south coast odyssey part two: bodalla, mogo and berry

We woke up on Monday morning to this:

Tee hee! I think the family in the campsite near us had sprinkled some bread around. But they were very friendly, especially the curious one in the first photograph!

A quick shout out re our accommodation - we stayed at the Island View Beach Resort which is in fact a caravan park, which you definitely can't tell from the name! I was a little trepidatious about staying at a caravan park for the first time in my sheltered life, but we had a great time. We stayed for 2 nights in a cabin with an ensuite, and found it very handy to have a kitchen. We'd actually tried to book at Easts Narooma but got a call saying that it was in fact fully booked (despite the online booking system accepting the booking). I was glad in the end that we stayed at Island View because it's a little bit (approximately 3km) out of Narooma - all the more peaceful and relaxing, while Easts was in fact in the middle of town.

After checking out we headed back north. First stop, Bodalla Dairy Shed which features in NotQuiteNigella's twin posts on the South Coast (which of course I'd printed off as reference material before our trip - thanks NQN!):

We sat out on the back deck where I noted home decorating idea number one:

And here is home decorating idea number two:

In fact, the table top was made out of an old door! Yes, we I do plan to have small plastic animals scattered about our home.

All that being a plastic animal is thirsty work! And who could resist a butterscotch milkshake in an old school milkshake cup? I slurped mine up so quickly (and noisily!) that the waitress asked, "would you like another one?"

There was a slight mix-up with our order but in the end we did receive one traditional scone with jam and cream and one cheese scone. No photos as I was too distressed at not receiving two traditional scones as we had ordered (can you tell I really love scones? They're in fact just a vehicle for jam and cream in my opinion. The cheese scone was still quite nice - reminded me of the vegetarian muffins that I used to get from Muffin Break during their end-of-day buy one get one free promotions. Now it's buy two get one free. I'm showing my stingy side here...)

After this delicious morning tea, we headed north to Mogo, where I had my heart set on going to the zoo. I was pleasantly surprised by how clean and well-maintained Mogo Zoo was. We went to Taronga Zoo last year for the Roar and Snore, and I have to say I was a little distressed at the behind-the-scenes tours where I honestly found the conditions, particuarly for the chimpanzees, a bit too crowded and bare for my liking. The animals at Mogo all seemed fairly content, with plenty of room to play:

Look at that little darling face. Chapflap said that I wasn't allowed to have one, unfortunately (I'm not sure it would've got on that well with catflap anyway!)

Meerkat getting annoyed at the fact chapflap was taunting it with a bag of kangaroo/deer feed.

The village of Mogo was also lovely for those into trinkets and crafty things (i.e. me and not chapflap). I spent a bit of time pottering particularly around Jellybeads and Amanda's of Mogo, picking up enough supplies to keep me occupied for a little while. By the time I finished, it was late afternoon and the lunch places around Mogo were a bit empty for our liking. We ended up heading to Ulladulla where we picked up some take-away which we ate here:

Anything would taste good with a view like this! Although saying that, our fish burger, hamburger with the lot and scallops were very fresh and tasty. Perfect holiday food (along with oysters and gelato!)

We passed Hayden's Pies on the way through Ulladulla, which we worked out we'd actually tried before on a previous trip down the South Coast. So much for threatening chapflap with the prospect of camel pie! They mustn't have had camel that time, because we do remember having the rabbit pie.

Speaking of perfect holiday food, this is pretty much the perfect pick-me-up spot on the drive back north - particularly for the bargain basement price of $1 each? (6 for $5.50! Not that we got 6, as that would pretty much mean heart attacks for both of us)

With our oil levels satisfyingly elevated, it was left to chapflap to endure the end-of-long-weekend traffic jam while I blissfully snoozed. This is the life...

Island View Beach Resort
7323 Princes Highway (approximately 3km south of Narooma)
Narooma NSW 2546

Information and bookings here

Bodalla Dairy Shed
52 Princes Highway (on the right hand side of the road as you head north)
Bodalla NSW 2545

More information available here

Mogo Zoo
222 Tomakin Road (approximately 2km off the Princes Highway, just before Mogo as you head north)
Mogo NSW 2536

Recently featured in SMH. We in fact first heard about it on Getaway

Berry Donut Van
Princes Highway
Berry NSW 2535

Cute article about the van here

road trippin with my one favourite ally: bermagui and narooma

The Anzac Day long weekend saw chapflap and I heading down the coast to Narooma, approximately a further 2 hours south of Batemans Bay from Sydney.

