Almost arrested in Manchester
Well ‘almost’ is a slight exaggeration.
We set off from Norwich at about 10am for the drive back to Manchester to return the car and spend a couple of days before heading for France. We took a route back north of that which we came on across to Norwich. This took us into the northern part of the Peak District via a road just south of the bottom of The Wash. The land is so very flat here one can understand why the climate change doomsayers consider this whole area to be very susceptible to inundation if sea levels rise. Back in time it was all actually under the sea as far back as Cambridge. Nobody seems to be heading for high ground though.
We could not resist the temptation of going on a short diversion to have a walk to Froggats Edge. Around this area there are a number of these types of landforms. High ridges that look down into valleys, the tops of the ridges are called ‘edges’. People come and climb these. Homealone didn’t understand why anyone would want to climb them. Apparently, they do it for training purposes before greater challenges are tackled in Europe. Anyway there are some great views to be had. The walk took about 30 minutes each way so we were running a little late heading off to Manchester.
View from Froggats Edge
View of climbing action at Froggats Edge
Homealone on the track heading back
Fly fishing at Calver
The run into Manchester was pretty straight forward. Our hotel The Britannia was right smack in the middle. We were going along nicely until a turn was missed and we ended up going the wrong way. Some nimble work got us on track again only to be caught almost in a one way street, going the wrong way. Allthego had noticed a black car following and as this manoeuver ( going the wrong way down the one way) was about to be executed a sharp ‘toot’ was heard from the black car. A gentlemen leaned out of said black car and asked Allthego if he was ‘lost’. Allthego said ‘sort of’ and asked him if he was lost too. At this point the gentlemen said they were police (he had a offsider) and their uniforms became apparent. Some friendly discussion ensued about it being unwise to go down the one way street the wrong way as there had been a number of accidents in the past here and they didn’t want to do any more paperwork that evening. Allthego filled them in on our destination and, after a bit of consultation with his colleague’, one of the officers announced that we should ‘follow them’. So off we went with a police escort for several blocks and side streets to The Britannia. They even found a parking spot down a side alley for us and guided us in. What a wonderful constabulary! No arrest!
The Britannia
Britannia foyer
We scored an upgraded room at The Britannia
The Britannia is one of those old buildings that have been restored and converted into a hotel. It dates from the 1860s and was originally a cotton warehouse. Back in the late 1800s Manchester produced nearly 70 % of the world’s cotton fabric and cloth. It now produces less than 1%. This is why we call sheets and towels and the like ‘manchester’, just in case anyone was interested. The Britannia is a little ragged in places and could do with a touch up here and there. The ambience, period furniture and decor though more than compensate. The internet connection though was lousy and I am doing this blog from Avignon. Will catch up on the Manchester adventures next time.
A Day in Norwich
The Hop on Hop Off bus got a good work over from us today in Norwich.
The day before we had spent with Russell’s cousin Roger Brown, down in Long Stratton. Roger is the grandson of the older brother (Number 1) of Russell’s grandfather Robert Brown (Number 8). It was interesting day of family chit-chat.
Norwich is a very easy city to amble around on and off the bus. The Norwich Cathedral was a most impressive building, almost 900 years old. Many feet have trod its floors. Henry VIII puritans had whitewashed its interior. Many of its secrets have slowly been uncovered; the intricate painting under the whitewash, hidden artworks, carvings and engravings in the roof work.
The Cathedral from the cloisters
Inside the Cathedral
Discovered upside down serving as a table top a now priceless art work in the Cathedral
We had a great lunch at the Norwich Prison cafe. Run by rehabilitated inmates not long off release. Lester Piggott, the famous jockey, stayed here for a while for tax evasion.
Surrey House is the office of Norwich Union Assurance one of the first insurance companies the underwrote fire protection. Its foyer is almost entirely lined with magnificent marble which had been destined for Canterbury Cathedral but ended up here.
Norwich Prison
Foyer of Norwich Union Assurance
Medieval churches are all over the city as well as pubs. The Adam and Eve pub is supposedly the oldest in Britain and dates to the 1200s. We went there for dinner, but it shuts at 7 pm we got there a bit after and missed out. Maybe we were lucky!
