Lake Conjola NSW

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It was less than a half hour drive to Lake Conjola, our next planned south coast stay. Being too early for our caravan park check in, we kept driving through to the picturesque town of Milton, where we topped up on groceries. In heading back to Lake Conjola, we noticed the numerous dead gum trees lining the road, evidence of a recent very hot fire. In researching the extent of the 2019 bushfires in the area, it was sobering to find out that Lake Conjola had lost 89 homes in that bushfire, including three lost lives.

It was good to again be staying in the same caravan park as our friends Tracey and David. After setting up our caravan, we all enjoyed a swim in the lake channel that runs out to the ocean. The famous surf break Green Island lies at the mouth of Lake Conjola.

The next day we drove to the nearby town of Bendalong, where once again the impact of the 2019 bushfires was evident. Tracey and David visited friends in Milton for lunch. After snorkeling at Boat Harbour Beach, I noticed a sting ray heading towards the corner of the beach, so I swam along the beach, while Kim walked along the beach. When we reached the corner of the beach, a lady had turned up with a bag of pilchards, and commenced feeding a growing number of sting rays by hand. The lady advised the rays were Bat Rays, and they numbered around fifteen of various sizes. It was a little intimidating holding a pilchard under the mouth of an incoming ray, that often ran headlong into your legs, or tried to make their way through your legs. We were very conscious of their long barbed tails, but they made no effort to harm us. They even allowed us to pat them as they brushed past our legs.

We then drove to Washerwoman and Dee Beaches, which were Instagram worthy beaches to view. Manyana is a nearby town also affected by the bushfires. The town faces south, towards Green Island, and the lines of waves rolling in were as good as any surf break I have seen.

With a fine day forecast for our last day at Lake Conjola, I was up before sunrise to hit the beach, and capture the beach and island vistas. I hope the photos do the sunrise over Green Island some justice. After a snorkel in the lake with Kim, Tracey and David, we waited on low tide, and then walked across the sand bar to Green Island. After lunch we drove to Bendalong again, to give Tracey and David the opportunity to feed the Bat Rays. They were amazed by the experience.

We packed up at Lake Conjola next morning, Tracey and David heading back to the Central Coast to return to work, we headed further south to Ulladulla to continue our travels.

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