October 21st, 2024
We hit the Woolworth’s in Narooma before leaving to grocery shop and then went a whopping 35 km / 22 mi further down the coast of New South Wales to another beach town: Bermagui. There was one wild camp a little out of town but today we decided we’d like power to make popcorn and we’d be able to shower and fill our water tanks as well as dumping.
“Reflections Bermagui” is a very nice campground (we were kinda surprised by the price – only $47 for a powered site when some campgrounds along this coast charge over $100) with cabins for rent, powered and unpowered sites, bathrooms/showers, laundry, a camp kitchen and Wi-Fi. After parking and hooking up we took the one click walk over to check out the “Blue Pool”. There are apparently hundreds of these ocean fed rock pools along the coast but this is supposed to be one of the prettiest. There is a 50 m / 164’ swimming hole with a smaller cement pool beside it.
We took pics from above first:
then walked down the stairs to the pools where Fran stepped into one. (can’t find the pics!). It’s super windy here and barely 20 C / 70F and the water is cold – not freezing but cold. There were a few women who were braving it though (notice just women!) We watched the waves crash over the rocks filling the pool and if you looked south you could see what is called the “Sapphire Coast” – the next drive we’ll be doing when we leave here.
We returned to the campsite enjoyed reading in the sunshine on the non-windy side of the camper.
The plan the next day was to head to the beach north of town to wild camp for a couple nights at place we’d found on iOverlander but the camping gods were not with us; neither there or any of the next four spots we tried, allowing any camping or overnight parking. Guess the stories we’d read recently about clamping down on wild camping were true in this area. We can see it could be a really popular spot in summer as the beaches are beautiful and we understand how it got named the “sapphire coast”. Unfortunately, much of the road is not right on the coast but when it is, it’s gorgeous.
Here are a few more photos of this pretty area.
We did make several beach stops (see pic above) where Fran dipped her feet into the “southern ocean”.
We took a 1km hike from Camel Rock to Horse Head Rock:
As we were driving away we saw a car with people taking pictures towards the bushes; lo and behold there was a kangaroo!
Stopped at Michael Lerner Lookout which was pretty tree covered so hard to get views but we found a spot with an opening:
then at Baragoot Beach:
followed by Tathra Beach
before reaching the town of Merimbula where the overnight parking lot we’d hope to stay at, now had “3 hour” limit signs on it. As we’ve come much further down the coast than we’d planned we decided to shell out the bucks and stay in a local campground at an unpowered site with beach access. For $185 AUD (about $120 USD) we got a site for five nights in a large “holiday park” that offers villas, beach houses, cabins and of course, camping. There is a small water park, playgrounds, camp kitchens, bike and go kart rentals, games rooms, tv rooms, laundry ($4 a machine) and Wi-Fi included. This will slow us down as we don’t have to be in Melbourne until November 3rd and we less than 900 km to go and 13 days to do it in.
We booked online and drove over. They gave us a spot under some trees and we asked to move so our solar could work more efficiently – that was no problem as we were the only ones in the unpowered sites section.
This was the first time we’d ever stayed somewhere this long and we pulled out our little “patio” and settled in. Doug went for a walk into town to find tent pegs to hold the patio down and Fran went to check out the beach:
As we are here for a few days, they’ll be plenty of walks on it she thinks!
The weather is till quite nice sun wise but it’s not really warm. Still only around 20C/70F with a wind that can feel quite cool by the sea. At night it drops to the low to mid teens (mid 50’s F) and is comfortable enough for sleeping.
Wednesday we awoke to overcast skies and tiny little sprinkles of rain on and off but nothing bothersome. We had a good chat with Joshua on WhatsApp. Doug had a dry run but when Fran went out to walk on the beach it began to sprinkle but she saw two humpbacks in the bay! She called Doug but by the time he came out they had moved on to by the point and when he joined her they barely made themselves visible.
Doug returned to Matilda and Fran went down to the beach to walk on her own; it began to rain a bit harder and after 20 minutes it wasn’t letting up so she returned in time for brunch.
The rain got heavier but not extreme and after a couple of hours, we went to the camp kitchen and TV room to plug in our laptops and get online for a few hours. The rain did stop around 2 but it was still quite damp feeling and rather cool.
