Merimbula

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Tuesday 30th January

Just had two lovely days up at Merimbula and we’ve never been as sad at leaving a place than we did here. With hindsight, we should have booked at least one week in this coastal town as not only is there plenty of restaurants, but a couple of supermarkets are nearby for groceries as well as several shops worth a wander around. The best part though has to be the beaches, and our favourite was Short Point beach where it was peaceful and quiet except for the waves on the shoreline. There are rock-pools here and the formations of the rocks which the ocean has lashed for probably millions of years has formed some unusual shapes and features. Also, we have found that there is free car parking almost everywhere we have visited down the New South Wales coast which is an added bonus…something which we tend not to get in the UK back home.
The sea here really is blue and the sand an almost white colour. The beaches of Pambula is nearby too and this is where we had our first encounter with real wild kangaroos! There were about 30 or so wandering around a campsite here annoying Australian tourists by looking for food, a sight not to be missed nor a sight we shall forget in a hurry. Got some great photos of them too for you lot back home!

Yesterday, we drove to a beach called Tura Beach a couple of miles outside Merimbula and if anyone is travelling to this area soon, you have to visit this beach. Firstly, there are no places for refreshments so take your own. Secondly, be wary of the currents in the sea, even by the shoreline. Lastly, if you like deserted beaches with again, white sand and blue sea…then this is the place for you. There was a lovely breeze blowing in off the ocean so this cooled things down a little although according to the temperature outside our car it was reading 25c so very nice indeed.

Today, we drove further on after leaving The Comfort Inn at Merimbula to our next port of call here in Lakes Entrance. We are staying at the Best Western ‘Coastal Waters’ motel and again we cannot fault the rooms or service one bit. Ron who runs this place with his wife is very friendly and we’d recommend this motel to anyone needing to stay around here. The room we have ( room 12 ) is perhaps the most spacious of all hotel rooms we’ve had on this trip so it makes it very comfortable indeed. We’ve not been able to get the internet working here as yet so maybe we’ll speak to Ron later about it.

Glad we filled our car up again with petrol before we left to join the Princess Highway again as although there are petrol stations, they’re not over-run with them along the Merimbula to Lakes Entrance route…so fellow travellers beware!

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