About 18 months ago, Karen and I couldn’t decide where to go on our annual holiday nor did we want to pay the obscene post COVID airfare prices so on the spur of the moment we invested in a little camper trailer.
This gave us the opportunity to explore our gorgeous homeland for short or medium length adventures. So far we’ve spent about 70 nights away primarily up and down the NSW coastline.
This weekend was a Long Weekend with the public holiday Monday so we decided to take an extra day off work and venture about three hours south of home to the beautiful Sapphire Coast town of Merimbula.
After an awesome scenic drive south through Batemans Bay, Moruya, Mogo, Dalmeny, Narooma, Tilba Tilba, Bodalla, Bega and a hundred other tiny towns that were alive with dairy cattle and lush green rolling hills.
Set up was relatively painless and we had a chance to sit and unwind.
Camping Kayle was in his element.
Next morning we woke to magnificent blue skies so a quick walk on the adjoining beach was the best start to the day.
After a hearty breakfast we read the papers and had daughter Erin join us for the rest of the weekend. No doubt to partake in any Gin, wine and beer tasting opportunities the South Coast has on offer.
We started by exploring the local Merimbula area which consistently delivers beautiful locations. It was their annual Winter And Jazz festival weekend so we visited that as well.
We headed south a short drive away to visit a relatively new Distillery called Nine Circles Distillery in Pambula which didn’t disappoint. Set on the edge of a beautiful wetland the outlook is superb.
Next stop was to one of our fave breweries on the Coast Longstocking Brewery Pambula that has wonderful beers, amazing local wine and gin options set in a wonderful backyard beer garden vibe.
Their Hazy and Porter were given a workout and then some takeaways purchased for later in the night.
We called into one of the best oyster farms we’ve visited, Broadwater Oysters and we visit whenever we are down here. They were pretty busy today so we had to wait for them to bring in some fresh oysters and shuck them for us. Damn 😬😬
So gooooooood
Back to the van for happy hour(s) and some story telling.
Sunday dawned a bit chilly so a late start down to the Pambula Markets then back for a bbq brunch before I headed to the Sapphire Coast Races to watch one of our horses go around …. Slowly.
Karen, Erin and Kayle must have known better as they set up camp at the magnificent historical Tathra Hotel with sublime views up and down the coast from their verandahs. They now brew their own beer called Humpback Brewery which is pretty good.
The pub was first opened in 1888 and is now heritage listed and recently has a beautiful renovation. It sits proudly about the Tathra Wharf which was built in the 1860s completely out of timber and is the last timber deep sea wharf along the coastline.
Monday dawned dark, cold and wet so a day trip exploring was on the cards.
We decided on heading south of Eden toward the Victorian border to Green Cape which was about an hour south of Merimbula, eventually down a horrible dirt, slush, muddy road for 23 kms.
But it was worth it when we arrived.
Green Cape is home to the Green Cape Lighthouse a 29m tall concrete lighthouse and keepers residences at the entrance to exquisitely named Disaster Bay. Built in the 1830s, it operated manned until 1992. Supplies and building materials were delivered by ship to nearby bays and then sent along a tram line fashioned purely for this purpose.
Just a magnificent, wild, rugged part of our Coastline that is not well known.
We ended the day with a leisurely drive back through the whaling town of Eden before another feast back at the van with more oysters, local beers, gorgeous wines, pasta and footy on the telly
Another leisurely drive back up the coast through Bermagui ended another excellent weekend exploring our magnificent coastland.
Can’t wait for the next adventure.
Ralph and Karen's Tours 