Wednesday 29 May to Saturday 22 June

Left Mallacoota around 9 ish on Wednesday and crossed the border into NSW at around 10 ish.  No fruit fly inspections which wouldn’t of mattered if there had been as all my fruit and flies were in perfect order!!!  The drive on the Princess Highway continued through misty rain forest and pleasant farm land.

Eden from the air(borrowed from the Net)

Unsure of where I might finish up at the end of the day I used Wikicamps to suss out various accommodation options.

  Arrived at Eden around lunch time and phoned a couple of parks but all wanting standard rates they would charge a couple.  Got the map out and had a look how far things were further up the coast and being such a lovely day decided to keep going.  I had arrived on the Sapphire Coast!  No gems as such but plenty of blue sapphire seascapes.

Arrived at Pambula, a quaint little town with some lovely old shop fronts on the main street.  Decided to go onto Merimbula and, as luck would have it, found a caravan park for $20 per night including 240v power, hot showers, coin laundry and free internet access and to top it all off, landed myself two weeks paid work renovating some of the on-site cabins!!!!

Merimbula from the air(borrowed from the Net)

Merimbula is another coastal holiday town with very up market apartments, motels, hotels and shopping precinct.  However, the people are very friendly and welcoming.  It is halfway between Eden and Bega right on the coast with a lovely inlet and extensive waterway where oyster farms abound.

 

During the June long weekend the town hosted it’s 33^rd jazz festival and being a partaker of jazz music I had a very enjoyable weekend watching the opening street parade, free jazz by the water and spent all day Sunday at the RSL club enjoying various big band type jazz and more traditional renditions.  We have some very talented young musicians in this country!!  Great weekend.

 

 

When not partaking of the local sights and sounds I have been working 5 days a week renovating three of the on-site cabins in the park.  Mark, the park owner, is a very affable character and together with his on-site handyman we had a great time getting the work done.  Needless to say it was also pleasant to add some funds to the bank balance.

 

 

Lots of nice walks around the area.  Particularly along the beach and back around the point although with the big east coast low we have been experiencing over the last week or so the beach has taken a pounding. 

 

Another good walk is up through the town and along the cliff tops to the main surf beach.  About 2 hours or so of pleasant and dramatic seascapes.

 

The boardwalk on the western side of the main lake is also worth the effort.

 

Did a rainy afternoon trip back to Boydtown which is about 20ks south of Eden heading back toward Victoria.  The town was the dream of one Benjamin Boyd who came to the area in 1842 with the intention of creating a port town to allow him to ship out agricultural produce from his extensive land holdings and to set up a fishing port.  All that is left is a hotel and out on the coast, a tower which he built with the intention of using it as a light house which never happened.  It was used as a whale spotting tower for the Davidson whaling station.

 

 

 

 

 

 

June 18 to June 22

Finished work this week and spent the last few days catching up on domestic stuff before heading up the coast to Bawley Point where I have some more paid work on some holiday cottages.  Did a last walk around Merimbula and found this interesting sign.

 

Image having your eyeballs shaved!!!!!!!!

Lovely drive along the Sapphire Coast Road through Tathra and Bermagui arriving at Bawley Point where another east coast low bought more heavy rain and the prospect of a wet week.

Talk to you again when the trailer and I have dried out !!!!!

Wednesday 22 May to Tuesday 28 May

Ok, so why do I reckon Mallacoota is a “special” place.  I preface my remarks by saying “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”.  In brief – stunning location, magnificent coastal scenery, great facilities for visitors, friendly and very helpful locals, wonderful place for walking and, from what I saw and heard, a terrific fishing spot.

Yep, it is a coastal holiday town and you may get a different impression if you came here in peak season but it wouldn’t change the setting and scenery or, I think, the friendliness of the people.

The town itself is similar to other coastal holiday spots I have visited although certainly not as commercial as Lakes Entrance or Bairnsdale.  There are lots of holiday houses, accommodation options and retirees.

It is the setting of the town smack in the middle of the Croajingolong National Park that makes it special and totally different to other towns along the coast.  The photos below show aerial views which I hope sort of gives you an idea of how it fits in the landscape.

 

While the main industry is tourism there is a substantial abalone processing plant supported by numerous divers.  The opulence of some of the houses in the town reflects their presence and that of wealthy retirees.  However, the town’s wealth does not make it pretentious.  It still has a bit of a frontier town feel about it which reflects its colourful history from the 1970s.

Talking of history, Mallacoota and Gabo Island just off shore, played a significant role in the protection of shipping along the south east coast and through Bass Strait during World War II.  Did you know…………….

More detailed information can be found in the local museum in a restored WW II bunker located near the airport.

 

 

Unfortunately my budget would not stretch to a trip to Gabo Island (you may recognised this name from Sydney to Hobart yacht race commentaries).  I have cheated and taken a photo of photos.

 

 

Walking

Heaps.  All lengths and grades.  Just fantastic.  The walk around the lake side from the main town wharf to Karbeethong jetty (this is where the cruise departed) is very easy and gives excellent vistas of the lower lake, inlet entrance, expensive homes and bird life (the feathered kind).

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Mallacoota Coastal Walk is just simply stunning.  Starting in the town it takes in coastal landscapes of unusual rock formations, lovely beaches, varying vegetation, bird life and vistas to Gabo Island.  The day I did it was showery which added to the “atmosphere”.

Mallacoota Lookout

Drive back out to the Princess Highway at Geno and turn right and head into New South Wales to Maxwell’s Road where a very pleasant drive, on dirt roads, through temperate rainforest takes you to the Mallacoota lookout.

When you come back to Geno have a look at the free camp ground I previously mentioned.  Quite pleasant.

Inlet Cruise

I spent a pleasant 2 hours on a sunny but slightly breezy Sunday morning cruising the two lakes that make up the inlet on board the Porgy Bess, a wooden lake boat built in Paynesville in 1946 of Kauri timber.  A pleasant little craft that could use some TLC but sturdy enough for the purpose (sorry Ainslie I forgot to take a photo so you’ll just have to go there!!!).

The skipper, Simon, is a bit of a character and had tales to tell of skullduggery, gold mining, yuppie foolishness and some interesting facts and figures eg. the shoreline of the inlet is greater than that of Sydney Harbour!  Well worth the $30 (May 2013) for the 2hours.  He also does fishing

I stayed at the A’Wangralea Caravan Park.  $22 per night for a powered site because I was solo (May 2013).  Very pleasant and a great camp kitchen.

Summing Up……

You had to be there!!  Just great, stunning, fantastic, welcoming………a “special” place!!!!