21 November 2012 - Berry Showgrounds, Shoalhaven, NSW

Nature's fusion

What a joy to wake to a fine day after all the poor weather we have had over the past week or so! I soon had the last of the laundry washed and on the line, blowing in the breeze and drying in the sunshine. Lunch packed, diesel topped up and we were off across the hills behind Berry toward Kangaroo Valley. This direct route across to Kangaroo Valley is steep, windy, sealed and beautiful and is forbidden to caravans and long vehicles. It is also the fastest route to the lookout on Mount Cambewarra, the summit at 678 metres ASL from where one has views stretching 145 kilometres according to the sign on the outside of the café. I would doubt that figure however, even with the mist over the sea, we could see down over Nowra, east to Shoalhaven Heads and all the fascinating maze of waterways south. There was also a kookaburra sitting in a tree fern immediately below us, which struck me as rather amusing. The bird is to quintessentially Australian and tree ferns (or pungas) are so quintessentially New Zealand. Quite a trans-Tasman  scene.  

After gazing with appreciation at this extensive panorama, we drove on to Kangaroo Valley Village, a charming settlement in the valley of the same name. The village has a population of just over 300 but exudes a charm and welcome to all who passby and suggests a population far greater. 

Hampton Bridge

Europeans first came upon the valley way back in 1812 when a surveyor-explorer by the name of George Evans described the view that “no painter could beautify”. While that is a slight exageration, it is indeed a lovely basin of fertile land which has offered a great supply of kangaroos to aboriginees through the ages, hence its name.

Within five years cattlemen arrived, followed by the cedar-getters. Within thirty years of European discovery, the land was cleared for dairy farming, endless rolling green pastureland still here today.

Police station at Kangaroo Valley

Apart from the old buildings still in use today, the town is particularly proud of the bridge across the river, taking traffic through from Nowra to Moss Vale and on to the Hume Highway. The Hampton Bridge is Australia’s last surviving wooden suspension bridge of the 19^th  century and one of the best known in New South Wales. The towers at each end of the bridge were hand carved from the local sandstone and resemble the turrets of a mediaeval castle. The bridge was completed in 1898.

We decided we would embark upon a decent walk in the Morton National Park, so headed westwards, more or less downriver to Lake Yarrunga. Here the Kangaroo River meets the Shoalhaven River, bith restrained by the forty three metre high Tallowa Dam.

The dam was finished in 1976 and is part of the Shoalhaven Water Supply Scheme. Some of the stored water is available to be transferred to Sydney and the Illawara. The lake is also popular with canoeists. While we sat in the picnic area eating our lunch, we watched a school group complete their canoe experience along with several individuals. The lake when full covers an area of 9.3 square kilometres and is surrounded by national park and high spectacular bluffs.

After lunch we drove back up above the lake and parked where the Three Views Trail begins. We chose the longest walk, 5.7 kilometres across the top of the escarpment to the edge of one of the cliffs from where we looked down to the lake, and the continuation of the Shoalhaven River, and vaste expanses of dense bush. The old fire trail passes through open woodland and sandstone heath vegetation and is graded as easy and virtually flat. And so it seemed until the return when the day had heated up considerably and it all seemed uphill albeit gradual. Only mad dogs and Englishmen walk in the noon day sun. I guess I must be the mad dog? 

We drove the twenty or so kilometres back to Kangaroo Valley Village, then headed north west, across the Hampden Bridge and on toward Moss Vale. After sixteen kilometres up Barrengarry Mountain, we arrived at the Fitzroy Falls. These were quite a surprise because they and all access and related tracks are via the National Park entrance where one must pay for the privelege of parking one’s car. I think I have already expressed our opinion about the avarice of the NSW National Parks Service? Enough said.  

 

The falls are very beautiful, falling eighty two metres to the floor of the ravine far below. The surrounding rock outcrops and cliffs are equally spectacular and worth the effort of subjecting yourself to the officialdom of NSW Parks. We could have walked to further points along the escarpment, up here at 640 metres ASL, more or less at the same elevation as the lookout on Mount Cambewarra, however I had had enough.

We explored the Fitzroy Falls Reservoir nearby which is also part of the water system referred to earlier. This reservoir covers an area of five square kilometres when full but unlike Lake Yarrunga, is available for recreational sailing and fishing only a few months of each year. Water from this lake enters a series of channels and passes through two small electricity generators. It is good to see water here in Australia being used for hydro-electricity. As a New Zealander, it seems such a normal way to meet the needs of consumers however the terrain here is, of course, so very different.

On our way back we called into the Manning Lookout from where we had fabulous views over the Kangaroo Valley. Here we fell into conversation with a couple from Ontario, Canada, who had driven up from Narooma to tour the area between here and there in the remaining part of the day. Narooma is south of Batemans Bay and I didn’t have the heart to tell them how many days we had spent exploring this coastal area. Like most tourists, compared to us, they are on a speed tour.

From here, we came on home. I was glad that there was no evidence of a Happy Hour tonight. I was tired and in need of a shower. It had been an excellent day and now we are ready to move on north in the morning. The weather report is looking good too.