Gillards Beach - Mimosa National Park

This place was an unplanned stay but I am glad we took a sticky-beak to check it out. It was on our way to Wilton Park near Bermegui when we took the detour. While it was quite busy due to a large school group, we found a nice little nook with an area overlooking the sea, which TJ called the observation deck, and decided to camp here. 

Our observatory deck

From here, we could drive to Tathra and Bermegui. With the long weekend in ACT and Victoria, we stayed put for 5 days. Over the weekend, we visited Bermegui, which had their version of sculpture by the sea and the seaside festival. The weather for the days we were here was perfect. 

My first salmon

Gillards Beach

Sculpture by the sea

Sculpture by the sea in Bermegui

We met some campers next to us who were knowledgeable in fishing and after a couple of days trying, got my first salmon. It was reasonable in size and I am happy the rod and line did not snap. While I was excited with the catch and would loved to get a few more, I am not a morning person. Our neighbour has been urging me to get up by about 7am as this is usually a good time. He has been consistently getting a few each morning. Sleep vs Fish....Sleep wins!

NSW Sapphire Coast

The  NSW South Coast is popularly known as the Sapphire Coast due to the blue sea water. This will be our planned route back to Sydney for Easter. This part of NSW is a seafood paradise, especially oysters.

Beach in front of our campground

Our first stop is Boydtown where we camped at Boydtown Caravan Park. Before long, we saw a mobile van selling seafood. Dinner decided for the night. Prawns, Oysters and salmon, which we sliced and ate raw, sashimi-style by the fire. TJ commented that the salmon was the best sashimi he had, ever.

Dinner by the fire

From this base, we ventured to Eden and Merimbula. Eden has a working wharf where fishing boats unload their catch. We saw a boat unloading seafood straight into a truck bound for Sydney Fish Market. Its ironic that to get fresh seafood that we saw today, we have to go to Sydney!

After lunching on Eden mussels and fish & chips, we drove to Merimbula. It is a much bigger town than Eden. I read that this town is popular with many baby boomers seeking a sea change from Sydney. I could see evidence of Sydney money pouring into Merimbula.

On our way back, we stopped by an oyster shed, bagging ourselves 2 dozen Sydney Rock farmed from Merimbula Lake. We paid $14/dozen for large ones and $10 for the medium-sized. These were live unshucked oysters and TJ had to re-learn his shucking skill from 3 years ago. They were yummy.

Illegal Transportation of Animal

I was woken up at 3am this morning by something crawling up my leg. Initially I brushed it away thinking that its a bug or insect. Next thing I felt was small feet walking. Luckily I had a torch next to me and saw a tail scuttering into our blanket. By this time, I have woken up TJ and we saw a little mouse. Looks like it has been living in our van for the past few days from our last camp at Croajingalong. 

It has decided to hitch a hike across the border!

Sh*t Storm

Pardon the French above but I meant it literally. We camped at a free camp in the town of Genoa, Victoria and was happy we found a nice spot right at the end. It is private and grassy. Come night time, we could hear rustling up above the trees. We realised they were bats. The sound of bats flapping and splattering on our canvas awnings and roof kept us awake. In the morning, we found bat guano all over the top!

Instead of moving, which was a hassle, TJ placed tarps over the top of the awnings and we parked our  car away from the "fly-zone". Unfortunately, the bats were mainly around our area between some trees next to us. Others further to the entrance were spared or had minimal impact.

Croajingalong National Park

Bridge across Thurra River to our campground

Thurra River

After spending 2 nights in a motel in Orbost(our 17th anniversary), we proceeded to Croajingalong NP. This national park follows the wild and unspoiled coastline of East Gippsland from border of NSW to Bemm River. There are a few campgrounds in the park and we chose Thurra River. 

Kayaking in Muellers River

With the river and the sea, there is plenty to do. We took our kayaks for a spin at Muellers River, went over to Honeymoon Bay for snorkeling and fishing and on our last day, visited the Point Hicks Lighthouse. 

While Honeymoon Bay was a disappointment, very much unlike its name, the visit to the lighthouse was a pleasant surprise. Our timing couldn't be more perfect. The caretaker was driving up and gave us a lift at the back of his ute, thus saving us a 2km walk. Then he opened the lighthouse and allowed us in. It was my first time in a lighthouse, walking all the way up to the top. The only downside was that we were not allowed out at the top due to the gale-force wind at the time.

Hitching a ride

Spiral stairs in the lighthouse

We officially finish the summer in Croajingalong National Park, Victoria!