Adam and Eve Pub
After a long day we battled back to the hotel and had dinner there. An Australian was the manager on duty. He came from Moree, had married an English girl. Originally came over to play cricket in the Norwich league. After a bit of chat we discovered he knew Steve MacGoffin (plays for Sussex), a pace bowler who played for WA in Australian State cricket. Originally though he played junior cricket for Wests Brisbane and had faced the punishing batting of one Mitchell Brown. Small world!
We now head back to Manchester.
Norfolk Coast
After leaving Melton Mowbray, with a slight after taste of pork pie on the palate, we headed off to Norwich. First stop for the day was in Kings Lyn, an old port city on the Great River Ouse. The port dates back to the 12th century. A fascinating place and we would have loved more time there. Some real old medieval buildings. The name of the river is a clue to the geography of this region. The river seems to literally ‘ooze’ out of the surrounding countryside. The land is very flat and marshy in these parts and water which comes down from the midlands through numerous channels, streams and marshy bogs flows out or ‘washes’ into a shallow rectangular bay, called The Wash, and ultimately the North Sea.
Customs House at Kings Lyne on the River Great Ouse which flows into The Wash
Entrance to Sandringham Castle
Leaving Kings Lyn we had a short stop at Sandringham Castle to see if the Queen was in with the new great-grandchild, Charlotte. She wasn’t there so we didn’t go in, however, we did manage to pick up a first edition Charlotte tea mug from the visitors centre as a keep sake of the occasion. The shop was doing a roaring trade.
Onward we went, but veered back towards the coast. By now we had traveled up the side of The Wash and was getting close to the sea-side tourist villages to which the Brits flock in summer. These are what you could loosely call ‘beaches’. Mostly shingle and pebbles with The Wash splashing ashore. Lining the waterfronts are Fish n Chip shops, amusement arcades and all manner of touristy type shops. It was a warm day about 16 degrees celsius and little chill wind from the north. Beach goers were a bit rugged up and huddled behind wind breaks and in the sand hills reading books or gazing out towards the wind farms that are on the horizon about 7 km out to sea. If you can’t have them on land because they disturb the grouse then put them out in the water and let the seals sit on them!
Beachfront at Hunstanton
Hunstanton Beach, The Wash laps the shingle beachline with the North Sea further out
The pebbly beach at Sheringham on the northern Norfolk coast. The North Sea throws up a few waves.
Cliff line at Huntstanton
We stopped in at Wells-next-the-Sea a fishing village on the North Sea coast, beyond The Wash. This has also been a port in the past but now seems to act as a base for the remnants of the North Sea fishing fleet and the crews that service the wind farms. There is a big old granary here built in 1901 that acted as an import/export terminal up until about 1990. It is now luxury apartments.
Fishing fleet at Wells-next-the-Sea
At Cromer we turned south and headed inland to Norwich. Cromer is famous for its crabs. I would have liked to have tried some, but it was getting late in the day. At Wells-next-the Sea we had missed out on another English delight Cockells (Pippi like shell fish) and Periwinkles. I had passed these up in favour of the crab at Cromer. Instead I had a hamburger at the hotel in Norwich.
Went to bed rather late. The next day we were to catch up with my cousin in Long Stratton about 20 minutes south of Norwich City.
Pork pies and Robin Hood
We are at Melton Mowbray. The home of Pork pies. And one of only a couple of areas in England where they can call the famous cheese ‘Stilton’. What more could you want……………….Pork pies and Stilton! Allthego had both, his pork pie was smeared with a generous helping of Stilton, and Homealone….well hers’ was covered with a layer of apple chutney…….what a gastronomic delight!
Self explanatory!
Original Pork pies. One with Stilton smeared on top and the other with an apple chutney on top
In chasing down the pork pie at the Original Pork Pie shop we bailed up one of the shop assistants and quizzed her on baking techniques and whether they could send some of these great pies to Oz. Well, low and behold they wont let the pies out of England just like the cricket ashes………but one of their ex employees in M-M has not long moved to Brisbane (of all places, but this guy is just another creative talent finding home in Brisbane!) and can supply an Oz variant. We will make contact on our return.
Back in 1837 the Marquis of Waterford was at the race meeting near town and he and a few mates stormed the town splashing red paint around all the town buildings, as well as creating general mayhem. This is the third thing Melton Mowbray is famous for………..the expression ‘painting the town red!’ Is this better than pork pies?
A prominent building known as Anne of Cleaves House sits in the main street. Apparently, Henry VIII gave it to her as part of the divorce settlement in 1540. He had just chopped Oliver Cromwell’s head off, Cromwell actually owned the house. Rough justice but a cheap settlement! Currently, the building is a restaurant and bar.
