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12 March, 2016
From Mollymook it is only a short drive to Ulladulla (above), where we drove to the Warden Head lighthouse for great views up and down the coast (no dolphins today). It is then several kilometres to Batemans Bay, but we broke the journey by calling off to the pretty spots of Burrill Lake (below right) and Durras Lake (below left) and as it was a Saturday the visitors were out enjoying the lovely weather, and the water. I noticed some of the locals entering Burrill Lake at the estuary, then floating back into the lake with the tide, bobbing up and down and having a most relaxed swim, looked wonderful! One thing I have learned from travelling down the coast is that fishing is the most popular sport in Australia!
We turned off to Batemans Bay and Batehaven and drove along the waterside, discovering the pretty Casey’s Beach (below), before getting back on to the Princes Highway and again heading south. The South Coast has so much to offer with its beautiful beaches, rivers and inlets and it would be nice to spend more time crawling along the coast.
We arrived at the highway just short of the quirky and quaint little town of Mogo (below) that spreads along both sides of the highway, and is a very popular place with its galleries, cafes and shops. It was past lunch time so we stopped for a tasty baked potato with filling and a coffee to tide us over (very yummy)! See the Tastes pages here
As we approached Moruya further south we noticed a thick sea mist coming in, and once we arrived at South Moruya Beach you could hardly see the waves! We continued south and turned off to Tuross Head, a picture-perfect town overlooking Coila Lake on the northern side, and Tuross Lake on the southern side. Again the beaches were very misty, as we made our way to the Boatshed Cafe which sits right on the water on Tuross Lake. There was a fishing competition in full swing, but we found a table to enjoy a chai latte and watch the boats coming in with their photographs of fish caught (it was a tag and return to the water competition), and suddenly the thick sea mist started to lift. The locals told us they had not seen such a phenomena, that there there is often a light mist, but usually in the morning or evening, not the middle of the day.
The Boatshed Cafe, still a little misty
Sea mist over Tuross Lake (didn’t stop the fishermen!) and the adjacent Pickled Octopus Cafe
A short distance further south we passed through the dairy town of Bodalla, and of course stopped off to taste some of their cheeses, and watch a video in the museum about the history of Bodalla cheese (below)
Our destination today is Narooma, sitting on the Wagonga River and Inlet. A drive around the town revealed the interesting harbour and breakwaters, and lookouts across to Montague Island and the coast. Below is the bridge over the Wagonga River to enter the township of Narooma.
We drove down to the start of the breakwater as we were told there were three fur seals who spent time on the rocks, and we were lucky enough to see two of them, sunning themselves on the rocks and oblivious of what was going around them – what a life!
The view from the lookout north of Narooma (left) and “Australia Rock” near the breakwater
After settling in to our motel we chose a Thai restaurant (Sunday evenings Narooma goes to sleep very early!) and it was delicious. You can see the images of our meal here.
Tomorrow we head further south to Eden where we will stay for two nights.
