Narooma to Tathra on the South Coast

The plan on Monday was to head into Narooma and spend a night there before continuing our journey south. Like many of the smaller NSW coastal villages, in the off-season there is not too much going on. They are beautiful enough but the full range of services do not ‘kick in’ until the peak holiday periods. In saying that, our visit enabled us to top up with LPG, purchase a few groceries and have a look around the area.

Mainstreet Tilba Central

We forgot to mention in our last up date that we were most impressed with the little village of Tilba Central. Lying in the shadow of Mt Dromedary, it is one of those country towns that almost ‘died’ when the gold mining boom finished and then the agricultural industry declined in the 60’s.  However through the efforts of the local towns people, the historic character of the village was preserved. Most of the buildings are circa 1880 and are in stunning condition.  Click HERE for more on Tilba Central.

The stunning Mystery Bay

Back to Narooma – we decided not to stopover in the town’s camping areas as they were quite expensive and by moving a few kilometres south gave us more options.  As it turned out we found an excellent spot some 12 km south in an area called Mystery Bay. It was a free camp area beside the beach and in a very quiet part of the coast. The Bay was given its’ name in about 1880’s as the result of the disappearance of five local men. It is believed they were all murdered while away on a fishing trip.  Their fishing boat was found washed up on the local beach, bullet holes in its mast, empty shell casings in the hull but very little else. No bodies were ever recovered and murder was never proved.

A few more shots of Mystery Bay HERE .

Tuesday morning we continued south along the coast with our first stop being Wallaga Lake Heights. We had been informed that the area has some of the best ‘wild’ coastal walks around. After parking up, we had a quick coffee then set off on a 6km walk. On previous walks we have come across a huge variety of wildlife – this one was no different.  Thirty minutes into our walk and sunning itself directly beside the track, we encountered a red belly black snake. Before leaving home we had done our homework on snakes we may encounter so we knew to keep well away. The snakebite kit was not needed in this case.

Our clifftop sunrise at Bermagui South this morning

After our coastal walk we drove into Bermagui and spent the night at Bermagui South on a cliff top just 1km south of the township. It was quite a stunning park over actually as just across from where we were parked there were 85 steps down to the largest saltwater swimming pool we have seen. It had been built into the existing rock structure and each tide filled it with fresh salt water. What was even more impressive was that it was very well used by the local community.

Historical Tathra Wharf and Museum

We departed Bermagui this morning and are now in the township of Tathra, situated at the south end of Mimosa Rocks National Park. Tathra has its origins in the agriculture and farming sector with its’ historical’ wharf paving the way for a reliable shipping service between the town and Sydney. Between 1862 and 1954 the only reliable link to Sydney was by steamers that carried everything from the district including cheese, butter, pigs and passengers. The steamer fleet was known as the ‘Pig and Whistle Fleet’ because when live pigs were carried and the steamers piercing siren sounded, the pigs started screaming.

We are leaving here tomorrow morning and are slowing making our way towards Merimbula for the weekend.  We have tickets to a Crowded House and Split Enz tribute night at one of the Clubs in town so are looking forward to a very social weekend.