Melton Mowbray markets
Anne of Cleaves House
In the afternoon we headed off for Sherwood Forest to catch up with Robin Hood and his Merrie Men. Sherwood is a great old forest full of tales, some perhaps ‘true’ and others ……..well ….maybe we should just enjoy them! Sherwood is not like what one would ‘expect’. It is full of open spaces and scattered trees and grass lands. Supposedly, this is similar to what it would have been a 1000 years ago. In the Information Centre, much is made of the story of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men. What is a bit surprising is the vast amount of research that has been undertaken into the legend. Books are everywhere. It’s a great story anyway!
‘Major Oak’ estimated to be over 1100 years old!
Robin Hood and Little John contesting on the Bridge!
Sherwood Forest walk
Maid Marian in the Forest, just being shy!
Returning to the hotel for the night we dined on some Fish n Chips. We couldn’t resist finishing dinner by sharing a dessert. …….Spotted Dick, covered with a pretty good custard.
We then head for Norwich, via the Norfolk coast.
Bakewell
We awoke to a cloudy morning in our warm bed at the Peacock. Seem to have overcome the jet lag and were ready for a big day out and around Bakewell. It was market day in the town and the square opposite was more or less full of stalls of all shapes, sizes and contents. The fruit and vegies at these market days all look pretty good. Some of the other stalls and their contents seem as tired as the stall holders look! Homealone managed to pick up a punnet of strawberries for us to nibble on as we drove around. There are some very attractive buildings and homes in Bakewell, particularly those high up on the hills looking down into the town.
Homealone negotiating for some strawberries at Bakewell markets
Kings Court in Bakewell
The medieval bridge over the River Wye in Bakewell
Bakewell is surrounded by countryside. Sheep everywhere. Cattle as well. But it seems it is most remembered for the famous Bakewell Pudding. The original pudding was first made in the 1860s and it was a botched recipe for something else. Nevertheless it proved immensely popular and remains so today. Puff pastry, some cherry jam and then on top a baked custard of sorts. They are warmed and served with clotted cream or custard. We had ours cold, without the cream or custard, and they were pretty good. The original shop is still there today and is where the baking takes place. It was constructed in the late 1700s.
The famous Bakewell pudding
One of the Bakewell shop girls
After a bit more driving around we headed off to Chatsworth House. This is an impressive old place. Built in 1707 it is the home of the Duke and Duchess of Derbyshire. And have they set up a little money machine here. People everywhere. 3 pound to park the car, 26 pound to get in to see the house and gardens. 12 pounds for just the gardens. We only had time for the gardens, apparently there are 650 or so acres of these. Pretty impressive. No doubt the Duke needs the cash to just run the place.
Chatsworth House
The Serpentine Hedge in the Chatsworth House gardens
While here we also called into the Estates commercial food outlet. The estate markets produce from the estate, mostly sheep and cattle. But there is numerous other stuff here. It’s a bit like an upmarket supermarket. Produce from all around the world. A great cheese and fresh bread offering was tempting. Instead we had a bowl of tomato soup with a crusty bread roll. Pretty good soup! It was here we noticed that the Daily Mail was running a piece on the benefits of a glass of red wine at night. It seems it is pretty good for you and the girls over here are finding that it (the wine) “is killing their cravings for crisps and chocolate – and helps get rid of ‘wobbly bottom'”. I have kept a copy of this research for others to refer to if they wish. The Daily Mail is well-known for the quality of its journalism.
After looking around the Estate gardens we headed off for Melton Mowbray, a little bit further south and east. This place is the home of the Pork Pie. Also one of the few areas that is allowed to make and call it Stilton cheese. This looks to be an interesting place for a stopover. We are now well and truly into the driving thing and there is not the same debate about directions and the like……………well almost!
Landed and on our way to Bakewell
Well we have landed at Manchester and made our way down to Bakewell for our first night in the Old Dart. After a bit over 24 hours in the plane, including a two-hour stopover in Singapore and an hour on the ground in Munich, we were somewhat jaded on arrival. But full of get up and go. So we did. Off to the Rental Car Village to pick up the car and head off out of the city to Bakewell, a couple of hours to the south-east in the heart of the Peak District.
Frogs greeting us at Singapore’s Changi Airport.
