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2019 South Coast Adventure
 

Tuesday

2019 South Coast Adventure
TUESDAY MORNING At camp During the night we're visited by possums who have no luck opening the ice box but manage to break a wine glass. TUESDAY MORNING At camp A goanna also stops by to say hello. TUESDAY North Tura Beach From our camp spot, we take a 2.9km very rough road to North Tura Beach. TUESDAY North Tura Beach Although isolated, the parking area is very well maintained.
TUESDAY North Tura Beach What is amazing is the honour system that applies for paying the National Park entry fee. You put your $8 cash or cheque into an envelope. Then you tear off a tab from the envelope, leave it on your dashboard and put the envelope into the slot. TUESDAY North Tura Beach The toilets have no water and do not flush. They're mostly not smelly though. Well, not very smelly. TUESDAY North Tura Beach "You are here." We are now on the south side of Bournda Island that we approached from the north on Sunday. TUESDAY North Tura Beach We decide to go high (track) and return low (beach). So we take the track towards Bournda Lagoon.
TUESDAY North Tura Beach It's a stunning day; the water is calm and very blue TUESDAY North Tura Beach There's Bournda Island in the distance. TUESDAY North Tura Beach Looking to the south we can see Tura Beach that we visited on Sunday. TUESDAY North Tura Beach We then follow the path through a dense growth of Melaleuca Armillaris.
TUESDAY North Tura Beach As with other stands of Melaleuca along this part of the coast, the trees have suffered a lot of wind damage. There are dead logs everywhere. TUESDAY North Tura Beach Whole stands of trees are blown down. TUESDAY North Tura Beach It's very easy and pleasant walking though. TUESDAY North Tura Beach
TUESDAY North Tura Beach This area is quite badly damaged. TUESDAY North Tura Beach We are nearly at the end of the easy part of the walk. TUESDAY North Tura Beach We follow the sign to Bournda Island and arrive close by. Horror of horrors, the island is jam-packed with people. TUESDAY North Tura Beach I climb down a particularly slippery, sandy slope to the beach. It is too dangerous, so I suggest to Jenni that she back-track a little and come down to the beach by another entry point.
TUESDAY North Tura Beach The sea isn't really bent; it's the result of stitching two pictures together. Given that, this is still a great view of the sand bridge to Bournda Island. TUESDAY North Tura Beach Looking back down the 2.4 kms of North and South Tura beaches. TUESDAY North Tura Beach We head back south to the car and we notice that there are several riptides running. The sand is being sucked back out to sea. TUESDAY North Tura Beach The rip here is particularly obvious. On the right is the Melaleuca forest through which we walked just now.
TUESDAY North Tura Beach The Melaleucas grow behind a barrier of smaller shrubs but they do not come to the sandy edge of the beach. TUESDAY North Tura Beach Jenni reaches the beach after backtracking for a little bit. TUESDAY North Tura Beach Finally, we get back to the stairs that lead to the parking area. The sand between here and the water is about 200-300 metres wide and it is extremely soft and fluffy. My ankles are sore by the time I reach this point. TUESDAY North Tura Beach You have been warned. Pay particular attention when it says "Strong currents."
TUESDAY North Tura Beach My bride is equally sore by the time she gets to the stairs. TUESDAY Back to camp Jenni videos the drive back to camp over the gravel road. I'm continually astonished at what good movies the iPhone X takes. TUESDAY Afternoon at Merimbula We've just finished lunch at a Mexican Restaurant. Have you ever had Mexican with french fries? Not corn chips? No salsa? Ding, ding, ding - alarm. Jenni does not have her wallet and cannot pay the tab. We return to camp and there it is. TUESDAY Afternoon at Merimbula A bit about oysters. This is marketing disguised as a public service.
