Author: Mrs A
Location: Port Macquarie, NSW
It was just a 90 minute drive from Bulahdelah up to Port Macquarie, so we were pulling into our campsite by lunchtime. We’d decided to head for a caravan park because the washing mountain was building up, plus there are a few days of wet weather forecast.
We were last in Port about 5 years ago, that time in our Ultimate camper trailer with the kayak and two eBikes. As we drove into town, familiar sights gradually reminded us of our last visit and the Hastings River oysters we had enjoyed. Ah yes, the oysters! Sadly none found today – something to save for tomorrow!
After a couple of loads of washing were done (remember our washing machine only takes 2kg!) and lunch consumed, we jumped on the mountain bikes for an explore. We are parked about 20 metres from part of the Macquarie coastline shared pathway, and so followed our noses for a while, eventually arriving at the Settlement Point river ferry. Checking Google Maps I could see we could cross the river and continue our cycle on the other side, potentially crossing back over via another ferry. Mark checked with a nearby local who confirmed the other ferry was indeed running, and off we went.
The other side of the river was much quieter, with hardly a car on the road. We passed more oyster farms and beautiful white gum trees, before reaching the next ferry about 6km later.
While the afternoon was bright and sunny, we noticed that the sky to the west was looking very dark. A quick look at the weather forecast listed a whole load of warnings, including for severe thunder storms, large hail and strong winds…we whizzed back to the campground to make sure windows were closed and the awning was secured. Of course, no inclement weather eventuated, just a hot cloudy humid evening. Still it was a good 18km ride, and got the blood moving after a few days of not much activity.
I’m actually hoping we get some rain tomorrow. Our lovely friends Donna and Andy (expert sourdough chefs) will be pleased to learn we are intending to try baking another loaf. Everything is prepared, and kneading hands are at the ready…wish us luck!
There was a lot of birdlife around our camp, with yellow robins, honeyeaters, fairy wrens, black cockatoos, wattle birds all flitting around. We climbed down to the beach and discovered pelicans, white bellied sea eagles and pied cormorants – a veritable sanctuary of feathered creatures.
Our stay was brief, however, and the following morning we headed back on our way.
That evening we enjoyed a delicious night out at the local Thai restaurant where other friends Alan and Jo joined us, entertaining us with stories of their goats and life on the farm.
A lovely quote caught my eye on a bench at one of the lookouts, an apt thought to end the day on:
We toured down the river, stopping just before it went into Merimbula Bay, close to where we had been hiking last Sunday.
Just over twelve kilometres later we were back at our start point munching on a dozen oysters each. Well deserved this time!
The water looked perfect for paddling on, being shallow and not too fast moving, but there was a strong southerly breeze which makes it a challenge. We decided to save paddling for tomorrow.
All this blog writing had made my iPad keyboard battery run out…or so I thought, so we popped out to the nearest shop for a new one (I later found that it is not the battery, but the Bluetooth capability which has stopped working. Ugh – seems a new keyboard might be required unless any readers know an easy fix?). On the way back we called into Boydtown for a look around.
We finished off with feeding the peacocks, peahens and a chick before heading back for dinner, armed with the eggs and a bag of fresh spinach from the veggie patch.
The rock formations were amazing creating some amazing backdrops for the paddle.
In the afternoon we headed off in cars to start a short walk up the coast though coastal forecast in Ben Boyd National Park. The roos were plentiful, the very lawn like grass indicative of a sizeable mob enjoying this grazing. Dolphins even obliged by appearing on cue, as well as an echidna and bush wallabies. A sea eagle soared overhead, while crested terns dived for fish in the bay.
This area of coast is one of our favourite spots in Australia. It does get busier every time we come, but there is still leaves plenty of space. We would only have seen half a dozen people on the entire walk.
Spending time outdoors in this serene and largely pristine environment is so good for our souls. It’s especially welcome as we mourn the loss of our friend. He’s on my mind a lot of the time, processing thoughts that move from angry to sad in a heartbeat. Our friends provide a welcome distraction, reminding me of the criticality of these relationships to our overall wellbeing.
After a fabulous team BBQ brunch, a group of us decided to try burning off some of the calories with a bike ride into town. Eden is famous for its incredible coastline with spectacular views. This means of course hills so we really did burn a calorie or two, but the views are worth it.
We rode down to the wharf where a large cruise ship had just arrived, and enjoyed coffees down there before heading back to camp.
