A day off begins with breakfast in the dining tent with the rest of the volunteers, followed by ablutions, clothes washing and tidy up the camp and van. Not being dressed in Hi-Viz shirts seems a little out of character, but we don our best casuals and head to nearby Bermagui for a day out! Bermagui lies on the Sapphire Coast 21klm due east of Cobargo, a short drive and we are parked and enjoying a walk around the town and harbour. It’s about 11am, too early for lunch, but the day is beautiful and we head to Bermi’s Beachside Cafe for a coffee… and a small piece of cake, allowed after working so hard.
Bermagui sits on the south side of an inlet and small boat harbour, rising to a peninsula hilltop bordered by cliffs that drop into the Pacific Ocean, it is truly picturesque. Below the cliffs on the southern face of the peninsula they have added some concrete walls to a natural swimming pond which is flushed and replenished by the ocean. It’s a great small township with plenty of facilities and activities for young and old.
Our next destination is Tathra, another coastal hamlet 40klm south. We wind along a rural landscape parallel to the coast but never getting a view of the water. It is a really pleasant scenic drive though, made even more relaxing by by a total lack of traffic…this is the beginnings of Covid-19, not yet in lockdown, the cafes and pubs are still open, but the tourist trade has dropped dramatically. About 10klm north of Tathra we turn off east on a gravel road signed “Nelson Beach”, just cause we can! About a 5klm drive out to a peninsula and we find a nice walk to the point through coastal scrub, with a few short detour tracks leading to views south over a rocky cove and a small beach enclosed between two rocky buttress. To the north we see Nelson Beach curving from a point well below our vantage spot to a small creek inlet about a kilometre north. The water is super clear and that wonderful blue green off the sandy bottom, interspersed with dark patches of rocky shoals.
Tathra, we have visited about 7 years back and really loved the laid back atmosphere, a truly coastal holiday village. With a sweeping curve of wide beach facing north east, an imposing headland juts seaward from the southern end of the beach forming a huge natural break-wall from the predominant southerly swells. An old whaling station and pier occupies a prime position on the northern bay-front of the peninsula, very popular with fishermen, local and tourist. A wonderful Café, art studio and Nautical Museum occupy an old building on the piers landward side. They have made wonderful use of the old structures massive timbers and large sliding wooden doors to best enjoy the coastal views north. An unusual occupant of the pier is a large Coastal Goanna, over a metre long, he is well fed by the many fishermen who clean and gut their fish here.
Lunchtime! And where better to enjoy it than at the Tathra Pub that sits atop the peninsular up from the Pier. The pub has a very modern extension including a boutique brewery, new bar, dining area with tall ceiling to floor windows offering a view eastwards over the ocean, and a lovely big outside deck. Roscoe’s in heaven as the brewery does a Red Ale, Melon Headed Amber Ale, that he claims to be A1. Seafood is the order of the day, so it’s dozen mixed oysters, lightly crumbed Whiting Fillets and Calamari to share (plus a second Red Ale).
Back to Tathra beach for a quick swim, and quick it is, about 14ºc, Evi wimps out and watches her poor husband freeze as he wades out to get to deep enough water to do a quick dive then dash for shore. Crikey!
We drive inland from Tathra to go through Bega, home of Bega Cheese and a lovely township, the main service town in the Sapphire Coast region. A quick stop at Woolworths and Uncle Dan Murphy’s for needed supplies and we follow the Pacific Highway an hour north back to Cobargo, home!
Australia. Dust, Fire, Flood & Pandemic 