'Let's drive to Byron Bay!' I say, watching my husband's face crumple like a wet sponge soaking up disappointment and a dread of driving for an entire day to get to a crowded coast that everyone flocks to in June holidays. Victorians go north for the Winter - a weird concept for anyone who lives above the equator, but not for us. I needed to go north to get away from the chill of home and the humdrum of everyday life at home. The open road calls - and in Australia, we have lots of long, long roads which lead to all kinds of beautiful places. Suggesting Byron Bay was unimaginative of me, and besides, when I think of Byron, I'm remembering what it used to be like. Now they're using that long ruined idyll as an example of how not to ruin a coastal tourist town.

Whilst the man doesn't relish a long drive, I know how to use my womanly wiles to edge him north in increments of four hours here, two hours there - and before he can protest too much, I've got him to the south coast of NSW, about half way between Melbourne and Sydney, in a gorgeous stretch of coastline called the Sapphire Coast. We have been here before, but there's plenty of beaches we haven't been on yet. We read in on a online fishing magazine that there are over 55 percent of Australia's beaches are inaccessible by road - isn't that a crazy statistic? Here though, there's no shortest of accessible beaches, and it being Winter in Australia coupled with the fact we're a long way from an airport or a big city, they're pretty much deserted.

For the last few days we've made Eden our base. It's nice to stop driving and now we know we're only 7 hours from home there's less pressure to rush around. We've found a fabulous caravan park that's by an estuary lake and only 100 metres from the beach. As it's Winter, there's no one else here - perfect for us, and making us glad we didn't go to Byron. Sure, the water is cold and it's freezing at night but we got a powered site and we have a heater in the van. This is a first for us, and we'd normally free camp or have the cheap unpowered sites, but I need to be warm and to be honest it's not a lot of money when we were considering going to Bali! If you're Australian, you'll know how well caravan parks are set up here with camp kitchens with free barbecue grills, gas hobs and sinks. We're totally set up in the van but it's good to cook outdoors and chat to other travellers over a wine or two.

Eden is famous for it's whales. How I'd love to get a shot like this - you can do tours here if that's your thing

Twofold Bay was once considered for Australia's capital and is the third deepest harbour in the world. The other thing that makes this bay famous is that it was home to shore based whaling. Apparently there was a killer whale named Tom that used to help the whalers by herding baleens in to the bay. In return, the whalers would give the killer whales the tongues of the whales. He died in 1930 and was said to be 90 years old. His bones are preserved and are in Eden's Killer Whale museum, which is well worth a visit. Whilst whaling might be abhorrent by today's understanding, it was a different time then, and historically fascinating. I must say though it's nicer to watch the whales spout off shore - on this trip we must have seen at least twenty of them up and down this stretch of coast which is a heartening sight to say the least.

Eden's killer whale helping the whalers out for a bit of tongue

Sadly, there's not a lot of surf here at the moment, but if that's your thing there's surfing all up and down this coast. Fishing is a big pasttime here, so Jamie bought the ocean rod that he had wanted for a while and went fishing off the beach. Whilst it was 10 degrees at home today, it was 21 degrees in Eden and absolutely - well, edenic! There's a huge national park just next door as well - Ben Boyd NP. We'll go exploring there in a few days time.

One of the things I've loved about being here is it's just so quiet in Winter. This was what it used to be like in Torquay (my home town) in the old days. Bliss - breathing space after the summer crowds. I have actually been reading books. Like real books, with pages. So good. Feels like - well, feels like I'm finally on holiday!

Tomorrow we're headed up the coast a ways to explore some more beaches up near Tathra way. There's lots of oyster farms around here too where you can pick up a dozen for about $8, which is super cheap. We're trying to watch the budget a little bit, which is easy to do really. It kinda feels like a million bucks anyway when you're sitting on a beach watching the birds divebomb the water as the sun goes down, enjoying a beer or two.

If you're Victorian, where do you head in Winter?

What's your favourite seaside town to holiday in, wherever you are in the world?

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