Canberra ACT, Nimmitabel, Bredbo, Christmas shop

Well, today (yesterday actually, but why spoil a god story with facts) is the day unfortunately. No more extending, no more procrastinating. It’s time to go home.

One last walk on the beach, one last breakfast in the sunshine, a round of goodbyes and then that was that. All over for another year.

Our track today is up through Bega, Bemboka and a stop at Nimmitabel for coffee and a yummy snack. We pulled in behind another old Viscount van, this one covered in paintings of volcanos and trees and vines and the like. And it’s door was glass with a carved timber frame around it. The two proud owners were taking their coffee at the outdoor table and chairs on the footpath right next to it, ready to bail-up anyone silly enough (like us) to stop and look and point at it. They eagerly launched into their story of how the van once belonged to RM Williams and that they bought it from a bloke who bought it from Williams. When they got it, it was covered in ropes designs and was fitted out with lots of coat hanger hooks on the inside and how the shower had no floor. They repainted it themselves and the fellow made the door claiming he was a cabinet maker and artist. They further went on to tell us that they had contacted the Williams’ family and they confirmed that the van provenance probably was as they claimed, but then went on to state that they wanted no further connection with or anything to do with anything that was related to their late father. Why they chose to tell us all of this family gossip I really don't know. lets just say it’s ‘colour’. I’m certain that I've seen this van somewhere before in the last year or two. It may have even been in Nimmitabel or at the old caravan show in Canberra last year.

Anyhow, we took our leave and took to the road before they did, just in case. We flew through Cooma and in no time were pulling up in front of the Christmas Shop in Bredbo where we spent an hour browsing through the worlds biggest collection of Christmas ‘stuff’.Soon enough however, we were back into the environs of Canberra and then pulling up in front of our very own home, and so yet another grand tour of Australia comes to an end.

Some trivial things for those interested: 

• We left on 1st June and got back on 15th September.
• The van covered 11040 km, the car covered 20,000 km
• We had a great time, but probably wont travel north to south again at that time of year, it’s just too cold. The new car behaved itself perfectly; it has a few idiosyncrasies and is quirky in the instruments and information displays, but it went well, is comfortable, and when i figured out how to elect 6th gear manually, wasn't too thirsty, and was serviced twice, for free!!! The van only developed one small problem when the pantry cupboard began coming apart, more of a design oversight on my behalf when i replaced the original slide out pantry which fell apart last year, and which i rectified easily enough with a bit of aluminium strip and some small screws from Bunnings.
• Most disappointing: The pub at Mandorah was closed forever
• Most inspirational: the three little echidna crossing the road nose-to-tail in the forest somewhere in the south east of Victoria.

Anyhow, that’s it for this trip. Thanks for viewing!Brian & Judy

Judy still trying to catch that elusive fish. They were on holidays, it seems. Tathra NSW

Judy in her most favourite shop outside of Millers, The Christmas  shop in Bredbo NSW

Narooma NSW, Australian Fur Seal, Stingray, Mill Bay Boardwalk

Egad! Our penultimate day on the loose. What is a body to do? These bodies decided to take a little run up the coast to Narooma.

The first thing you notice is how much the place has changed in the last few years, especially around the main tourist area. Big wide road, roundabouts, off street parking. First we had a poke around Black Bream Point, where we spent a few days back in 2002 when we had the boat. Black Bream Point is the name of the cabins and the point out on the back lake where we stayed. It's still there, which surprised me a bit and even seems to be a bit more up market than before, and certainly the prices have moved northward. Our favourite memory was cruising around the lake and going over to the cafes on the other side for lunch. Is there anything more satisfying than tieing up your boat at the cafes own jetty before strolling in for lunch and coffee?

But Narooma to me means the breakwater and the bar and the rock with the Australia like hole in it. We drove around and were wandering out along the breakwater when we stopped next to a small group of people gawping at something down on the water line. Blow me down if there wasn't one but at least seven Australian Fur Seals who appear to have take up residence here. Why go to Montague Island? They are right here at you feet. Took a million snaps, went to the end of the breakwater and back, took 10,000 more snaps, especially when one big old bull pulled himself out of the water and demanded 'his' private rock back from some other interloper. Much roaring flapping of flippers and posturing. He won though and the impostor slowly backed off and took to the water for a swim. They don't just swim, they roll about and do back stroke and just play about.

I took the obligatory snap or 2 of my rock hole and then we went for lunch, which we bought at the local choke-snd-puke and took down to the wharf where the charter boats moor. Judy hadn't even turned the engine off before the gulls were sitting on the roof and on the bonnet and pecking away at the windows. We flipped the wipers at them and they took off, but the cheek! Talk about spoiling the fauna by feeding them. if you do, please don't.