First stop was the sleepy town of Bermagui, where one of my workmates had suggested we head to the "fab gelato and coffee place". Her directions? "It is in a street just off the main drag. Ask people - it is well known. There is a petrol station on the corner of the street it is on. There is a Mitre 10 or Bunnings or something like that hardware store almost next to it." Her directions were spot on! There is a Mitre 10 almost next door. For even easier identification, the Bermagui Visitors Centre (where you can pick up as many free maps as you want and get the assistance of lovely volunteers) is across the road.

My lilli pilli gelato. The fact it's almost exactly the same colour as my recently acquired wallet has nothing to do with the fact I chose this! I washed this down with a long black from...

Possibly the world's coolest coffee machine. We must get to Italy sometime soon!

Chapflap's triple: mango, macadmia nut and pineapple/feijoa. He initially asked for it in a cone, to which the (rather handsome, not that I said that to chapflap at the time!) shop assistant said, "usually we do triples in a container, as it melts rather quickly". Delicious (the gelato, of course, nothing else...)

After a wander around the Bermagui country markets (on every last Sunday of the month) and the lookouts around the area, we headed back to Narooma for lunch. A dozen local oysters...

And half a lobster made it really hit home that we were on holidays! (As we do often eat gelato while we aren't on holidays. Maybe me moreso than chapflap).

After the lunch, we hopped back in the car and headed to another one of my workmate's recommendations - Mystery Bay. Utterly gorgeous, with clear, clear water - a bit too cold this weekend for a swim, but I can imagine that it'd be the perfect spot in summer!

Look at that water!

After a fair bit of splashing around (from chapflap) and squealing (from me), we headed back to Narooma. "Look, a fish auction!" we said as we spotted this sign near the visitors' centre. "Would that be like the auctions at Tsukiji in Tokyo?"

I won't post the photos here of our haul, as they are a little confronting for non-fish eaters. It turned out that the fish auction was in fact a reverse auction, as in 3 men stood on the back of a truck with trays filled with salmon, blackfish, morwongs, leather jackets and various other fishies (some described by the particularly colourful fishmonger as "slippery fish" or "pointy nose fish"). We ended up with about 6 different types of fish (2 salmon for $6! And big salmon too, not little weeny ones) for less than $30 all up. This is probably what cemented our plans to return, and soon! Here, fishy fishy...

After that wonderful day, it was time to head back to our accommodation to cook dinner. 2 dozen oysters in one day... my kind of holiday!

Bermagui Gelato Clinic
Lamont Street
Bermagui NSW 2546

Another food blogger beat me to it - see here

Narooma is approximately a 5 hour drive south from Sydney along the Princes Highway. Bermagui is a further half an hour or so south, and Mystery Bay about half way in between Bermagui and Narooma.

coolendel camping and cabins, west of nowra

Look Ma, wombat!!

Coolendel is located about 30km west of Nowra, and features camping grounds as well as cabins set in a nature reserve. We camped for just one night and enjoyed getting to know the local wildlife...

We spotted a peacock being shooed out of a family's tent - definitely keep the doors zipped up!

It was amazing how nonchalant the animals were about the humans hanging around. This wombat was very content just to keep munching grass and grooming him/herself. One of his/her friends woke me up in the middle of the night with his/her very audible late night snacking.

There's a wallaby hidden there in the undergrowth...

The wildlife theme continues - I thought that the end of the branch right at the top of the picture here looked a bit like a wombat. Or was I just imagining things?

Apart from the wildlife, there's also canoeing to try in the Shoalhaven River, plenty of space to pedal around in and bushwalks to wander through. It's definitely a very family friendly place, with hot showers, free BBQs/gas stoves and flat fields perfect for kicking a ball around. My only miff was loud music/conversation continuing beyond around midnight; the group of teens were good about turning it down though once chapflap had a word to them about it.

Aaaaww... we love camping :) Definitely a change from my high school Duke of Ed days, when a rolled up jumper serving as a pillow was the height of luxury! Not only does Coolendel have hot showers (and very clean toilets) and cooking facilities, but there's safe drinking water which I was told is sourced from the Shoalhaven River and treated on-site. So even though you could readily bring your own drinking water in (since you can camp right next to your car, saving the need to lug things from a carpark to the actual site), there's really no need.