It was about 9 am in the morning, a Sunday, so not much traffic. Heading out-of-town we had to negotiate a few turns here and there, no GPS to guide us (at 13 pounds a day we didn’t hire one) but then again who needs a GPS when you have a 2004 street map and a guide like Homealone in the passenger’s seat! After a bit of pointing and some clear directions to go this way and that we found our way. Allthego had a couple of moments where he suggested that the pointing could be confusing and to focus on the road and lanes. After a bit of pushback on these suggestions harmony was restored and we made our way onwards.
Our first stop for a look-see was near a little town called Chapel-en-le-Frith where there was a rather large system of viaducts carrying a couple of railway lines across a ‘ravine’, while there a British Rail goods train made the crossing looking down on the little village below.
Next was Buxton to catch its famous Opera House overlooking a 19 century garden and parkland complex. The old mineral baths, originally the site of an old Roman Bath House, are in the process of being restored. Should like amazing when complete. Allthego will have to return here at some time here to be restored as well.
Viaduct at Chapel-en-le-Frith
Buxton Opera House
Further along we stopped in at one of the major attractions in the Peak District at Monsal Head. This is the Headstone Viaduct, crossing the River Wye. This viaduct and a few tunnels were constructed in the mid 1800s to carry the Midland Railway which linked Manchester to London. It opened in 1863 and was closed in 1968. It is 300ft long and the 5 arch spans are 50ft high. They have banned bungee jumping and rope swinging from the arches which had been popular it seems. Homealone was not interested in this in any case. The old train line is now the route of the Monsal Trail for walkers. And they were everywhere. We didn’t join them, just had a look down and then drove to the bottom. This was also where I had tried to book some accommodation, but had no response from the Monsal Head Hotel. Now upon inspection of the said Hotel I think was our first stroke of luck! Not overly inviting despite the great location overlooking the viaduct.
Headstone Viaduct at Monsal Head
Monsal Head Hotel
A short drive into Bakewell found us at the Peacock for the night. Right smack bang in the middle of town.
The Peacock in Bakewell
Until next time.
Tathra time
As it turns out this is our last stop before heading back to Brisbane. The weather in Eden had turned rather chilly with two nights of brisk winds.
On the way up from Eden we diverted into Ben Boyd NP and took in the Pinnacles Rock formation. White sandstone, weathered as pinnacles, underline harder ironstones. Quite a spectacular formation and very colourful with the green bush surrounding it. Cloudy day, so no blue sky! But then no shadows to aggravate the photographer!
Pinnacles formation in Ben Boyd NP
Here in Tathra we have had some warm and sunny days. No use for the track pants and tops we bought in Eden! The beach is really inviting here with wide sand shores and a smooth surf. Bit cold so the Camping ground heated pool was the best option for a dip.
We have had a trip out to Bega to check out the Bega Heritage Cheese Centre and of course the cheese. Tasted the cheeses, many of which you can buy in Coles or Woolies. There was a rather good 3 year aged ‘Heritage’ cheddar, only available at the Centre. We added a block to the fridge. On the way back to Tathra a short tour of the Bega township revealed some nice old homes sitting high on hills overlooking the Bega Valley.
One of the efficient Bega cows
Bega Heritage Cheese
An old dairying wagon, costing 55 pounds in 1904 thereabouts.
Hunter House in Bega
In the Mimosa Rocks NP we checked out a couple of NP basic camping sites for a later trip (have to twist Homealones arm). Ran into a couple of big goannas sunning themselves.
Saw 2 big goannas in the Mimosa Rocks NP
Back at Tathra Allthego dropped a line in the Bega River, near the sea outlet, and managed to land a modest sized flathead and trevally which were consumed for dinner on our last night.
Lunch at the Tathra Hotel offered some great pub food a view over the ocean, a whale appeared on the horizon and could be seen from the Hotel window saying goodby.
Tathra Beach
A glimpse of a whale from the Tathra Hotel window
Well that is all now for this trip. Will be back in Brisbane in 4 or 5 days time.
Whale of a time in Eden
Whales are a prominent tourist attraction in Eden and the Eden Killer Whale Museum is ‘the place to go’ according to the tourist info. So we did. And what a story it tells, it a quite dispassionate way. It was a colourful history, with a few characters too. Including the Imlay brothers, you just can’t get away from the Imlays. I’m not sure whether these chaps are any relation to our good friends the Imlays of Mt Ommaney. I couldn’t see any likenesses from the photos. But the Imlay boys did get around a bit……….whaling, cattle, dairy. Pretty big presence in town. There is Mt Imlay, Imlay St, Imlay Rd, Imlay memorial and so on.