My hunger satisfied, I jumped out and strolled onto the wharf. I had been there a minute when a passerby cried out that there was a seal under the wharf! Sure enough there it was, and as we watched it's game became obvious: swim up the river a bit, then float back down in the swift running current, twisting and tossing and flapping about. Just like a big kid.

As we went to pull out, our way was blocked by a horse and coach! Not exactly what you'd expect to see these day.

We had to check out the other side of the bar, so around we went and parked out past Bar Beach, near the breakwater. There was this bloke there who was flying one of those 4 engined helicopter drone things. He claimed it was his sons and had only flown it a few times, but he looked pretty comfortable with it as it zoomed up and down the river, hopefully getting video of the very same seals we had seen.

We were just about to turn back toward 'home' when we stopped instead to have a look at the water up toward the bridge. First thing we saw was another seal, playing all this way up the river. We though we might as well finish the day by walking along the Mill Bay Boardwalk, that runs for 800 metres  back toward the boat ramp. It's really delightful. There were even some fish in the water (tiny tiny mind you but more than we've seen anywhere else). As we turned around for the return to our car, we spotted a stingray cruising along just below feet, so we followed it and took some snaps until it slid into the depths out of sight.

All in all a pretty decent penultimate day I'd reckon.

Snaps de jour:

'Oi! You're in my spot'. Australian Fur Seal. Narooma NSW

'Yair. Says who?' Australian Fur Seal. Narooma NSW

'I says, that's who, now git!' Australian Fur Seal. Narooma NSW

'Oh yeah?' 'Yeah, do you wanna make something of it?' Australian Fur Seal. Narooma NSW

'Hello, is that mother calling?' Australian Fur Seal. Narooma NSW

I was just going for a swim anyhow...'  Australian Fur Seal. Narooma NSW

Montague island through the world famous Narooma hole. Narooma NSW

'What's that smell? Oh, it's just a horse and cart'. Narooma NSW

Channel training wall. Narooma NSW

Trainee photog. Narooma NSW

Eeeek! Its a UFO. Narooma NSW

OK, so how does this gizmo work? Narooma NSW

Stingray. Narooma NSW

Mill Bay boardwalk. Narooma NSW

You're Welcome, Swallow.  Narooma NSW

Tathra NSW. White necked heron, Black winged stilt, Chestnut teal

So, we came here two weeks ago looking for a bit of warm weather, which eluded us for the first 10 days. The last few days have been not-so-bad and rather than up-sticks and move up to the Bay or Conjola, we have just stayed here until Monday. Sadly, that will be 'it' for this trip, only been 3 months and 2 weeks.

We've done not a lot. Paddled about Tathra, wandered around the 3 towns in the near area, chased birds, sat on the beach, annoyed the fish and pigged out at all but one or two of the cafes, clubs, hotels and restaurants.

I've taken to a one hour walk every morning. I either turn right and walk up over the hill and down the other side to the wharf, or turn left and walk down to the bridge over Bega River and back don the beach. Or some variation on the above. The beach out the front never ceases to fascinate me in that it's continually changing as the weather changes. The sand cliffs are now 3 metres big and I reckon the waterline is now 10 metres closer to the road than it was before. Still no one seems to be concerned and the assumption is that it will all be ok with time.

I have found a place called Nelson Beach, which is almost always deserted. It is more sheltered than Tathra and has lovely fine white sand as opposed to the course yellow on the main beach. There are rocks and a headland at one end and at the other end has a channel that feed the pristine lagoon in behind it. As I was driving back the other day I felt a sting and a little lump just under the neckline of my T-shirt. I whipped it off as soon as possible to reveal the biggest ugliest tick you've ever seen. Judy had to use a crowbar to get it out and it hurt for hours. Apparently quite common around the coast, first one I've had since I was 10.

Judy continues to beat me mercilessly at table tennis, even with our brand-new $2.50 bat and ball set.

One thing that has happened here is that all of a sudden, this van park is starting to fill up. at first it was just us and about 3 others, then about 6 others and today its getting full. All the cabins are booked out and there's at least 6 boats and 30 fishos who have turned up. Good grief, we've even got a back window neighbour.  Mind you, they fiddled about for half an hour before disconnecting the van and man-handling it into position, almost near the slab it's supposed to be next to.

One duck, a chestnut teal. Tathra NSW

Coupla ducks. Tathra NSW

Whole bunch of ducks. Tathra NSW

Big black du.. swan. Even I know that! Tathra NSW

Black winged stilt. Tathra NSW

Mixed herons. Tathra NSW

White necked heron. Tathra NSW

Merimbula NSW, Kite surfing, boardwalk, Hormosira banksii, Neptune's necklace

Fathers day. Hey that's me. Thank you to my dear children for your best wishes.

Today dawned bright and sunny and almost calm. Going to be a fabulous day.

