Relos and Ribs

Today we had simple aims: to visit a new fishing spot, find a beach with bigger surf and hopefully to catch up with Aunty Rita and Uncle Noel.

The surf beach was first on the agenda. We parked at McKenzies Beach but barely made it onto the sand when we decided that, with no shade and no showers, we weren't that keen on slightly bigger waves after all. Elliot was very relieved!

We decided to abandon the idea of getting hot, sticky and sandy and went in search of the public jetty at Mossy Point. This was a much better idea. The tide was just right and there was a lovely cooling breeze on the water's edge. Jonah and his grandfather has some bonding time which incorporated a few bites, a small fish and a hook implanted in a warfarinised thumb. They came back smiling and the bleeding stopped so all was well.

Aunty Rita was kind enough to offer to drive up and meet us so we arranged to meet at a place called Smokey Dan's. This was just a random choice, but it ended up being fantastic. It was an informal restaurant that sold various slow cooked American BBQ offerings at good prices. You had to log in to a website to order and prepay from inside the restaurant which was something more common in Tokyo than in Tomakin. We thought it safest to not let the olds do any of the ordering. They had enough trouble trying to work out how to use the Covid Q-Code. Everyone enjoyed the food and on-tap drinks although staunch liberal voter, Uncle Noel, nearly choked on his last sip of his beer when we told him it was Bob Hawke Lager. It was a lovely catch up and will surely earn us some family brownie points.

We had a simple afternoon just enjoying each others' company over games, leftovers and cricket. 

McKenzie's Beach

Mossy Point

The specials for today!

A coke made just for me!

Very big ribs...

Brisket beastie 

More Chips Than Fish

The original plan was to visit Montague Island to snorkel with seals and see the sting rays. However upon further discussion with the children, we had to amend our itinerary somewhat.

Elliot - "I will snorkel if there are no seals"

Lara - "If there are seals, there are sharks. I don't want to get eaten."

Jonah - "Steve Irwin died from a stingray. I don't want to go."

We also discovered that what we thought were "strange tiny rocks" that we saw at various lookouts were seals! We were obviously not animal people...

The morning activity became an excursion to the local beach. The older members of the family all achieved their step count in the soft sand, but we didn't stay for too long because the waves were ordinary and the sun started baking us. We had borrowed a beach tent from the house which provided a little shade for one and a considerable challenge for many. Malcolm has trouble with the car windscreen shade so he was out. Lara was determined to achieve the figure eight move depicted on the dodgy instructions. 30 minutes, 2 YouTube clips and one (not so useful) suggestion from a local later, Belinda finally squished it back into its case without snapping it.

Surf Beach

Still reasonably quiet despite being in the summer school holidays

Lovely shaded seating areas, with toilets and showers nearby

After our morning exertion and lunch of roast chicken and salad, we had our obligatory R&R of napping, gaming and reading. An afternoon tea of mango and connoisseur ice-cream was inhaled before we set out for our evening excursion of fishing. There was more fish n chips than fish, but Jonah caught a few little ones that he threw back and was, apparently, baited several times by monsters.

We are obviously oyster people!

Entree by the Clyde River

Clyde River Bridge

Fishing with grandpa

Close...but no cigar

Bermagui and Bateman's Bay

Kangaroos in suburbia. I'm not sure which is worse...wild rabbits, bush turkeys or kangaroos!

A whole mob at the local park

We left our idyllic southern-most base early to start our journey back up north. The plan was to catch the morning light to take some good photos at Bermagui. However we were distracted by a line outside a bakery. Surely a long line early in the morning in an otherwise small sleepy seaside town must mean there was something worth lining up for. Our inner FOMO was brought out and we joined the line at Honorbread. That was how we chanced upon possibly the best cinnamon buns ever. This was a big call considering the quality of other cinnamon scrolls throughout Sydney. You'll have to make the drive south and make your own judgement!

Horse Head Rock had been on the "to photograph" list for a while. A serious photographer would not have let breakfast get in the way of a good photo. A serious photographer would have also made the effort to walk all the way down to the beach from the cliffside once on site to get the best possible shot. I am obviously not a serious photographer! I blame my injuries and the fact that I was wearing designer crocs...

Bermagui Blue Pool. The grey skies made the photo rather dull instead of its usual sparkling blue

Cinnamon buns from Honorbread

Also yummy but we couldn't pronounce it...Kardemummabullar. We shall call it...Swedish cardamom bun

The trail from Camel Rock carpark to Horse Head Rock

Horse Head Rock, so called because it looked like a horse drinking water

We made stops en route to Dalmeny lunch with Aunty Mary, Mystery Bay and Australia Rock. Lunch with Malcolm's aunt was lovely - mainly for the company. We had some simple cafe food then dropped by her place for a while to meet her dog, feed her dog some treats and show off the cinnamon buns in return. Aunty Mary has joined the Honorbread fan club! She explained that Australia Rock has grown to look more like Australia over time as people fiddle with the rock and erode it. She also raised an eyebrow at our claim that Tathra oysters were the best. Apparently Narooma folk are very proud of their produce!

Having linked up with Mal's parents we headed to our new home for the next few days, Surf Beach. The house is a short stroll from the pretty local beach, but to our horror we discovered that the wifi had not been connected as promised (a sort of promise anyway) and uber eats did not service the area. Talk about roughing it! The house is a duplex. Next door has been glammed up and is on the market. Our half is a bit unfinished with an unpainted front door and no shelves in the bedroom cupboards. On the bright side it is clean and spacious and new. Each child got their own bedroom which was bonus! We settled in for the evening and made plans for tomorrow which promises to be a return to normal Australian summer weather. We are planning our siesta already!

Mystery Bay

Narooma

Australia Rock

Milo milkshake. A very large drink for only $5!!

A very satisfying steak sandwich

Meeting up with nana, grandpa and Aunty Mary

Our new base for the next few nights

Surf Beach