Just before dinner when the sun came back out, Fran realized her anklet was missing – she returned to the camp kitchen and there it was under the table – phew! Before leaving the kitchen area, she looked at at the ocean – there’s a great ocean view outside of it – and lo and behold, there were 3 humpbacks slapping their tails in the bay. She only had her phone but at 5x zoom, she managed to get a few videos:
Thursday was a beautiful day with few clouds but the constant breeze we’ve come to expect. It should be noted that here on the coast, although there are flies, they are not in the numbers we had in the outback which is a blessing!
We both walked into town today – about 2 clicks away – Fran did a bit of shopping and saw black swans and pelicans on her walk back:
We sit outside the camp kitchen this afternoon with a view of the ocean and around mid afternoon Fran spotted another whale out there but it was much further away than yesterday. It’s super windy here so when the sun tucked behind a cloud we sat inside but could still have a view. We had two more sightings in the distance after that. The wind got stronger and colder as the afternoon went on.
As the rig was so cold from the icy wind, we really wanted some heat but we’ve not paid for power. Doug checked the portable heater we have and he figured if we put it on low, we could run it for a while to take the chill out; that worked pretty well but it sure used up battery. After ten minutes we turned it off figuring we could do that again later if needed but using lap blankets while watching TV, we were fine. We did go to bed using all our blankets though!
We awoke Friday to lovely sunshine but still some wind though not as strong or as cold. Doug went for a stroll while Fran exercised indoors and then showered. He spotted one whale spout in the ocean on his walk.
After lunch Fran took a walk out to Long Point and spotted two whales but they were too far out to take video with her phone but here’s a video of the view from that point:
Then we saw a few while sitting in the camp kitchen again the afternoon – trying to stay out of the strong winds again although not as cold as yesterday. It barely reached 17C / 62F today and there had to have been a windchill unlike yesterday!
There is a whale on the left in this not very good photo:
It was another cold evening but we managed with extra jackets and lap blankets.
Earlier today, we received this photo and the news that the young woman we sponsored to go to University in Uganda has officially graduated (this is a copy of a photo from WhatsApp so the quality is not the greatest):
Debrah now works at KEGS as Lucky’s Deputy Director and as a counselor and hopes to make a positive impact on the school. This is wonderful news and we are proud to have assisted her in achieving this milestone in her life.
Saturday was a partly sunny day and started with no wind. As Doug left to go for his long run, he stepped outside and we had a visitor in the empty site beside us:
He didn’t seem perturbed by our presence and Fran got out the camera. He was not annoyed at all by us or the people walking by on the road.
After exercising, Fran defrosted the freezer which went surprisingly fast and then did laundry. While waiting for the clothes to dry Fran walked around the campground and spotted these colourful parrots called Lorikeets:
Afterwards we walked into town for an early brunch as Doug was craving Egg McMuffins after his long run.
There is a big coffee culture here in Australia; we do not drink the stuff ourselves but you see mobile coffee spots often, especially in the parking lots at parks and seaside parks (often just for the morning) like this one:
Sitting by the camp kitchen again this afternoon reading and getting online, we spotted only one whale. The sea was much calmer with fewer white caps today but the wind has not disappeared, merely lessened to a more tolerable amount.
Fran needed to stretch her legs again so she went for a walk to the end of Short Point with lovely views and she spotted one whale in the distance. She saw lots of gulls and cormorants and again one of the little pied ones sitting on a rock:
It cooled off again in the late afternoon but it was no where near as cold as Thursday had been. After a light dinner we had another quiet evening and Sunday morning we were out of there after filling and dumping by 8.
Click here to see more photos of our whale watching days in Merimbula.
We wanted to make some miles today but had two stops in mind. One was to see the Pinnacles in Beowra National Park. This meant a turn off the Princes Highway and after parking a 1 click walking loop. This is a spectacular erosion feature that consists of cliffs of soft white sands capped with a layer of red gravel clay. It was deposited during the Tertiary geological period – up to 65 million years ago.
They were quite colourful in the sunlight: 
We saw many weird trees or rather weird things in the trees:
these are both a type of banksia tree. Being mid spring, these have dead fruit and flowers.
There are around 170 different species of Banksia, and all but one are native to Australia and nowhere else. Some are east coast natives, some prefer the west coast, some are happy almost anywhere, while some will only grow in very specific limited locations in the wild.