Coolendel Camping and Cabins
Grassy Gully Road
Coolendel NSW (approximately 30km west of Nowra)

(02) 4421 4586

Cabins from $100/night (off peak season, sleeps up to 6 people)
Camping from $16/night (off peak season, per adult)

You can find more information here

Coolendel was reviewed in the Sydney Morning Herald a month or so back but I can't find the online version now. All I remember was that it was a very favourable review. I actually found out about the place before the review came out (just by looking around on the web, there are a lot of reviews of the place on 4WD websites and the like) and was worried that it'd get booked out with the SMH review! There's definitely no need to worry though, there was plenty of camping space to go around when we were there.

Note that the 30km drive out of Nowra to get to Coolendel is very straightforward for the first 20km or so (100km/h, excellent) but then the last 11km is windy and unpaved (but fairly compacted, so it's not like there's dirt flying everywhere or anything). The drive's do-able in a 2WD (good suspension will make the ride more comfortable...) but try to set out a bit early so you can get through it before dark (and setting up a tent is always much easier with natural light... no, there were no hissy fits when we were setting up our tent at 6pm, none at all...). If you don't want to risk the 11km windiness, we saw the entrance to another campsite along the 20km paved road called Grady's Riverside Retreat. Looks like there are no wombats resident there though unfortunately :( There are clear signs leading out of Nowra to Coolendel, just follow the directions on the Coolendel website (and once you turn out of Nowra towards Coolendel there's only really one road you can go on, so it's unlikely you'll get lost)

illawarra fly, knights hill

On top of the world at the Knights Tower, Illawarra Fly Treetop Walk, Knights Hill

This tourist attraction opened in 2008 and had no shortage of visitors on the Saturday of the long weekend that we were there. The walk itself doesn't take very long to complete (give it about 45 minutes to an hour, maybe more if like an adorable girl we saw, you require a bit of coaxing to get up the Knights Tower) and the views are great; but is it worth the $22 admission fee for adults ($9.50 for children between 6-16 and $20 for seniors)? I'd read on a blog (that I can't find the link to now, argh) that you can get similar views from lookouts in the nearby Budderro National Park, but I figured that if we were in the area, we might as well buy into the whole commercial experience. No shame in that, right?

Overall I think admission was fairly pricey in relation to the experience, but it was a well-constructed walk with lovely views, so I won't complain about that.

I think I saw a sign saying that the Minnamurra Rainforest Centre in the Budderoo National Park is currently closed for renovations - it looks like it's re-opening in July 2009. So maybe wait until that re-opens before heading down to the area and taking in both the Illawarra Fly and the Rainforest Centre.

Illawarra Fly
182 Knights Hill Road (off Jamberoo Mountain Road, all very well signposted)
Knights Hill NSW 2577

1300 362 881
You can find more information here

Open 9am to 5pm seven days a week

robertson pie shop, robertson

Found out about this place from the Illawarra Fly website - I'm usually sceptical of places billed as "famous" and it seems that every second pie shop outside metropolitan areas claims to be the best in the country/world/universe. But I was glad we made a pit stop at Robertson Pie Shop during our long weekend sojourn around the South Coast/Southern Highlands - yummy pies and a laid-back atmosphere made it hit home that we were on holidays :)


My potato pie. There's really nothing like instant mashed potato, especially since my proposal to take a packet camping was vetoed.


The all-important sauce anointing ritual. I think that's the curry chicken pie.


A work in progress - a chunky beef pie. Mmmm.


And a before shot of my lemon meringue pie. Crispy fluffy meringue, tart delicious lemon curd... I wonder if they make it in the microwave like they did the other night on Masterchef?

Afterwards. Yum.

We returned to Robertson Pie Shop on our way home to pick up a large steak and mushroom pie and two large sweet pies (apple and rhubarb and apple and strawberry). All very nice (although I didn't get to try the steak and mushroom myself, I'm just going on the fact that it was all gone within the day we got back). Definitely worth a stop if you're in the area - a warning though that the Macquarie Pass (part of Jamberoo Mountain Road, towards the Robertson end) from Albion Park to Robertson is a bit treacherous, but not so nerve-wracking that a warm pie won't settle the tummy.

Robertson Pie Shop
Corner Illawarra Highway and Jamberoo Mountain Road
Robertson NSW 2577

(02) 4885 1330

Open Monday to Friday 7:30am to 7:00pm
Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays 8:00am to 7:00pm

During winter the shop's closing at 6:00pm Mondays to Thursdays.

From memory small savoury pies will set you back between $3-$4, small sweet pies from $3. Large pies around the $13 mark.