Day 307 - Wednesday 1 November - Last stay in NSW Merimbula

Day 307 –

Wednesday

1 November –

Batemans Bay – Merimbula

Here we go again, getting back on the road. Paul was up at 7.30am, but I was entrenched in bed, opening my book and reading until he returned from his shower to proclaim I was being lazy.

I finished the chapter I was on and then got up and underway.  Breakfast, shower and all things stowed and we were ready by 9am. We said goodbye to our WA neighbours and then made tracks south.

The initial beginning of the route took us close to the coast where we passed through the town of Mogo. This was set on a small inlet and was a really pretty spot. I wished we had known about it and made the trek in the car earlier, but that isn’t how it worked out.

From Mogo, we joined up with the A1, Princes Highway, again and continued the 2 hour journey. For most of it the highway is single lane, bumpy and twisty. There are peaks and valleys, with the road lined by large gums and lime green pastures stretching through the paddocks. It is quite a pretty area.

We drove through Narooma where the GPS had us avoid the town centre and follow the Riverside Drive. It was quite a picturesque drive, but it culminated in a very steep ascent terminating at the A1. The van struggled, but managed to climb the hill. I was praying that the small 4wd in front would be able to cross the road before we arrived at he T junction, but it had to stop. Paul pulled up as close to the bumper as he could, which allowed our front wheels to sit on a slight flat section and once the car was gone, we crawled closer to the line waiting for our turn. Thankfully, we were able to get the van across without incident, though my hands were sweating at the thought we would be stuck.

A little further down the road, we stopped to check on the vehicles. Paul had to do some rearranging of the straps and turn the car wheels straight, as all the bumpiness had seen them shift.

We continued to follow the A1 through a number of small towns, many looked interesting and we decided we would come back and explore them further tomorrow in the car.

We entered the Bega valley and the outskirts of the Bega township and from there it was a short 30km into Merimbula and the caravan park out on the short point headland.

I hadn’t rung ahead to book in and thankfully they had plenty of room for us to stay for the next four nights. We set up our spot and then had lunch, taking time to relax before we went for a wander around the park. The weather wasn’t the best, with it still quite blowy and cool.

The caravan park is in quite a good location sitting high on the headland, so you have great views over the water. We walked around the facilities and then out to the parkland to get a better view of the area. 

We made our way down to the beach car park where a rusty sculpture took our interest. I’ll let you decide what you thing we were affectionately calling it. Turns out the local think the same, when one quizzed us on our thoughts. 

 We walked back to the van, grabbed our things and then drove into the town centre, parking at the shops and the walking the main street. I contacted Nigel and he gave us directions to his work place. We made our way there, meeting him and his daughter in his office that overlooks the Merimbula Lake and a few oyster leases. 

We chatted for some time with Nigel giving us the low down on what we should check out

while in town and of course beer and where we would meet up later in the week.

Once we left him, we walked further down the road and made our way to a boardwalk he had told us about that runs along the edge of the lake. While it was still blowing a gale, the sun was attempting to show itself and it was quite a pleasant walk.

We wandered past many more oyster leases before finishing at a small boat hire business and coffee shop. We took refuge from the wind, locking ourselves inside the building with a hot chocolate. There were lovely, big glass windows that provided a terrific view over the water.

While we were there, Simon rang for a chat. It was wonderful to talk to him and then I passed the phone over so he could chew Paul’s ear for a while as well. It sounds like all is great with him, the family and the new place.

At 4pm, we began the 2km journey back to the main street and wandered into the Woollies for a few bits. We made our way back to the car and drove out towards Pambula, stopping at Wheelers seafood to pick up a dozen oysters for entrée. We then made the short journey home.

As the wind had dropped somewhat, I suggested we cook up our oyster entrée and take them and our drinks to the park benches over looking the water where we could watch the migrating whales. This was a good choice. The oysters were delicious and the whales were majestic. Unfortunately they were too far away to take photos, but we were able to see them breaching and fin slapping, with great plumes of water rising in the air. It never gets old. 

We returned to the van and cooked up our dinner, ate and then did the dishes. I went through my photos before we took off for our evening walk to help the digestion. Once we were back, it was time to settle in for the evening.