Mt
Whale boat crews
There was Ben Boyd also a whaler, who built Boyd’s Tower, constructed from sandstone brought down from Sydney. Originally it was meant to be a lighthouse but in the end was used as a lookout station for whales. The Davidson’s established a whaling station where the whales were dragged ashore, cut up and rendered down for their oil. It must have been a pretty sight, the sea blood red with the stench from the rotting whales.
Boyd’s Tower
Davidson’s Whaling Station house, last occupied 1954
The Museum holds the preserved skeleton of ‘Old Tom’ a Killer Whale (Orca) that actually assisted the whalers by alerting them to the presence of whales in the Bay, guiding them and assisting in the catch. he was washed up on the shore in 1930, estimated at about 35 years old, preserved and is now on display with lots of other whale stuff in the museum.
Old Tom’s skeleton
Coastline below Boyd’s Tower, with the ‘ special’ rock formation on right
The cemetery at Eden is situated on low ground just behind Aslings Beach. As a rule most cemeteries are placed on high ground. Many of the graves overlook the sea and tell stories of death at sea……..whaling or fishing. Fisherman ‘going down to the sea’ for the last time.
Aslings Beach
Eden Cemetery overlooking Twofold Bay
We are now finished at Eden for this time and head back to Tathra for a few days
Birds and Ninja Turtles at Eden
In our campground on the shores of Lake Curalo and just across the road from Aslings Beach on Twofold Bay there are a oodles of different types of birds. In the mornings we are woken to screeching of parrots, cockatoos and down by the lake ducks, various water birds and the Pelicans drift around.
Ducks
yellow nosed wader
Pelicans
Sulpher crested Cockatoos
This big old Pelican just seems to float around as if he expecting payment for posing in the suns rays as it sets across the lake.
Red chested parrot
Sunset on Lake Curalo next to our campsite
Ninja Turtle
There is even the possibility of Ninja Turtles being here. Grandson Jordan has drawn one so that we might recognize them if we stumbled across one in the drains.
Eden
Settled into the Park at Eden for 4 nights. This is right beside the lake with Twofold Bay across the road. It’s a good location with big grassy sites and some shade trees.
Our set up in the Van Park at Eden next to the Lake.
First off we took to the road and headed for Green Cape, not far from the Victorian border. On this trip we are not heading further south and will turn back and retrace our steps staying at different towns, before heading inland to Canberra at Bateman’s Bay.
The 23k gravel road out to the lighthouse at Green Cape is quite good despite being a bit ragged here and there. Much of the vegetation along the road had in the recent past suffered a fairly severe bushfire and is slowly recovering. The burnt out banksias and split seed pods were in stark contrast with the regrowth. Saw a few wallabies hopping around in the undergrowth.
Seed pods
Resident Wallaby at Green Cape
The Lighthouse sits on a cape that drops steeply away into the sea below. There have been several ship wrecks here over the years. The cottages there have been refurbed and are now rented out to anyone who wants to stay and sort of pretend that they are lighthouse keepers for a few days. The fishing below looks pretty good.
Green Cape Lighthouse
From atop Pulpit Rock in Ben Boyd NP, just north of Green Cape
We headed back to Eden.
Eyed off some nice deep-fried calamari the next day for lunch at a local cafe. Athomealone concentrates on fish ‘n chips, unless there are some nice prawns around. The wood chip boat had been filled up and we saw tugs heading off to ‘let her go’ , as one of the tugboat guys said. He said you could see it from the lookout, so off we went to catch the action. In all it took about an hour for the ship to clear the harbour and head for Japan full of chips.
Its Calamari this time, Hoealone stuck with the Fish ‘n Chips
The chip boat about to leave Eden for Japan. A very smoky day, with a fire somewhere down south
At the lookout I asked one of the other nomads gazing at it “whether he thought there might be some fish on board as well?” He looked at me a bit puzzled and said “No, it was a boat that took wood chips to Japan”. I said , “Oh, I thought they might have some fish to go with the chips.” He gave me an odd look and asked if I was having a lend of him. I said, “No, just a joke.” His wife was chuckling away and thought it was particularly, funny. So did I come to think of it.
