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

A Lazy Day

We are not a beach family on the whole... so unAustralian! We don't do heat well and 3 out of 5 of us have a sand aversion. The South Coast has the most natural beaches in the state. The weather has been perfect, the surf has been good, the water has been warm, the crowds have been non-existent (a small scattering at most), but we still enjoy the beach most in small doses. Setting up camp on the sand for the day just doesn't appeal. For us it is always short and sweet.. a walk, a swim, throw a frisbee around and then we're done. We are a spectrum, of course. Elliot is by far the most sand averse whereas the younger two will tolerate a bit of sand in their pants if it means that they get to use the boogie boards. 

Today, the sound of the waves lured Lara and Jonah, but the cool breeze of the hilltop house lured the rest of us. Malcolm took them down to the patrolled side of Pambula beach. I'm not sure if it was the strength of the waves or Jonah's poor technique, but he came home with completely torn swimmers.

We decided to eat in so that we could be cheering the Aussies home on the last day of the Sydney Test. The BBQ always tastes better when we are winning, but the game fizzled into a draw due to some resolute Indian batting. After all the fresh seafood we've been having, butcher marinated chicken wings were a draw at best! Fortunately we had another Lara inspired fresh juice concoction and half price Maxi-Bons so all was not lost. As we abandoned hope for the Aussies our attention turned to board games, reading and general lazing around. Pambula has been a lovely place to visit. It will be interesting to observe the change in vibe as we head back towards more developed parts tomorrow.

Lucky our favourite beach happens to be the closest to us!

Apparently boogie boarding is that vigorous that boardshorts can be torn...

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...

Ben Boyd National Park & Eden

Ben Boyd National Park

In lieu of a 10km race at Walt Disney World...we explored the relatively untouched beauty of Ben Boyd National Park. The weather had finally remembered that it is currently summer in Australia. The sun came out and the skies shone blue. Our early start gave Elliot much needed time behind the wheels. With no traffic around us on country roads, anxiety levels were manageable...

We parked at the Barmouth Beach carpark, thinking we were merely the first ones there. But as we later discovered, we turned out to be the ONLY ones there. We did NOT see anyone else during our time within the National park. We set off on the cliffside Haycock Point/Barmouth Beach walking track, a relatively easy 6km return trip. We were greeted by stunning views, kangaroos a plenty and the odd goanna. Sadly we didn't see any echidnas and they are meant to be abundant in the area. I suspect we were too loud...

Rope drop! Turned out there was no need...

Pristine and empty beaches everywhere

Stunning coastal views

I don't think I've ever taken so many photos of kangaroos...

Haycock Point

The end of the walk meant it was finally time to swim. Barmouth Beach was beautiful and sheltered, making it an ideal swimming beach as the waters were calm and crystal clear. We drove on down the coastline and stopped at Quondola Point and the adjoining Quondola Beach. The surf here brought much joy to the boogie boarding members of the family. 

Barmouth Beach

No waves!

Crystal clear water

Quondola Point

Quondola Beach. No one here either...

Boogie boarding joy

Continuing southwards, we stopped at the coastal town of Eden. It was a former whaling town and thus a great place to whale watch during the right time of the year. Alas, we had just missed the migration. We were content to settle for fish and chips at Eden Wharf. The fish was from the morning catch. It was fresh and delicious! Having a coffee cart which made a mean iced chai latter made it quite a civilised meal. This was as far south as we were going to go. From here on, we would be meandering our way back north.

Eden Wharf

Fish & Chips shop

Seating right by the wharf

Ex whaling town

Bay where whales were once commercially slaughtered :(

When we arrived back at our holiday house, it was only 12:30pm. We each opted for our own form of relaxation from napping to watching the cricket and rounding off the afternoon with the obligatory family boardgame session. The day ended with dinner at Longstocking Brewery. They offered oysters served a variety of ways. We opted for half a dozen of pickled ginger, chives and champagne, and half a dozen of gunpowder gin and orange segment. The family declared the former the clear winner, however both were fresh and tasty. The woodfired pizzas were good without being brilliant. The toppings were delicious but they were let down by the dough. It was still a highly enjoyable meal being seated outside and enjoying the setting sun. If interested in dining at the Brewery, be sure to make a reservation as they were fully booked.

Jonah's Christmas present - Lost ruins of Arnak

Longstockin Brewery

Rhubarb and apple cider made onsite

It is gin o'clock!

Oyster time!

Woodfired pizza