I went for another big walk over the hill and back, i must be getting fit again!

Then we had a slap up breakfast of bacon and eggs and tomatoes. We just had to take advantage of the good weather and ran a pile of clothes through the washing machine, washed the van and part of the car, and played a game of table tennis. Hey, good news, I took a game off Judy.

We are spoiled for choice for lunch, but in the end the open deck at the Tathra Hotel overlooking the ocean came out the winner. I had the roast, Judy elected for the fish, Both excellent. Tathra Wharf got the consolation prize of coffee and something sickly sweet: I had a Mongolian doughnut and Judy chose the vanilla slice.

We finished the day with a run down to Merimbula to find the boardwalk and the 'back lake'. The boardwalk is a 1.7 km boardwalk that runs around the edge of the lake (the Top Lake to be precise) starting at the bridge, which is where we took some snaps, including the jetliner zooming all those poor sods back to Sydney so they can go back to their respective grindstones. The Back Lake, turns out to be over the other side of town behind the Middle Beach, and is closed to the ocean most of the time. We pulled up and Judy took a few snaps of our intrepid Kite Man, who then immediately came into the beach and put his toys away.

A pleasant trip back to the van at Tathra and a nice cup of tea and a coconut rough bikkie.  Almost took the nap option as well, but stayed awake long enough to finish the crossword and sort out some photos.

Speaking of photos, here they are:

Boardwalk.  Merimbula NSW

Boardwalk.  Merimbula NSW

Flyboy.  Merimbula NSW

Mangroves.  Merimbula NSW

Hormosira banksii, aka Neptune's necklace. Merimbula NSW

Boardwalk.  Merimbula NSW

Kite surfer.  Merimbula NSW

Kite Surfer.  Merimbula NSW

Tathra NSW, Merimbula, Nelson Beach, fishing, pelican

We've gone a bit quiet, largely due to the weather being a bit inclement, but not entirely horrible.

Yesterday Judy went off to housie at the bowlo but came back empty handed, not even a half-chicken to show for her efforts. I took myself back up to Nelson Beach where I was reward with an hour of bright sunshine. As soon as you step onto the beach the wind hits you in the face and you just want to turn around and get back to the car. Not I. I could see that from the angle of the wind that if I walked down to the southern end of the beach, I might just be sheltered from the wind by the headland. About halfway down, the wind ceased due to the headland and I spent a very pleasant hour laying in the sunshine on the finest white sand I have seen for some time, the type that squeaks as you walk on it. Ah, bliss!

After lunch and a rest, we picked up the bats and had a game of table tennis. I thought I was finally going to win a game, leading by six, but no, Houdini escaped again winning 21/19. Just to be sure she did it again. Rats!

Being a Friday night, we thought we might walk back around to the club and have a drink while waiting for our raffle tickets to bear fruit. Sadly, we didn't win any of the meat trays or the seafood platter. We stayed for dinner though and had a nice smallish pizza for not a lot of cash. We spoiled the meal with chocolate pudding that wasn't quite cooked. Don't you hate it when you've had a lovely time and a nice meal and then the last thing spoils it? I took the black coffee cure and we spent a few more minutes finishing the giant crossword in the Seniors (ok ok we know already) newspaper. We didn't quite finish it; we missed 'ill, sickly' which we put in as 'spewy' and something about an arab nobleman or something which we thought should be 'emir' but as it had 5 letters, we just glossed over it.

Today I got up a bit earlier than I have been and walked up the 10,000 steps, over the hill, down to the wharf, up around the headland, through the cemetery and ended at the newsagent, which was at least now open, but no newspapers until sometime later. Undaunted, I went to the little supermarket and got some strawberry jam, walked back over the hill and down along our street, stopping at the bakery to get Judy a hot croissant.

A run up to Bega seemed like a good idea and we got there late enough to see all the Main Street shops close (isn't that quaint - the shops still close for the weekend at noon on Saturday). Luckily for Judy, the big shops, which are out the back of the main street shops, are open all the time and she went on a bit of a spree and even bought yet-another-bunch of fishing lures. I'm convinced they only catch fisher persons, not actual fish. We have taken to eating lunch at McDonalds more often that in the past, namely because I like the chicken wraps and the coffee is always good, and it's pretty damn cheap compared to street cafes.

From Bega, I, as the navigator, was saying nothing and we ended up on the Merimbula Road instead of the Tathra road, which was quite ok by both of us. We headed for the Merimbula Wharf, where i used to go diving, to test out the new lures. Lookout fish!

They had nothing to worry about and we packed our fisho stuff and went wandering about Merimbula, ending up walking along Fish Pen Road. No, that's really what its called. At the end is the most delightful safe and shallow beach for kiddies to paddle about in, just around from the big beach.

