Pambula to Moruya

February 5 to February 12

Sunday saw us enter New South Wales, we’re on the home stretch before returning to the Sunshine Coast. We drove into Eden then on to Pambula. It was surprisingly busy, so we bought some fresh local oysters (this stretch of coastline is another renowned oyster farming area) and went 5km to Top Lake near Merimbula for lunch. This is a large shallow inlet with many oyster leases, and plenty of walking tracks for after lunch.

Sunday night we stayed at another CMCA Member Stop Over property near Pambula. This region have been experiencing a prolonged drought and their property was desperately dry, so dry they had lost many, well established trees. About 1am on Monday a storm came through and dropped about 15mm of rain. The region was about to get a reprieve from the drought.

Monday we went back into Merimbula and checked in to the Merimbula Beach Caravan Park. The weather had turned rainy and windy, we had some washing to do, and the Superbowl gridiron game was on TV. The right combination to hibernate out of the weather.

Tuesday the weather got even worse, we did some grocery shopping then drove north stopping in at Tathra and Bermagui. We reached Narooma with still no relief from the rain. Thankfully Narooma are still tolerant of overnight parking at their boat ramp so we stayed the night there.

Secret Bush Camp, near Potato Point

Wednesday the rain reduced to showers, we had a walk on the Mill Bay boardwalk in the morning, then moved to the other side of Narooma overlooking Wagonga Inlet. This is also a large, very shallow inlet where oysters are farmed. We got the chance to have another walk in the afternoon as the showers became less frequent, but the wind was still constant. I was thinking of doing another offshore fishing charter to Montague Island while in Narooma, I did this 2 years ago and really enjoyed it. Unfortunately the wind forecast was bad for the next few days, so we drove a short distance north to Potato Point.

We stayed here two years ago, a very small headland community (no shops or pubs) where you could stay overnight in the park adjacent the creek and the beach. In the time since we were last here, they have erected “No Camping” signs at the park, probably due to the huge increase in travellers opting to free camp and not always respecting the host towns.

Potato Point borders the Bodalla State Forest, and a chat with a local offered a couple of options to camp in the bush, which thankfully the rabid travelling hoard haven’t found out about yet. Less than a kilometre off the Potato Point Road (sorry, I’m sworn to secrecy on the actual location) we had a secluded forest hideaway (see photo).

Emu on the beach, Potato Point

Thursday the weather finally cleared, so we parked back at Potato Point, and did some walks along the beach and through the fringe of the Eurobodalla National Park. The beach walk was a surprise when we came upon an emu couple and their two chicks. While the chicks and one parent stayed in the dunes, one parent happily strolled the beach for an hour or so. We also saw them later at the park in Potato Point. The weather report was looking more promising, so I checked with Narooma Fishing Charters and they were going out Friday, the first time in almost a week. We returned to Narooma to park at the boat ramp so I could meet up with the charter at 5:45am.

Mixed bag of reef fish from Montague Island

The wind had dropped on Friday, but the swell was still 2 metres, so pretty bumpy. We had a good day out although not too successful (see photo). I caught a mix of snapper and silver trevally to take home, but missed a very big Kingfish which, after about 10 minutes of fighting, broke the line before we got him to the boat. Only one legal kingfish was landed on the day. Leah enjoyed a walk into town and around the shops.

Friday night we returned to our Potato Point bush camp.

On Saturday we spent the morning at Potato Point then drove to Moruya, about 24km north. Sydney and the mid NSW were in the grip of a 40+⁰C heatwave (as was QLD and parts of VIC). Fortunately we were just south of the affected area, we only reached around 30⁰C. We booked in to the caravan park for our weekly chores. Storms brewed up in the late afternoon and continued on and off that night.

Sunday we had a leisurely morning walking along the Moruya River and around town, as the checkout from the caravan park was a generous 11am.