We pulled out of Huskisson and made our way
south and pulled into Ulladulla for morning tea. Our visit here was brief, but it is obviously
another really nice spot to spend some time with beautiful beaches and
parklands. We pulled up at a park
overlooking the marina and relaxed on the grass watching the locals go about
their business.
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| Ulladulla |
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| Big lonely shed on the corner heading to Murramarang |
A bit further on we took the turn east and
travelled 8kms to the Murramarang National Park and booked into the Murramarang
Beachfront Nature Resort, a caravan park/camping area situated on the boundary
of the national park and fronting Mill Beach.
This park is owned by the NRMA so our RACQ membership got us a good deal
for 3 nights. We’d had a big day by our
standards and travelled 133klms, so after setting up we vegged out for a while before a long walk on the beach, and then a couple of cold drinks while watching a few dozen kangaroos grazing around the park. Some were very cheeky and came close to the caravan awning. Staying here you get the feeling your a million
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| Pristine beach in front of the caravan park |
miles from anywhere (no tv reception re-enforces this notion!), it’s
extremely quiet and peaceful, but we’re only 16k away from Bateman’s Bay.
On our first day in the area we decided to
take a drive and found ourselves turning onto the Kings Highway and heading inland
to Nelligen, situated on the banks of the Clyde River. In the 1800’s, this was a river port where
cargo bound for Sydney was loaded onto Steamers, and there are still reminders
of those times to be found as you wander around the village.
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| Across the Clyde River to Nelligen |
We rejoined the highway and headed in the
direction of Canberra, although we had no intention of going that far. From Nelligen the road climbs dramatically
through the Great Dividing Range and even though it’s quite steep and long in
some sections, we saw a bit of caravan traffic making the trip this way. The scenery is quite spectacular as you climb
the range and proceed through the Deua and Conjola National Parks.
By the time Vic and I rolled into Braidwood,
the weather had changed drastically since we left the coast. Note to self: when in doubt, wear long
pants! When we dressed in the morning,
the weather was fine and warm… not here though.
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| Historical buildings around Braidwood |
Luckily we both had jumpers in the car, so
after donning them we walked around this historic town. The main street is lined with heritage listed
stores and buildings including the “Bank of New South Wales” among others. This is a working community and many shop
fronts have lost the original character, with their personality being well
disguised behind more modern names and colours.
Some stores, however, have obviously traded here for generations and over time have evolved and expanded to cater for the town's people's requirements. One store we entered had a really diverse range of products, including, among others, clothes, sporting equipment, kitchenware, toys, hardware, protective clothing, decor and some stationary, and with a fireplace in the middle to deal with the winter chill.
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| Winter chill beater in Braidwood |
We stopped at the bakery and had a
fantastic country pie and coffee, before taking a drive through some of the
backstreets and then getting back onto the highway and returning the way we
came. At the Princes Highway, where we
had turned off earlier, we headed south and drove across the Bateman’s Bay
Bridge, then turned into the township of Bateman’s Bay. We continued along Beach Road and passed
through Corrigan’s Beach, Casey’s Beach, Denham’s Beach, Wimbie Beach, Surf
Beach, Malua Bay and lots of other small hamlets as we took this coastal
drive.
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| One of the many bays we saw today |
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| Some diehard surfers heading out into the cold |
At this time of year, there isn’t
much going on around these areas, except for the diehard surfers who can’t let
a wave go by untouched, however, that isn’t the case come summer. This whole area is included in the
Eurobodalla Shire (meaning ‘Land of Many Waters’) and is surrounded by the
Bateman’s Marine Park, which has some of the most beautiful diving sites on the
east coast. Apart from the many fish
varieties, you can dive with seals and seahorses in the vicinity.
We eventually reached Moruya, the
commercial hub of the area, which sits on the river of the same name, beginning
life as the Deua River in the Great Dividing Range to the west. This area is famous for it’s historic granite
mines that supplied all the granite used in the construction of the Sydney
Harbour Bridge. Remnants of the old
mines and loading wharves still exist on the riverbanks and are worth a visit.
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| Murramarong waterfront |
Back at the van park the next day (Mother’s
Day), we kicked back and enjoyed the surrounds. This really is a great park and
with no local traffic, is as peaceful a place as you’d want to be. In the afternoon, Vic and I took a long walk
along the beach and around the headland, with ancient rock formations and tidal pools to explore.
It is said that some
of the rock here is as old as the planet itself, 4.6 billion years old. The northern side of the headland is eroded
sandstone and with it’s honeycomb weathering is both interesting and
amazing. The south side is ironstone box
work and has clusters of shellfish fossils.
Just a little further on, the sandstone cliffs of the Sydney Basin meet
the much older Wagonga Ordovician rocks of the Lachlan Fold Belt. Obviously, I have no idea what all that
means, but, I do know that the cliffs and rock shelves here are intriguing and
provide some great photo subjects. We
collected some fabulous shells here as well.
Over at the bar area we had a very happy
hour and then celebrated Mother’s Day with a bar-b-q. For $20 you choose your own steak or piece of
fish (salmon included), cook it up and then help yourself to a selection of
vegies or fresh salad. It was a good
meal and enjoyable evening.
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| Mogo coffee time |
The next morning we packed up and had a
good run down the highway to Mogo, another good example of early European
settlement with many old homes and shop fronts. We took a good look around and
had a traditional Devonshire tea at one of the cafes in this old gold mining
town.
