Friday, November 9, 2012

10 November 2012 - Shady Willows Holiday Park, Batemans Bay, NSW


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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