Jim & Barbara Burton Travel: Sussex Inlet

Sussex Inlet

We departed Canberra after breakfast to visit our friends Vince and Sue, in Sussex Inlet, who we haven’t seen for 33 years.

We headed out to Queenbeyan and onto The Kings Highway driving through the windy roads and high mountain passes to Bateman’s Bay, our first glimpse of the Tasman Sea on the East Coast of New South Wales where we stopped for coffee. Heading north we took The Princes Highway to Sussex Inlet, the scenic coastal route, which was very pretty but sadly as we approached our destination the recent bush fire was clearly evident. Forging on we arrived at Vince and Sue’s, to find them unscathed by the fires further up the road, looking very fit and in good health.

We only had a short while to catch up, as we could only stay overnight. Sussex Inlet is very beautiful and we could understand why they like to spend much of their time here choosing to leave their home and city living in Sydney behind for a while. We had a cup of tea, then went for a walk around the Inlet, which is very peaceful. The homes all have water frontage, which comes in from the Tasman Sea, hence the odd shark or two might come to visit, nothing too serious though. Vince and Sue are both now retired but lead a very active life. They walk 8-10 kms every morning at 6:30 and are heavily involved in the local Dragon Boat Club, a very strenuous sport. No wonder they look so good.

Sue cooked us a delicious meal of roast lamb, she must have known it was our favourite. We talked long into the evening and spent a very comfortable night in their new home that they had only moved into ten days earlier. We were amazed that they were able to accommodate us after such a short time but found that they had already had visitors before us. Wow! What stamina and organization.

Sadly the next morning after a lovely breakfast we bid our farewells and hope to see them again in Sydney, in April before we leave, if they are back in their house in Mosman.