Beautiful Bittangabee Bay

Another short drive off the highway along a few dirt tracks led us to Bittangabee Bay where Emily, Tom and kids had spent the previous night.  Located in Ben Boyd National Park, Bittangabee Campground one of the pitstops on the renowned Light to Light walk, a 30km coastal trail between Boyd's Tower and Green Cape Lighthouse.

What a wonderful place! Perched on the headland, the campground was organised but not overly so. There were pit toilets, gas bbq but no showers and each site had it's own fire pit. A short walk away was Bittangabee Bay, a small beach nestled between two rock shelves.



The walk to the beach began by following a short steep trail to the Storehouse ruins before clambered over the rocks. The Storehouse and jetty were built in 1881 by Albert Aspinall as Bittangabee Bay was the nearest safe anchorage point from Eden. It served as a storeroom for the material being used to construct the Green Cape Lighthouse located 7km away.

We spent what was left of the afternoon cleansing ourselves in the chilly water. A refreshing end to the day!

Moving on from Merrica River

Walking back to the cars and moving on to our next campsite was the main objective of the day. After eating breakfast and while the kids were busy catching fish in their trangia pots, we packed up camp.

The hidden canoe was found a short distance away stashed in the undergrowth but without an oar, it wasn't much good. Perhaps next time we will have an opportunity to play in it.

The walk out seemed steeper and longer than the previous day. Perhaps that had something to do with our tired legs. The river crossing finally emerged and the cool water soothed some sore feet. Onwards we trudged reaching the cars just after noon. Talk of hot chips for lunch saw us detour past Wonboyn Lake only to have our spirits dampened with a sign on the general store saying 'shop closed back at 3.30pm.' I had vague memories of seeing a general store on the main highway not too far away so off we went in search of hot food.

It was a short distance past the turnoff to our next campsite that the general store came into view. It was open and sold hot food.  We enjoyed hot chips, burgers and ice creams!

Who Needs Pasta Anyway!

With another long weekend and this one coinciding with the end of the school holidays, we took the opportunity to explore more of the South Coast. Together with Al, Rob and kids, we opted for a short overnight hike into the mouth of the Merrica River in Nadgee Nature Reserve.

Located to the south of Ben Boyd and abutting Croajingalong National Parks, this part of the south coast is quite remote. We reached the Merrica River carpark after 4.5 hours of driving arriving just after midday. Keen to get going, we quickly did our last minute sorting of packs and were off.

Signing the walking logbook, we proceeded through the disinfection foot wash to begin the 4km hike to our campsite. At you can imagine energy and excitement levels were high amongst the youngsters who were particularly keen for the first lolly stop!!

And so we trundled along, chatting and playing games keeping everyone happy stopping some 25mins later for the first lolly break....and then again 20mins later at a river crossing complete with a beautiful waterfall. From here the track climbed slightly as did the number of different types of mushrooms! I've never seen such variety!

 

Enthusiasm was waning but luckily we had crested the hilltop with the track descending in front of us which meant we were getting close and soon enough it bottomed out. As we made our way through the lush thick vegetation on a little single track we caught our first glimpse of water! Emerging out on to the sand, we had arrived at the Merrica River!

Having obtained a permit to camp at this spot, with the NSW National Parks having strict rules about letting 8 people camp (despite being a group of 9!) and 30 walkers in Nadgee on any given day, we were surprise to find a group of 4 young lads already set up! Thankfully though we walked inland up the river to come across an awesome campsite.

Feeling hot and sticky from the walk, we headed for a swim. We waded into the cold Merrica River,  crossing the lagoon which was only waist deep. Wandering further along we discovered a sand bar had closed the river off from the ocean. No one was brave enough to plunge into the rough ocean. The boys ventured off to explore the nearby rock shelves, while the girls loved jumping and breaking the small sand cliffs into the river. However with the cooler temperature and the sea breeze, we were all scuttling back to the camp in search of dry clothes and a warm fire!

On returning to the campsite, Al spotted a very large wombat, who was busily grazing a short distance away and seem unconcerned by our presence.

Once the excitement of seeing the wombat was over and everyone was dry and the fire was roaring away, we erected our tents and unpacked our bags before our thoughts turned towards dinner preparation.


Andy and I then had the following conversation -

Nat asks (after unpacking her bag and looking for dinner stuff), "Andy can you get the pasta from your bag?"