After showers it was most certainly beer o’clock and the evening began. A delicious Ward spag bol was concocted followed by a very tasty dairy free chocolate birthday cake from Jenny. Much fun and laughter and a lovely birthday eve eve had.
We finally emerged onto the main waterway of the Bega River, and decided to explore upstream.
Minimal breeze meant mirror calm water, perfect paddling, with a few observers from the shore.
A quick ‘comfort stop’ and we headed back to our launch point, being carefully tracked by nosy roos and 13km under our belts.
It was time to move on again and make the short drive down to Eden, stopping en route at the beautiful little town of Perimbula for some supplies.We set up camp and shortly after, the gang arrived from Sydney. It was great to see them all after the emotional events of the last week. Nothing like old friends to help you get perspective.
So let the good times roll, after a short ride along the beach then back for some afternoon nibbles and drinks. We made everyone dinner and then some more friends from Canberra arrived. We had a full team.
Around 6pm we decided to head out to the Tathra Hotel for dinner. It had been recommended as a spot to go to, and we could see it was a nicely painted heritage building from the outside. As we entered, I expected the usual stinky sticky carpets and dark dingy walls of the typical Australian pub, but was nicely surprised. The interior has been freshly renovated, with a lot of money spent and some great interior architecture and design in place. It looked fantastic, with high ceilings, and huge windows making the most of the views across the ocean. We settled onto a table with an ocean view and ordered our food. We accompanied this with a craft beer for Mr A and a local winery Tempranillo for me – just delicious. The food was great too – my curry a little mild for my liking, but still tasty.
Wednesday morning saw us packing up and driving to a MUCH nicer campsite just 5km away in Kalaru. Lots of space, birds, wallabies, unspoilt bushland and close to the Bega River for potential kayaking opportunities. We set up early and relaxed with brunch to make plans for April, realising we have the Easter period quickly approaching when every decent campground is likely to be fully booked and full of children. We made bookings, including a couple with friends who have kindly offered us places to stay at the busiest times, and now feel a lot more in control.
We then jumped on our mountain bikes to head off on a ride. We had only made it about 500 metres when a phone call came which shook our world. We had the horrible news that a good friend back in Sydney had lost his battle with depression. Just awful, we feel there must have been something we could have done to prevent this happening…how could we have fun while a friend was in so much pain? We spent a tearful hour or so calling other friends to let them know the bad news, and considered heading back to the caravan to reflect.
Tonight is not to be an alcohol free night. Barbecued lamb chops on a pumpkin hummus will be accompanied by spinach with toasted walnuts and a lemon and lime dressing. We will toast our friend and hope he is in a happier place tonight. There will certainly be more tears from us before the day is out…
We did a short 4km paddle before returning to shore, deciding that air conditioned surroundings would be more suitable on a 35 degree day.
The mercury remained high for the afternoon, so we retired to the air conditioned caravan to read and relax.
We caught the free courtesy bus both ways and are now safely tucked into the caravan as a huge storm has rolled in, taking the temperatures down finally, and making for a very cosy evening. Cheers folks!
Crossing through the Narooma Bar we were required by law to don lifejackets, but soon took those off for a more comfortable ride. Upon reaching the island we were given the option to jump into the 20 degree water for a snorkel with the seal pups…but the cool breeze blew across the water and we decided to give it a miss this time. We had a nice cup of tea while two of the guests jumped in for a dive, before heading around to the wharf.
We were met by a volunteer and a National Parks Ranger who escorted us up a grassy, mown path past huge granite boulders to the top of the island and lighthouse, telling us stories of the flora and fauna and the work that has been done to restore the land to its former glory. The island was first occupied by Europeans in 1880 when the construction of the lighthouse and its cottages commenced, but the native landowners have a history stretching back many thousands of years, with several sacred sites on the island and evidence of numerous shell middens demonstrating where they had shared meals over the centuries.
A walking tour of the island revealed graves and stories of the hardship the lighthouse keepers and their families had to endure while keeping the seas safe for ships, with a beautiful poem written in memory of those lost – Charles Townsend killed by untreated injuries he received when his horse was spooked and tipped him and a heavy cart of supplies over, no phones or radios for help then, and the young child killed by whooping cough in the days before vaccines.
Beautiful views greeted us at every point, and we saw many little penguin and shearwater burrows which come to life at dawn and dusk.
After a few hours on the island our boat came to pick us up and return us to the mainland. There we hitched up the caravan and left Narooma, driving a whole 15 minutes down the coast to our next location, just north of Bermagui at Wallaga Lake.
