You would not believe the weather that we have had since leaving Lake Eden.
We left Eden last Wednesday and, of course, it was pouring with rain whilst I was completing the hitching up. Even with my raincoat on, I got wet. Just awesome. To top things off, it rained all the way to Moruya. I must say, the road from Eden to Moruya was not the most exciting drive that I have ever had. The road is fairly narrow, winding and, of course very hilly. We had no stops on the way as we just wanted to get to sunny Moruya.
Sorry, but the sun has now deserted Moruya. It is a lovely little town with over 7000 residents, with a really good country town feel about it. There is a huge river running through the town, with the caravan park situated on one side. After getting set up in the pouring rain at the caravan park, we headed up to the shopping strip for a well deserved coffee. We had a quick look around the town first but as it was STILL RAINING, we headed to the café. After coffee we retreated to the safety of our caravan.
Got up Thursday morning, ready for a day of exploring in the sunshine. Yeah, sure. It was very overcast and threatening, but at least it was not raining yet. We headed off, feeling very positive about the weather, and headed first towards the small villages of Central Tilba and Tilba Tilba. They are both National Trust Preserved villages that dates back to the gold rush era of the late 1800's, when gold was discovered in this area. The village of Central Tilba retains all of its old world charm, with all of the shops and houses totally preserved of their charm. Of course we had to go into the Cheese Factory and sample some of the local cheeses. Big mistake, of course, as we had to buy some of them. Really lovely cheeses though. We then headed to Tilba Tilba, a couple of k's away but it was nothing worth stopping for. After the gold rush was over Central Tilba was the only place that survived, due mainly to its cheese factory.
From there we headed off and stopped for a short time in Narooma. This is a fair size country town, right on the ocean, and it appears to be broken into 2 halves. As you drive into the town you are fairly high up, coming from off the ranges, then you go down to sea level where the other half of the town is. The other thing that we found really strange was that the local Secondary School was situated about a kilometre south of the town. Maybe thats a good thing, having the savages out on their own. A bit strange though.
We had to stop at Bodalla as our next stop. What a surprise, there is a cheese factory here, and a great little church. We had to check out the church first. What a beautifully kept church, with lead light windows and lovely gardens. I think my church disease is starting up again as I had to take some photos. Next on the agenda was to sample some of the cheese at the Bodalla cheese factory. At least we fought off the urge to buy some this time. Just had the free samples. Then it was time for Deb to get back to her country roots, as she fed bottled milk to a calf and also fed the Alpacas out the back of the cheese factory. What a good little country girl she is.
Our final part of the day was to check out the little coastal village of Moruya Heads. This is only about 6 k's from Moruya. It has a caravan park and quite a few houses out there. Had a look at the beach and it is probably more of a surf beach, as the waves were crashing against the rocks and it didn't look like the sort of beach for young kids.
Had more rain on Thursday night, as well as a thunderstorm, just for good measure.
Up bright and early on Friday morning for the trip to check out Batemans Bay. This is only about 25 k's away but we took the more scenic route. Our first stop was the small settlement of Broulee. This is just like all of the other little coastal villages. Probably a lot of the houses are just holiday homes, with very little in the way of retail facilities. We checked out the beach and it was similar to most of the others we have seen. It appeared to be more of a surf beach. Plenty of warning signs on the beach, re rips, strong currents, rocks.
We had a look at Malua Bay and also at Surf Beach. They are probably more like suburbs of Batemans Bay, with very little in the way of shops. All had caravan parks and pretty beaches, but all appeared to be more surf beaches.
Checked out Batemans Bay next and, believe it or not, it was not raining. We strolled around the town and checked out the harbour. Thought it was quite a nice town, and obviously the biggest town in this area. We curtailed our travels as the weather was again threatening. We then decided to leave and head towards the town of Mogo. This is another Historical village, also born from the discovery of gold in the area. Most of the retail area has been preserved and retains its old world charm. Of course, we had pushed our luck a bit far, and the rain has finally caught up with us again. It just poured and poured whilst we were trying to check out the town. Like most of these places, they have their share of hippy type clothing shops, candle shops, galleries and crystal shops. They also have a really good wood carving in the town, done by the same artist that did the statues in Moruya. Well worth a visit. They also have a zoo, but of course, we put off visiting it due to the weather.
By the time we got back to the caravan, it was still pouring, and had been raining most of the day in Moruya, as the park was now very waterlogged. It actually CONTINUED RAINING ALL NIGHT. What a great summer we are having on our travels.
Not to be totally put off, we got up Saturday morning, raring to go for another day of touring. We headed into Moruya and checked out the local market. Typical of all other country markets, but still worth a look. While we were at the market a sea plane landed on the river, at the side of the market. With my motto, 'always be prepared', with my camera, I got a shot of the plane as it landed on the river (looks pretty good when you zoom in), and another one on the river. Pretty cool I thought.
Then it was off to have a walk around the town. There were about 20 wooden statues, carved in situ, around the town. They are really cool, and tell a bit of a story about the area. There is also a granite monument in the town. This relates to the fact that the granite that was used on both ends of The Sydney Harbour Bridge came from Moruya. The granite was obtained from Moruya, as the granite mine was in close proximity to the river, enabling the huge granite blocks to be transported down the river to Sydney. Something like 180,000 tonnes of blue granite was taken from the mine, which still operates to this day.
Of course, our day would not be complete without checking out a really nice church in Moruya. Beautiful windows and also carvings around the wall, depicting christs last walk. Maybe I must have been a priest, or maybe The Pope, in a past life. After getting my spirit renewed at the church, it was back to the car, with one final photo of a beautiful plant, resembling a magnolia, being held in place by my beautiful wife. We got back to the caravan park just in time, as yes, it started raining again.
That's all for now as we are off tomorrow heading towards Shell Harbour. Hopefully we will get in front of this rain at some stage soon.
Barry & Deb.
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