Andy says, " I don't have the pasta!"

Nat replies, "Umm well it's not in my bag either!"

Concerned looks appear on both of our faces, my stomach drops as I realise my mistake.

Last night Andy had been keen to pack our hiking bags with everything we needed. Knowing that my bag had various squishable items, I decided to add the food items before heading off from the car. It was becoming obvious that the box of pasta had not made it into my bag!

A quick conference was had between the two families weighing up whether I should run back to the car (in my jeans!) to retrieve the pasta. Pooling our food supplies together, we concluded there was more than enough for the two families - I mean we had two bottles of wine, cheese and biscuits, tim tams really what more could one want!! Together with the 1 box of pasta, pesto, parmesan, variety of vegies and damper, we would be completely fine and so we were.


Over the campfire we compared the previous weekend camping adventure and then reminisced of the Croajingalong New Years Hike the four of us completed in 2004/05......oh how time flies by and life changes :)

Adelong Adventures

The best way to start the day is with another easter egg hunt! This one was organised by the bigger kids on the rocky outcrop. Despite a head start given to the smaller people in the group, a rerun of the hunt was required as they struggled to make it up the rocky slope fast enough to find any hidden eggs. Meanwhile the adults completed the fun job of packing up.

Discussions on potential spots to explore on the way home were had with the group opting to drive via Talbingo, Tumut, joining the Hume highway at Gundagai.  As we prepared to depart the campsite, a couple of wedge tailed eagles soared in the sky above. We watched with interest as a couple of crows chase them away!

Only a short drive from the campsite, we turned off the Snowy Mountains Highway onto the Cumberland Trail. Our destination was Landers Falls. A short walk that offered a spectacular waterfall cascading into the deep gorge and stunning views over the Talbingo Reservoir. Unfortunately La La Loopsy (our 2WD car) couldn't quite manage the 4WD trail, so our family turned back and set our sights on Adelong.

With family growing up in this region, Allison had told us about the little town of Adelong including the ruins of a gold mine. We decided it would make the perfect lunch spot and it did!

The local council has done well to conserve this area known as the Adelong Falls and Gold Ruins. Gold was found in Adelong in 1852 with alluvial gold found in Adelong Creek. Eventually a Reefer ore crushing machine was built by two Scotsmen. It ceased operation in 1915 by which time 5 tonnes of gold had been extracted. It was an awesome little area to explore and break up the trip back to Canberra.

Birthday Adventure

Sleep was hard to come by as the overnight temperature dipped to a chilly 2°C and the distant howls of wild dogs echoed through the still night air. We awoke to a white landscape with a layer of frost covering everything.

The cold didn't bother the kids who were all excited with their easter chocolate finds. The fire was lit with much enthusiasm. Cathy baked cinnamon scrolls on the camp fire and Andy whipped up egg and bacon rolls. A delicious birthday breakfast! Presents were to follow.

After breakfast we drove the short distance to Yarrangobilly Caves converging at the visitors centre. The 12km limestone karst systems in Kosciuszko National Park has produced many caves although 6 are open for tours. After weighing up the options, we decided to book in for the 2 o'clock tour of Jillabenan Cave. With several hours spare, we headed to the River Walk bound for the thermal pool.

Fed by a natural spring, the thermal pool has had several renovations, with the most recent being in 1969 where the work was completed by prisoners being held in detention at Yarrangobilly. The water was a very pleasant 27°C so despite the overcast coolish weather, we all stayed in for a decent amount of time. The pool is a decent size ~ 20m in length and the kids were kept entertained by doing laps which was probably also helped by the fact that the concrete walls were covered in slimy algae! Apparently pobblebonks (the Eastern Banjo Frog) breeds here but we weren't able to spot any.

A picnic lunch helped us all to warm up again before the short but steep trek out to the car. From here we drove around to Jillabenan Cave, the oldest and smallest of the Yarrangobilly caves. We were wowed with the lovely displays of stalactites, cave coral, shawls, stalagmites and helictites. The most impressive by far were the delicate straws, which grow at a rate of 1cm per year. There were straws which were over 3 metres long!

After our cave education, we returned to the campsite. The big boys decided to run home, taking much longer than anticipated, arriving as the sun was setting with tales of adventure. Our evening was complete with birthday cheesecake (yum!) and cooking damper on sticks! A birthday to remember!