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| Narooma |
The next stop down the highway was
Narooma where we parked up on Wagonga Head and admired the view over Montague
Island and Wagonga Inlet.
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| Montague Island |
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| Wagonga Inlet |
We pulled up
late in the afternoon at a little place, on the Princes Highway, called Quaama. The Dry River Rest Area is a free camp here
(#577 in Camps 7) that is close to the road, but this one doesn’t carry the
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| Quaama free camp |
volume of truck traffic that travels between Sydney and Melbourne along the
Hume Highway.
There was some local
traffic during the afternoon, with plenty of buses bringing kids from school in Bega, but by sunset it had all died down, leaving us with a peaceful evening.
There are good toilets,
bar-b-q’s and covered picnic tables here making it a handy stopover on the
Princes Highway. After spending a little time the following morning, soaking up some sunshine, we resumed our southerly travels and had a great drive through some of the nicest countryside we’ve seen so far.
I’ve read that the cattle in the Bega Valley
are the happiest in the country, and they certainly seem to be very content
with plenty of lush green pastures to call home.
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| Darling, Bega is over there. |
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| Bega lookout champions |
Vic and I took in the view from the Bega
Lookout on the way into town, before visiting the Bega Cheese Factory and spending
plenty of time in the Heritage Centre, then having coffee and scones and, of
course, stocking up on some of the vintage and tasty cheeses, our
favourites.
We found Bega a really nice
and picturesque town with lots of history and interesting old buildings.
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| It's a jeep thing - just had to put it in... |
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| Bega's autumn countryside |
After an afternoon spent checking out Bega,
we continued on to the beachside town of Tathra and booked into the Tathra
Village Big4 caravan park.
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| Tathra Big 4 |
This is a
really clean and tidy park with very friendly owners, directly across the road
from the one owned by Frankie J Holden and his wife, Michelle, however much
more affordable. I’d learned on tv
commercials recently that Michelle has bought a Jeep, so I felt like we were
letting the side down a bit!
Late in the
day, Vic and I took a walk along the beach before driving out to the old steamer
wharf which was built in the 1860’s and is a popular diving spot with regular
visits by seals, little penguins, whales and stingrays… none of which we saw.
The next morning we attended a free morning
tea with other park visitors and the owners, who do this every week. They suggested we take a drive up the coast
to Bermagui in the afternoon, so shortly after, Vic and I filled the flask and
headed up the Tathra-Bermagui Road.
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| Mimosa National Park |
As
we drove through the Mimosa Rocks National Park we took a bush track that took
us 4 kms to Middle Beach. This is a
magnificent surf beach jammed between two rocky headlands and where Middle
Lagoon runs into the ocean.
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| Home Sweet Home beach shack |
There were
quite a few board riders enjoying the fantastic conditions so Vic and I sat for
a while watching, before walking through the bush to see the lagoon which is a
mirror smooth waterhole backing onto the beach.
Returning to the main road, we resumed our drive north.
It’s only 39 kms from Tathra to Bermagui, but
with the many little beaches and headlands along this section of the Sapphire
Coast, it certainly packs a punch.
When we arrived in Bermagui it was time for
a late lunch so headed straight to the Fisherman’s Wharf and grabbed a feed of
Kingfish fillets and chips before going over to parklands at Bermagui Point.
The good thing about travelling in this part of the world at this time of the
year is that there are no crowds anywhere you go. We had the whole area to ourselves so relaxed
and enjoyed the peace and quiet along with our lunch and coffees. Bermagui is the northern gateway to the
Sapphire Coast and sits at the edge of it’s harbour and is nestled below Mt
Dromedary (known as Gulaga to the traditional land owners).
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| Bermagui harbour |
It’s a lovely town with lots of open spaces
and a good looking caravan park sitting on the headland overlooking the town
and marina.
Like many of the towns up
and down this coast, the area comes alive in summer with plenty of water based
activities to keep you occupied.
This is
also where the Continental Shelf comes closest to the mainland so is a popular
base for deepsea fishing.
We checked out the Blue Pool, which was a
natural swimming pool in the rocky headland.
In 1937, local businessman, Bill Dickinson began lobbying the council to
expand the area to make it more of an asset for the community.
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| Blue Pool....s |
By 1939, local labour had blasted the rock
away with dynamite, shoveled it into wheelbarrows and tipped it into the
sea. Soon after, concrete stairs were
built to improve access, dressing sheds and a children’s wading pool were added
along with water tanks for picnickers and the base of the pools were
concreted. Grants came from the council
towards the works with the local community raising funds to help, however, the
majority of the cost was met by Bill Dickinson.
The pools are flushed with each high tide and recently achieved a 5 star
rating for water cleanliness with a 100% compliance with national water
guidelines. Today the pools are a
popular spot and while Vic and I were there, we witnessed many locals coming
for their daily exercise, some just going up and down the steep steps a few
times for a workout.
We
eventually tore ourselves away from Bermagui (we will go back there in the
future) and drove back out to the Princes Highway, joining it at the historic
working village of Cobargo, with it’s main street lined with well maintained,
turn-of-the-century buildings.
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| Cobargo |
We drove
back down the highway through Bega once again, and as we made our way back to
Tathra, we drove toward a beautiful full moon.
Until next time… Happy travels.