TUESDAY Afternoon at Merimbula I have to say, oyster farms are not a joy for the eye to behold. TUESDAY Afternoon at Merimbula There is a small public marina here. TUESDAY Afternoon at Merimbula TUESDAY Afternoon at Merimbula
TUESDAY Afternoon at Merimbula We are walking to the boardwalk nearby. On our way we see these tiles inlaid to the path and think what a great idea this is: donate some money and get your name, company or organisation cast in concrete for years to come. All it takes is someone to organise it and knock on a few doors. TUESDAY Afternoon at Merimbula This is a family of Black-shouldered lapwing. They are found in Australia and NZ and their conservation status is "LC" Least concern. TUESDAY Afternoon at Merimbula Bridge The boardwalk starts on the other side of the road. Crossing the road is fraught with peril as at least 4 or 5 cars go by. TUESDAY The Merimbula Boardwalk The boardwalk begins. It is approximately 3.4 km, takes around 1.5 hours to complete and is accessible for prams and wheelchairs.
TUESDAY The Merimbula Boardwalk The boardwalk is not all that wide and it's a bit of a struggle when girthier people try to get by. TUESDAY The Merimbula Boardwalk Falling off the boardwalk is not an option. TUESDAY The Merimbula Boardwalk These White faced Herons are the most commonly seen herons in Australia. Their conservation status is "Secure". TUESDAY The Merimbula Boardwalk Mangrove trees grow in places where freshwater mixes with seawater and where sediment is composed of accumulated deposits of mud.
TUESDAY The Merimbula Boardwalk The small Merimbula airport is on the other side of the lake. TUESDAY The Merimbula Boardwalk Oyster leases in what the locals refer to as the Top Lake. TUESDAY The Merimbula Boardwalk These are part of the same pink rock strata that we saw yesterday in Eden. It was laid down 360 million years ago. TUESDAY The Merimbula Boardwalk
TUESDAY The Merimbula Boardwalk I love the explanations about how our lakes, streams, rivers and harbours came to be. Up and down the NSW coast, it's the same story: Ice age and the ocean is much lower and more distant than today, water carves the canyons and valleys that fill up again as the ice melts. TUESDAY The Merimbula Boardwalk We reach the end of the boardwalk - almost. TUESDAY The Merimbula Boardwalk There's another small patch that we cross. At this point, our feet are screaming for relief so we go no farther. TUESDAY The Merimbula Boardwalk This waterfront home looks pretty nice. Great views.
TUESDAY The Merimbula Boardwalk There is the temptation to continue to the end of the path where some fellow walkers assure us there awaits "great coffee". We decide that a coffee in town would be just as great. TUESDAY The Merimbula Boardwalk We turn around and head back. TUESDAY The Merimbula Boardwalk Bloody bicycles. Despite a regulatory sign that bans bicycles from the boardwalk, this bloody moron decides otherwise. TUESDAY Scotts Bay We have a great coffee in town, pick up some take-away for dinner and head back to camp. On the way back, we take a short detour to Scotts Bay picnic area on the western end of Lake Wallagoot. Lo and behold, a couple of bigger kangaroos stand and say hello.
TUESDAY Scotts Bay A couple of wallabies are less welcoming but they pause long enough for us to take their picture. TUESDAY Scotts Bay At Scotts Bay there is a well maintained picnic area with gas barbeques that are new and free (once you pay your park entry fee). TUESDAY Scotts Bay But, why would anyone come here? Even the fish can't live in the water. TUESDAY Scotts Bay The toilets are new and there's even water on tap. These toilets have large vent pipes that carry the pong up into the atmosphere. Now, that's progress.
TUESDAY Scotts Bay This area was once cleared for the grazing of sheep or cattle. The Parks & Wildlife Service is maintaining the picnic area but is letting nature regrow the natural bushland in areas that aren't needed. TUESDAY Scotts Bay The reconstructed hut was built in a slab cottage style. The cottage has a corrugated iron roof, wooden walls and floorings, and gutters to collect rainwater. The builder was Thomas Scott and the hut is thought to have been built in 1890 on one of the many pieces of land Mr Scott owned around the Wallagoot Lake. TUESDAY Hobart Beach campground We return to camp, the weather turns cold and windy and it looks like rain. I decide to risk it and not put the tarp up and this works out OK. We move the table into the tent, close the tent and have dinner inside. It's very cozy with plenty of room and I can even stand without crouching. During the night, possums disturb us so we go outside to investigate. There are two and they are not even a tiny bit scared of us; a very big one just sits on top of the post and looks contemptuously at me. At a time of his own choosing, he suddenly leaps across to a nearby tree, runs up it and disappears into the bush. Brilliant.  
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