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Day 25. Well we were about due for an unremarkable day and this was probably the first where nothing of major, historic note happened! However, that doesn’t deter us from talking about our day but you might want to grab a pillow in case you nod off!
We moved on from Mallacoota this morning, the birds were singing, the pelicans were out in the estuary, the sky was blue and we could hear the ocean waves crashing in the not too far away distance. We wished the 3 brothers (our next door campers) well with their boat adventures and as we were driving out came across young Isabelle and her granddad Tony who very kindly gave us one of his cards so if we do ever make it back near Port Albert we can look them up for a bit of free camping. We gave him one of our travel cards so they can look over the blog if they ever have time and then we were on our way.
It’s a single road access to Mallacoota and it’s beautifully windy, hilly and has views in all the right places … can you tell that we were sad to leave?!
Our
journey time was expected to be just over 90 minutes and there were no scheduled stops! Shortly after leaving we came across our first significant ‘road-kill’, a young wallaby. It’s always sad to see such animals dead on the road side although Victoria / New South Wales doesn’t have anywhere near the amount that we’ll experience when we get up North. We crossed into New South Wales on the journey, no photo though as there was nowhere to stop. I seem to remember a larger amount of fuss at other state borders, big sign, pull in point for the photo opportunity etc but alas you’ll just have to take our word for this mean feat!
We’ve been keeping an eye on the diesel prices so when we spotted it at $1.22 per litre we filled up as it had previously been $1.29, woohoo, a saving. We waited patiently behind an older gentleman with a caravan who was using the only normal diesel pump in the garage. He filled up, cleaned the car, paid for the diesel and then cleaned his windscreen! There was no rushing him, he had all the time in the world but Darryl was having a silent
fit!
We passed through the small town of Eden where Tony (granddad of Belle) had recommended the Garden of Eden caravan park but we wanted to travel a little bit further so carried on to Merimbula although it did mean we missed out of a visit to the Eden Whaling Museum!
We’d picked out another Big 4 holiday park for the night, Tween Waters. On arrival it didn’t set the world alight but to be fair the day was a little overcast by now (yes yes, we can hear the cheers!) and Mallacoota was going to be hard to equal let alone beat! We choose slot 36 as it was near to the camp facilities and were presented with 2 keys for the amenities block and a long cable for access to Austel which we think is the equivalent of Sky TV! And there was me saying, we won’t watch the TV tonight so we get used to not having it when we’re doing free camping! Oh well!
Darryl reverses easily onto the pitch and within 10 minutes we’re ready to venture into town. We need to visit the bank and get some supplies for dinner. It’s quite a big
town, quite commercial and very touristy. Woolworths is a good food shop so we get some fresh seafood for tonight and then a BBQ platter & Roo joint to keep us going through the next few days. We’re not eating too badly. We’ve stopped scoffing lollies (sweets) and try to eat nuts and dried fruit, although that does have some interesting side effects!!
All stocked up we head back to camp and then out for the obligatory daily walk. Merimbula has plenty of choices but because it was overcast we thought the boardwalk along the side of the estuary would be interesting and provide us with shelter in the event of a downpour! It was only a short 3.5 km walk but there was plenty to observe along the way. The boardwalk goes above the edges of the estuary so below you can see undisturbed wildlife, in today’s case hundreds of small crabs! They’re quite fascinating to watch as they scuttle from one hole to the next, disappearing when they heard footsteps on the boardwalk above them. There’s an abundance of birdlife, Pelicans, Oyster Catchers and some others that of course I don’t know the name of! We had a
minor problem with the camera today so unfortunately didn’t get a photo of all the different specifies but we hope we’ve sorted it now and the bird quiz will resume shortly!! We do have an Australian bird book with us so I must stop being so lazy and making Mum do all the work!! The estuary boasts an Oyster farm and the boardwalk gives an insight into how long it takes for them to be established. Needless to say the Oyster Catchers have a field day!
It was a lovely walk and a very tranquil setting despite the incessant call from the Bell birds. They never shut up! In fact one of the locals we talked too wondered if she would ever get used to them when she first retired here from Melbourne (Vermont) but now says she barely hears them unless she thinks about it. The noise is as you would imagine, the dong of a bell, over and over and over and over and over and over again! It’s lovely chatting to the locals and finding out a bit about them, this particular lady had visited the UK in 1996 and remembers being surprised at how warm
it was! She actually used the word humid! Everyone is intrigue by Darryl’s accent and most recognise it as Bristolian which is impressive as back home people think he’s a pirate or from Cornwall!
And so to dinner, seafarers marinara ala BBQ! Prawns, calamari, mussels, salmon and an unidentified white fish all mixed with a little bit of garlic paste and served with jacket spuds and salad! Gorgeous! We weren’t the slightest bit jealous of the pork roast our fellow campers had cooked up!
One good thing about having a TV is being able to keep a check on the news and the weather. Brisbane is getting a total battering at the moment with severe winds and 500mm of rain in 48 hrs. The northern coastal region of Sydney is also getting a hammering but we hope this will have blown through by the time we get to the area on Sunday.
We’ve done a bit of forward planning for the next few days and have decided on a site called Pretty Beach, Kioloa as base camp to look at Jervis Bay, Batesman Bay and Narooma.
Night night, here’s to the rain clouds missing us somehow!
Dar & Sar
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Jan Kettle
non-member comment
Too Easy?
That's more like it!! this is more testing for me! I thought it might be a yellow wattlebird but it seems they only live in Tassie so I'll have to dig around a bit more unless anyone else can help? Love Mum K