Our next stop on this big trip is Batemans Bay on the lower south coast of New South Wales. Its a relaxing place where the pace of life is considerably slower than most of our previous stops. The bay is very pretty but changes dramatically as you move around. Just walking the shoreline graduates from sandy shores to rocky outcrops that are difficult to scale. A walk on our first afternoon had us clambering around some rocky areas at low tide and then realising that our only way back up to the headland was to either go back or scale a set of dubious steps. The steps were 13 floors, according to watch, of uneven and variable steps which had us arriving at the top somewhat breathless.

 

Our second day sees us heading to Ulladulla and an area named Mollymook. This is to fulfill one of the bucket list items for Stacey. Lunch at Rick Stein at Bannisters has been a wish of hers for a very long time.

But before lunch we spend some time around Ulladulla and it’s light house at Warden Head. The view from the headland is pretty special with the lighthouse showing signs of the weather conditions of the area. The walks along the headland to the cliff faces provide an even better view of the shoreline and how unforgiving it would be for unlucky sailors.

 

Lunch at Bannisters is an absolute highlight. Rick Stein’s philosophy is to not mess around too much with the food so that the flavours of the ingredients can make their presence felt. It works as our lunch is a variety of dishes that are truly tasty and filling. For the record Stacey enjoyed an entree of sardines, then barramundi with pea puree for mains and a passionfruit tart for dessert. I enjoyed a stuffed zucchini flower entree, salmon marsala curry for mains and a roulade for dessert. Exceptional!

We have been toying with the idea of towing the van up to the highlands area of NSW so our third day sees us take a quick trip up to Canberra to see how the road is for towing. It proves to be a bit of a steep and twisty venture with the section going up Mt Clyde not a challenge we are wanting to take with a caravan in tow so we’ll look for another way to see this area at a later date. The drive does take us through Braidwood and Bungandore which are lovely country towns.

Our final day in the area sees us head down the coast to Narooma and some of the smaller towns around the area. Our first stop is into Bodalla on the way to taste some of their local cheeses. We also spy a very ornate church opposite the cheese factory so take a few photos while we are there.

Narooma is a fishing and diving meca for this part of the coastline with life revolving around the bay and water channels. The place is also the host of a natural rock formation named “Australia Rock”. We had heard about it in passing from a fellow traveler but saw us looking around the area for a rock in the shape of Australia before we realised that it is actually a hole in part of the rock headland that resembles a map of Oz minus Tassie. You need a little imagination and maybe a bit of squinting but its there…

As a bonus we are lucky enough to see seals on the rock walls at the harbour entry and are amazed to see that a golf course takes pride of place on the headland.

 

The last part of our day trip to Narooma sees us visit the area of Tilba where the filming of River Cottage Australia is located. The town of central Tilba is heritage protected so is charming in its appearance with the mountain back drop simply stunning. Well worth a stop if you are in the area. Oh, by the way, Tilba also has a cheese factory which is exceptional. Great variety and taste. “So much cheese, so little time to try it all.”