividing Range again and we had been warned it was a very winding road!  We didn't think it could be any worse that the two passes we had travelled in the last few weeks!  Well.....there weren't the same number of switchbacks, but it was steeper!   And come to think of it, previously we have been coming down the steepest parts of the mountains with the vans behind.  Not pulling them up!!  Peter uses the gears in the automatic when he is going up and down the mountains and he said he had to put the vehicle in the lowest gear.  Sambo would have been going through the gears behind us!  Thank goodness Peter had the car serviced and everything checked in Batemans Bay. We stopped at Nelligen for morning tea.  It was lovely on the edge of the Clyde River.  Kevin said he would push the button on the generator again and Val made the cappuccinos.   Val likes her morning coffee and Peter is slowly becoming educated about making time to sit on the side of rivers!   We did get a few toots from the 'Happy Travellers' going over the bridge on their way to the Big Capital.   Well that was where we thought they were probably going!  It was a good thing we had the coffee before we started going up the mountain. We also checked out the Prison Tree where the two Bushranger Clarke Brothers were tied for 3 days in 1867, before they were transported to Sydney, sentenced and hung.  We learnt about the Clarke Brothers at the Gold Rush Colony tourist attraction in Mogo.  We all had a laugh about the fact the guide had emphasised that Clarke had an "E".  You will be relieved to know that Nicole.  These 'Clarkes' can't be bushranger relies from way back then.Just over the escarpment was the historic town of Braidwood.  We should have tried harder to find a spot for lunch there, as it certainly had the very 'historic' look.  But we did find a nice spot not far from Federal Highway and we enjoyed a walk and talk with the Dorpers in the paddock alongside.  I'm sure the boys will smile at this mixed bag!  They were happily grazing with the Llamas and they had plenty to eat.  I think our Dorpers at Yuna would be envious of this paddock of feed.   We did note that they had an electric fence as well boys.  It was also a perfect place to ring Wendy for her birthday.  It was great to have a chat with Wendy and Ray.  They were just having morning tea at Drummond Cove.It was then on, to find our caravan park.  We are not actually staying in the ACT.  We are still in NSW and the location is Sutton.  We are just off the Federal Highway and about 17 kms from Canberra.  It will be a fair bit of to-ing and fro-ing to Canberra as there is lots to see.  We weren't happy with our first site as it was too unlevel and despite Peter digging and doing a fair bit of jacking again, we couldn't get the step down.  Can't have my fella falling out of the caravan,  nor are we going to have a repetition of how the caravan was at Moss Vale!!  So we asked for another site.  We are not near Kevin & Val, but we walk for drinkies and coffee between the vans and share notes at the end of the day on what we have seen!

Oh!  Just have to record a 'Hip Hip Hooray'!  When we got to this park, the card that Sue Dunne had sent to us in Tamworth, finally caught up with us.  The mail delivery over here leaves a lot to be desired.  At the moment we are very pleased to have a daughter organising our mail.  Our Drivers Licences are due and we need to have the photo done.  What a contract that is proving to be!  There will be more about that in the next blog.  14 photos