We have some light-hearted moments on the road.
Merimbula
We have worked our way down to Merimbula via Central Tilba Tilba and the ABC Cheese factory retail outlet. This is an interesting little heritage listed town, plenty of old restored buildings housing all sorts of ways of making money in the new age. The cheese place was pretty good and we came away with a couple of aged cheddar, none of the fancy flavoured stuff this time. The Saturday markets were on the go when we arrived and Allthego managed to pick up some expensive Tomato sauce and 6 quail eggs. He was quite popular with Homealone for these astute purchases. But the piece de resistance was a half loaf of a rather tasty bread…nuts, fruit and I suppose wheat……it was $9 for the half loaf, Homealone keeps saying it was more. But you fry this stuff and then bathe it in honey and have it with coffee and port for desert! Not bad and it helps keep you regular.
The Baker was closed, looked a good shop
The ABC Cheese shop in Central Tilba Tilba
The wooden bikie
Some cheddar cheese fro Tilba Tilba
We had to leave and head for Merimbula where we stayed out on a headland with a great view over Short Beach and the rugged coastline. We met up here with John & Lyn Aubrey our old friends from Sydney days. They have moved down here from Sydney as the retirement sea change, John is going to do a ‘bit’ of work to keep his hand in.
View from our back door at the Merimbula Big 4
Household duties called
We had a great few days catching up on news and being shown around the town and surrounding areas. The food scene in Merimbula seems to be quite vibrant, with restaurants and cafes abundant. A ‘Eat Merimbula’ festival was on and we wandered around this sampling some calamari and a local wine for lunch. It was a show case for the local foodies and seemed quite successful.
John & Lyn Aubrey with us at the Tathra pub, fish and calamari was good!
Bar Beach at Merimbula
Merimbula heads
We have headed off for Eden. This is a big drive as it is about 20k down the road so we got away early not wanting to be late!
Tuross Heads
We cut short our stay at Tuross by one night and have now caught up on our timing, apart from losing that hour due to daylight saving in NSW. Don’t get me going on about daylight saving, the afternoon just goes on for ever and you don’t know when to stop happy hour as the sun is still up.We don’t have this problem in Queensland of course.
Tuross was a very pleasant if short stop. Camped right on the beach front. It is a strip type set up along the beach line. Only problem was that we were right at one end and it was about 300m to get to the amenities. Homealone had to time trips carefully, Allthego was able to be a little more pragmatic, particularly in the early morning hours.
View from our campsite over Tuross Heads
One Tree Hill headland
Had a great lunch at the Pickled Octopus Cafe overlooking Tuross Lake. The fresh Tuross Lake oysters were something special; Allthego is generally not really into oysters.
Pickled Octopus cafe overlooking the lake
Half dozen very fresh Tuross oysters fro lunch at the Pickled Octopus
Apart from the natural scenery there is not a lot going on here at Tuross. A quiet peaceful town. But two tourist highlights standout. One, the stone cairn and plaque commemorating Mel Gibson’s grandmother Eva Mylott who was born here The other a grassy mound in which a whale is buried, washed up on the shore it found its final resting place under earth and grass.
Eva Mylott was born in Tuross, she was a singer and trained with Dame Nellie Melba in the early 1900s. SHE WAS ALSO MEL GIBSON’S GRANDMOTHER.
Whale burial mound
Our last night here saw a full moon rising over the ocean behind One Tree Hill and in the west the sun was setting in a red blaze. Quite spectacular sunset and moon up!
Full moon rising over One Tree Hill
After our couple of nights here we set off for Merimbula intending to stop in Central Tilba Tilba to taste some cheese, the fridge is in need of topping up.
Cheese and Church
We headed off from Depot Beach for Tuross Heads. Along the way we paused briefly in Moruya to have a look at the old quarry that supplied the granite facing and other materials for the Sydney Harbour Bridge and a couple of other buildings in Sydney in the late 1920s. After this it closed when work dropped off due to the depression. Nothing has happened since. There is a small park that commemorates the work and some river footings for the wharf that was once here. We added to our rock collection with a piece of the Moruya granite, the back of the truck is filling up.