Finally we headed for home but stopped to look at Tura Beach Estate, which was new and quite empty when i used to do the aforementioned scuba diving, but which is now built out. Of interest is that most of the blocks are multiple occupancy, I wonder if the developer had that in mind?

Anyhow, I took some snaps, here is a few for your viewing pleasure:

Judy eyeing off the fish with her new lure. Merimbula Wharf NSW

Still smiling, despite the rotten fish. Merimbula Wharf NSW

I used to Scuba dive right of these rocks. Merimbula Wharf NSW

Look at the light dancing on the water.  Merimbula Wharf NSW

Not sure what they're trying to catch.  Merimbula Wharf NSW 

Well, you just had to take it, didn't you? Fish Pen Road, Merimbula NSW

These pelicans have been perched here too long! Merimbula NSW

Tathra NSW, Whales, beach, rainbow

We were due to leave here today, but as the weather is still not great anywhere from here to Port Douglas, we decided to extend ourselves for another week. Actually, it's a reflection of this place, its just so relaxed and easy to be in, neither of us could see any point in leaving to go somewhere else.

We took some exercise by walking up to the shops: its a bit of a climb up 10,000 steps (That's how many Judy counted, and would she fib to me?) The steps go through some bushland and we enjoyed looking at the various wildflowers, and some not so wild - positively tame actually, and listening to the million or so Bell Birds and a few thousand whip birds. You can only listen to them, i'll be damned if i can see them. Actually we might have looked straight at one, but it was way up in a tree and no camera...

This afternoon, we walked over to the beach to see what it was like at high tide. You see, it's not like an ordinary beach, well not at the moment at least, because the sand dunes stop abruptly at a 1 - 2 metre sand cliff face and the water is just there, maybe only 5 metres away at low tide. It was great, the waves pounding in and occasionally spilling over the top, or crashing into the next incoming wave in there rush to get back into the ocean. I was busy waiting for this fisherman to fall over as he juggled his time between fiddling with his rod and making phone calls. Sadly that didn't happen, but then Judy got all excited as a few dolphins started to surf the waves and then IT happened.... A damn whale started to breach and frolic about just off the beach. Sadly, all i ended up with was a bunch of 'splash' photos to add to my collection. We could see at least 2 others further out and we followed them around to Chamberlains Lookout (more splash snaps) and then we were rewarded with a perfect  Rainbow.

Waiting, waiting.. where are this whales? Tathra Beach NSW

Splooch!  Tathra Beach NSW

 Tathra Beach NSW 

Dolphins in the waves.  Tathra Beach NSW

Whales.  Tathra Beach NSW

Whales. Tathra NSW

Kianinney Bay. Tathra NSW

Rainbow. Tathra, NSW

Tathra NSW, Merimbula, 100 foot journey

By yesterday morning, any thoughts of bright sunny warm days had disappeared under a heavy blanket of grey. Rain and wind and cold. Fortunately, we had already decided to travel the 25km to Merimbula to go to the movies. Yes, it's true, I went to an actual cinema and sat through a talking type movie. The last movie we saw was abysmal, which should have been its title, but which was something about a Bucharest Hotel. This time Judy had decided that something called 100 foot journey would be the go. I was sceptical and prepared to have a nap for the couple of hours or so that it took.

Much to my surprise, not only did i not have to resort to a coma-like state to endure the onslaught of visual inanity, but i found myself wide awake and enjoying the show immensely. Like all good movies, it has a most unlikely scenario, with an Indian family finding themselves in provincial France where they decide to open their Indian Cuisine restaurant right opposite a 1x Michelin star French choke & puke. Needless to say there is racial tension, sexual tension and hostilities. I'll say no more except that I think I'd now like to go and see some of the French countryside and try some food perhaps a bit more exotic than my normal fare.

Merimbula is huge compared to what I remember from my scuba diving days, but we restricted ourselves to a few of the big shops before heading out to explore the district, travelling as far down as Pambula Beach, where we found the most delightful little cove.

Today was not a lot better, at least it wasn't raining all the time. I have generously given my cold to Judy and we were being a bit slow today.  Not so slow as to miss the morning tea at 1030, where the few of us in the park sat around and ate our hosts' scones and drank tea. We retired to the van and only ventured out after a late lunch, and then only to go driving up past Bemboka in search of another of the Far South Coast Birdwatchers Bird Trails. It wasn't as good as the local one, basically all the birds have flown, or have gone into hiding until the sun comes out again, and we gave it away and came back via Candelo, picking up some snacks and wines in Tathra to help boost our wet weather immune systems.

Greens Crossing. Bemboka NSW

Greens Crossing. Bemboka NSW

Greens Crossing. Bemboka NSW

Look, actually off road! Greens Crossing. Bemboka NSW

Sheep and sheepette. Bemboka NSW

Countryside. Candelo NSW