I woke several times during the night; the first
time to the raucous racket of birds who should have been asleep in the trees,
and the second time to the sound of heavy rain on the roof. Fortunately by the
time we were up and breakfasted, the world had returned to order; the sky was
mostly clear and the birds were functioning as they ought. We were however a
little suspicious about the day so headed down town to buy a few provisions and
the weekend newspaper, and to check out the day.
The weather looked more promising than the forecasts
so we returned to camp, packed up our lunch in the eski and headed off
southwards along the coast, pretty much following the route we had towed the
caravan up from Moruya. This time however we were more manoeuvrable and took
advantage of all the little streets into all the little lookouts and bays. We
stopped at Observation Bay from where we could see the harbour entrance and the
small islands laying directly to the east, then at Surf Beach where we walked
along the firm wet sand, jumped across small creeks, walked around the rocks
and onto Wimbie Beach, the wind tugging at our hats anchored by elegant chin
straps. We stopped at Malua Bay and ate our lunch sitting in the cruiser
because sitting out in the breeze did not appeal. And then we continued on down
to Guerilla Bay and turned onto Burri Point Road, where we had done so several
days ago in a futile attempt to walk to Burrawarra Point.
Today we were able to park in the one decent car
park, vacated as we arrived. Why do they show this on the map if they don’t
want folk to go there? Actually we have decided that the wombles who administer
National Parks and the like, do not want the public to go anywhere near these
areas. They do their utmost to discourage nature lovers, leaving the access
roads as hideous as possible, providing the fewest and most awkward of parking
spots, erecting fancy eco-composting toilets at enormous cost and greater
stink, even when there is running water nearby. We are never amused by any of
this. But here I am again on another bandwagon!
Here at Burrawarra Point, we set out on the fifty minute
walk through the bracken and banksias along the sandy path and were back at the
car within half an hour. And that was including several minutes standing under
the banksias gazing with delight at the first Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos we
had ever encountered in the wild. When we first approached their posse, we were
sure it was the croaking of a crowd of noisy frogs we could hear, which was
rather bizarre because we were high above the sea and there was no sign of
creek or swamp. I then searched for honey-eaters thinking this might be a
special sound for “How soon are these banksias going to flower and offer up
their nectar?” Instead we spotted the cockatoos and watched with great joy as
they “croaked” and screeched to each other. Another first! They are very large
birds; fifty eight to sixty five centimetres according to our field guide. I do
love the Australian parrots and cockatoos.
From right out on the point, the views from the cliff
top both north and south were spectacular. Below us, the waves crashed on the
ragged rocky shore. As I keep saying, this coastline is just so beautiful!
We returned to the George Bass Drive, pulling into Barlings
Beach, then Tomakin where we stopped to wander through a community garage sale.
Had we been in the market for beds or couches, we could have come away with
some wonderful bargains. In fact there were huge numbers of any item you might
find at a domestic garage sale and I would suggest it is the place to go for
any second hand stuff, although we did find their collection of books rather
overwhelming.
Our return to Batemans Bay was back up through a
string of secondary roads, finally emerging from the Mogo State Forest onto the
Princes Highway just north of Batemans Bay. We were unpacked and ready for the
cricket about 2 pm only to find that it was pouring cats and dogs in Brisbane
and the cricket has been replaced by a string of old westerns on the television.
I do hope, for Chris’s sake, it will recommence soon because I think his
chances of catching any of it tomorrow are negligible. We are moving further
north tomorrow. I did note also this morning that it exactly four weeks before
we fly to New Zealand. I am sure we will manage to take in all the remaining
part of the coast between here and Sydney before then!
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