The flower heads are made up of hundreds (sometimes thousands) of tiny individual flowers grouped together in pairs. The colour of the flower heads usually ranges from yellow to red. Many species flower over autumn and winter. The fruits of banksias (called follicles) are hard and woody and are often grouped together to resemble cones (which they are not). The fruits protect the seeds from foraging animals and from fire. In many species the fruits will not open until they have been burnt or completely dried out.
There is a long beach there as well with way too many stairs down for Fran so we skipped turnoff on the loop.
Next we drove to Two Fold Harbour where the town of Eden is situated with its rich whaling history. They actually have a whale festival each year but we were a week too early.
The attraction here is, of course, whale watching and their killer whale museum which was inspired and is dedicated to “Old Tom” the killer whale.
The friendship between man and killer whales began with the Aborigines. The local Yuin people revered the Orcas as the reincarnated spirits of their ancestors perhaps because the killers would regularly herd passing baleen whales into the bay and as a result many whales became stranded providing a welcome feast for the people as well as whale oil which were used by the aboriginal peoples in their rituals. After the arrival of Europeans many aboriginals worked in the whaling industry and continued their traditional practice of ‘calling’ the killers. The local aboriginals were regarded as excellent workers by the early settlers and particularly noted for their prowess with harpoon and lance.
As the site of the first shore-based station on mainland Australia, whaling was an integral part of Eden for almost a century. However, it was the remarkable cooperative relationship between the whalers in their open boats and the pods of killer whales (Orcinus Orca) that frequented Twofold Bay that made the local enterprise so outstanding – they learned this technique from the Aboriginals.
And of the many orcas that hunted with Eden’s European whalers, Old Tom was undoubtedly the best known. Measuring 6.7 m / 22’ in length and weighing six tons, he was leader of one of the pods that herded passing whales into the bay, alerted the whalers and took part in the chase. Recognized by his distinctly tall dorsal fin, Old Tom regularly swum to the mouth of the Kiah River and “flop-tailed” to signal the presence of a whale. He also often accompanied the boats during a chase, sometimes taking the rope in his teeth to tow the vessel. Evidence of this can be seen in the distinctive wear patterns on the teeth of his lower jaw.
In return for their help, the whalers would anchor the carcass overnight while the killer whales ate the tongue and lips of the whale, then haul it ashore. The arrangement is a rare example of mutualism between humans and killer whales. The arrangement was called “the law of the tongue”. The killer whales would also feed on the many fish and birds that would show up to pick at the smaller scraps and runoff from the fishing.
The largest whale ever caught in Eden was a blue whale measuring 29m / 97’! The town has a mural displaying this event:
Old Tom returned to Eden season after season, sometimes alone, until on 17 September 1930, his body was found floating in the bay. After local resident and Davidson neighbour J. R. Logan suggested cleaning, preparing, and mounting his skeleton for public exhibition, George Davidson towed Tom’s remains to the Kiah try works where he and his son Wallace undertook the work. A new chapter in the tale of the Killers of Twofold Bay had commenced – the Eden Killer Whale Museum.
As it didn’t open until 10:15 on Sundays, we went for walks, picked up some milk for brunch and the lovely lady at reception let us in a few minutes early. Turns out she was married to a man from Nova Scotia for many years and actually lived in Ottawa where her husband was an EA for Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau!
A very strange thing we’ve noticed here, is that pedestrians never seem to have the right of way and this sign we found in Eden proves that:
The museum is small but presents quite a good film about the whaling history of the town and the story of Old Tom.
There are a few whale skeletons including Tom’s and a lot of memorabilia from the history.
Upon leaving there around 11 we drove across the border back into Victoria State and went to a free national parks campground at Cann River. This place has toilets and a dump, maybe a dozen sites and in better times the showers were hot and some sites had power. The State is currently overhauling its national parks and right now, they are all free although not all services (like power and hot water) are available.
We nabbed a spot and settled in after having brunch. We spent the afternoon reading in the shade (the sun came out in full force this morning and warmed up quite a bit – to 23C / 77F) but it’s not supposed to last. But we like free and the place was in reasonable shape – it even had toilet paper in the bathrooms and the water taps at the sites worked.
The place pretty much filled up by dark so we were happy (again) to have arrived before the crowds. It was a nice evening temperature wise and we even slept with a couple of windows open.
Monday morning it was rather overcast but did clear up to mostly sunny skies. After exercising and morning tea, we left the campground by 8am.
And the last gallery for this post is here.
