Our last days in Australia had been sour-sweet… the terrible weather we experienced in Fraser Island and the fact that we had to cancel our attempt to dive the Yongala shipwreck, had been partially compensated by some epic New Year’s Eve fireworks. We were flying back home to LA on the morning of January 2^nd and hadn’t planned anything for the 1^st, thinking we would wake up late and maybe make one last trip to our beloved Bondi Beach. But as we walked back to our hotel from the NYE party, we wondered… what if we could have one last adventure? The idea of going to Jervis Bay came up immediately. We had looked into this perfect white sand beaches before, but hadn’t been able to make the trip for one reason or another. Being about 3 hours south of Sydney, we thought that you needed multiple days to visit Jervis properly… but why not try to do it as a day trip, and end our time in Australia with a bang?

We woke up early and took the train to the airport to pick up a rental car. It was cheaper than renting in the city, and that way we would be saving on a taxi the next day, when we would be carrying a bunch of luggage. The drive was shorter than expected, probably due to the lack of traffic on New Year’s Day (and maybe due to the speeding ticket we got in the mail a few weeks later :S). We parked by the Greenfield Beach picnic area and immediately knew we had made the right decision to come: it was a perfect day in a paradise landscape. Jervis Bay offers an amazing combination of white powdery beaches, turquoise waters, rock pools and forest.

The best way to explore the area is to take the White Sands Walk, a short and easy hike along the coast, sometimes going up through the trees, sometimes walking directly on the sandy shore. Most people park at Greenfield Beach and hike south to Hyams Beach and back. We hadn’t done much research, so we first took the trail northbound. The views were some of the best we’ve seen, with the juicy water popping up behind the tree branches and splashing against dark rocks and light sands. We walked in flip-flops, taking them off to enjoy the thin sand and the fresh water every time we stepped on it. Eventually we hit Plantation Point, at the end of Nelsons Beach, where the water was absolutely crystalline… and we realized we had been going the opposite direction, though we were so glad we did.

We walked back to Greenfield and beyond, reaching Chinamans Beach in less than an hour, and we decided to settle for a swim and a bite. The sand was absolutely ridiculous, and we were completely alone in our little piece of heaven. We then walked further to Hyams Beach, which has been declared by the Guinness Book to have the whitest sand in the world (though I’d say Whiteheaven Beach was whiter, if maybe silica rather than sand). The first part of this beach was quite packed, but once we walked further we were able to get to a quiet, pristine area.

We spent the rest of the afternoon running in the white sand, tanning, taking pictures, and swimming – at least until we saw a few sharks and opted to stay by the shore. Once we felt like we had had enough vitamin sea, we walked back to the car, marveling one last time at the surroundings. Since we had the rental car, we made a small detour to a town called Kiama. We had read about this massive blowhole, the largest in the world, and were hoping for a natural show similar to the one we had witnessed in Tonga. The tides weren’t in our favor, so there weren’t any big splashes that day, but we were impressed by yet another beautiful Australian coastal town. And because we wanted to end on the highest note, we drove to Bondi Beach right on time for sunset, and for a yummy stake at Macelleria.  It was a fantastic day and the perfect ending to our 4 months in Australia 🙂