Succulents and Shellfish

Today was the day of making up for lost time. The Pambula markets was a great start. We chanced upon a most lovely succulents seller. Super friendly like the other locals that we had met, she freely shared all her tips for care, propagation and arrangements! Her selection of succulent arrangements were beautiful, generous and a great bargain! From the markets we moved on to the nearby Pambula River Mouth and Pambula Beach. It was still too cold to venture into the water but the walk up and down the beach and river was pleasant. The wild weather made the coastal scenery look spectacularly moody!

The adults ultra happy with succulent purchases!

The kids happy with Dutch pancakes

The rocks at Pambula Beach

We attempted to walk to Nethercote Falls but the trail was closed indefinitely due to the recent storms. Maybe it was for the best, everything looked remarkably different compared to our trip a year ago. What was supposed to look like this probably would have been brown and grey...or at least that was what we told ourselves! We made a few stops at Ben Boyd National Park that Oma and Opa would be able to do before heading back to Merimbula for a quick lunch and continuing up north. 

No one else there...the carpark of Nethercote picnic area was the furthest we got. The trail was unfortunately closed

The Pinnacles at Ben Boyd National Park

Flora along the Haycock Point Lookout

Still feels strange to have a family photo without Lara :(

Elliot chilling while the other boys explored the rocks below

Our goal for the afternoon was to spend time in the Tathra region. We encountered yet another undoable activity. We foolishly hoped that we would have been able to dip into Kianinny Bay. It was not to be. The wild and wooly theme continued with the bay looking like milk churn. We consoled ourselves with Tathra oysters instead. The seller had honestly rated the standard of the oysters...it was the second lowest level out of 5!! What?!! Curse you rain!!! Nonetheless the 2 dozen that we bought got demolished in record time!

By the time we finished eating, the sun had come out! We were finally able to get into the water at the gorgeous Tathra Beach. Dinner was at the nearby Tathra Hotel. It was then time to say goodbye to the Ongs as they continue on to Jervis Bay tomorrow. 

Kianinny Bay

Seriously...

Still looked good!

Where there are things to climb...

And...this is what happens when a child insists on wearing shorts that was 2 sizes too small

Go Oma! She was really into the exercise equipment...

Tathra Beach

The sunglasses are out again! And no we didn't build the teepee

We looked like squatters outside the surf life saving club. We waited for the sun to come then hid from it 😂

Our beer flights at dinner

The historic Tathra Hotel

Ocean views with a playground

Merimbula & Tathra

The sun was out today. We declared it too hot to take on the Merimbula boardwalk and opted for iced coffees and muffins whilst the kids showed us their paddle boarding skills. Being kids they made it look simple although we would've liked to have seen a little more paddling and a little less playing in the water given that we were paying by the hour! We drove back to Pambula to find some waves and picked up some seafood from Wheelers. We took our meal to a park bench in the shade by the beach (try finding those when you want them in Sydney) and tucked in with our fingers. The fish was good as expected (almost as good as Eden), but the sweet potato chips were amazing!

Full of energy we jumped in the water. After much trying, Malcolm and Lara concluded that the two of them were not capable of catching a wave together on one boogie board. Stupid tourists!

Merimbula Lake

Mitchies Beach

Stand up paddle boarding

They make it look easy

Rounding the corner to Merimbula Beach

Lunch by the beach back at Pambula

Fish and chips from Wheelers

It is oyster country so why not?!

Pambula Beach

We ducked home for a quick shower and power nap (or board game for the keen beans) before heading out to Tathra - home of Tathra Oysters. Apparently Neil Perry buys his Sydney rock oysters from Tathra because they are the best! Given that oysters are one of Jonah's favourite foods (along with beef jerky) we thought we'd better go to the supplier. I had imagined a shop, warehouse or waterfront outlet of sorts, but Tathra Oyster Suppliers was actually run from some guy's garage. It was all set up with sanitiser, q-codes and run very professionally, but it was just one guys with his oysters - but oh what oysters! They were creamy, fresh and were indeed the best natural oysters that we have tried. He supplies all the local restaurants including the Tathra Hotel which would be our destination for dinner.

En route we stumbled across Chamberlain Lookout. It wasn't on our must do list but probably should've been. The view of Kianinny Bay was simply stunning. Snorkelling here must be amazing - as long as you don't get in the way of the spear fishermen. A lot of money was pumped into the creation of cycling tracks in Tathra to help create jobs and generate tourism. A Tathra snorkelling and cycling trip might be a future adventure!

Tathra hotel is famous for its location, its oysters and its beer. It is a restaurant that serves gastro-pub style food in a casual, but comfortable environment. We couldn't help buying another dozen oysters and Malcolm tried a beer flight. The oysters, beer and desserts were excellent. The mains were decent and of a generous size without being great. This hotel was deep cleaned and closed for a bit earlier in the year when some Victorians contaminated it, but business has clearly bounced back and bookings were needed for dinner.

This is how you socially distance in rural Australia. At the oyster wholesaler

Kianinny Bay from Chamberlain's lookout

How clear is that water!

The historic Tathra hotel

Quite funky inside

Oysters round 3...