Moruya granite block
We travelled past the Tuross turnoff to call in at Bodalla a few kilometres to the south.. The van fridge had run out of cheese and we needed to refill. The Anglican Church at Bodalla is the most prominent building in the town, sitting up on a hill overlooking the Princes Hwy. It was built it appears from funds provided by the Mort family, prominent agriculturalists and pastoralists from the mid 18 century onwards, as a ‘memorial’ to them. As you did in those days it seems. It was made from local granite, the interiors are oak, the organ from England along with stone parquetry inlaid in the floor. Mort family members are recognised on the walls. I think these Morts are the ones, who among others, formed the big pastoral and trading group Elder Smith Goldsborough Mort Ltd. Now it is Elders Limited, a small shadow of its former self.
The Church in Bodalla
The Morts, happy looking individuals
Inside the Bodalla ‘Mort’ church.
Enough of this! The real reason for coming here was to get some cheese. And we did. After having a cheese plate for lunch. They have a big range of aged cheddar, many were those flavoured sorts with herbs and spices. These are not my cup of tea normally. But these ones were good. Particularly, the sage and thyme one. We ended up with a round of that as well as a 3 year vintage cheddar.
Cheese is here
Contented cows, is this a trick photo?
Cheese plate for lunch
After having a stroll around the town looking at these usual run of over priced ‘in’ shops……candles, wood carvings, old wares and bright coloured clothing…we turned back and headed for Tuross.
Depot Beach
Arrived at Depot Beach and settled into an unpowered campsite in Murramarang NP. This is set back from the Beach in a very shady and pleasant environment. Plenty of bird life among the tall spotted gum trees and a rather large Goanna wanders around keeping us company.
A watchful eye
One of the local birds
A local resident wandering around the van
There is a big rock platform here with numerous rock pools and what appeared to be great fishing spots. Allthego took the opportunity to cast a line from various vantage points in search of dinner. No luck. It was a bit like throwing two dollar coins in the sea with each piece of bait disappearing along with the hook and sinker being caught on snags. Subsequently I tried from the beach, but the moon and tides were all wrong and the fish stayed in the sea. Depot Beach is about 15k north of Batemans Bay and the fish shop there was a more certain landing and so we took off and picked up some prawns. These were later enjoyed on the beachfront with the sun setting and the last waves of sunshine washing across the sea.
Depot Beach
Bucket of prawns at Depot Beach
At a nearby beach there is a very interesting rock platform with unusual structures. Ironstones have weathered to form lattice like formations and sandstones are honeycombed and from a distance look like fishing nets or spider webs draped over rocks.
Iron stone box work and garden
Honeycomb rocks
Great swimming here and whilst the water was a bit cool on the initial plunge, after a bit of splashing around you got used to it. Allthego managed a few selfies in the surf and one of the best is shown here.
This selfie proves two heads are better than one…headland and headbrown
After here we are heading off for Tuross Heads.
Fossils in Ulladulla
These fossils are definitely not Allthego and Homealone, although we did pass through Ulladulla on the way to Depot Beach. The fossils I am referring to are the world-class Permian age shallow water marine invertebrates, mussels and clam like things. They left an impression in the rock strata. Also seaweed type things. They go back about 280m years thereabouts.
Pelicans looking for fossils
Anyway we just had to go and have a look for these things on the rock platform in the Ulladulla Harbour. First up we went to the wrong side of the harbour and had to traipse across the other side. These things have to be seen at low tide, we were ok for this. Homealone soon spotted some fossils in the rocks and as we wandered around more and more of these things appeared all over the rock platforms. Quite impressive really. Homealone revealed her true fossil hunting skills as she sat on a grassy patch turning over rocks and found a specimen which we have put in the back of the truck to bring home. Most interesting hour or so on the rocks.
Shell fish type fossils
Seaweedy type fossil
On the way we also passed by Pidgeon House Mountain, so named by Cpt Cook on his way up the coast because it looks like a pigeon house (or so he considered). We went for a bit of a drive on a sidetrack to get closer to it, the road got a bit ragged so we turned around. Some 8000 people climb the peak each year. We were not to be among them. The last section of the climb is up steel ladders attached to the face of the cliff and we probably would have given these a miss as we hadn’t brought our ropes with us.
Pigeon House Mountain
In conclusion, I might retell a little story about nomads. In our last stop Allthego was off to the amenities block in the early hours. There was a bit of rain around and I remarked to a fellow camper that “it was a bit damp this morning” he responded “Mate, you have to worry when it’s not damp”. Now I had to think about that for a while……….
Allthegobro 