Narooma and Tilba Tilba

Tuesday morning the 29^th of January and we are away. We got away just after 6.30am. Decided on an early start as it was back to work for a lot of people following the school holidays and it was going to be busy on the roads. So after a farewell to our daughter we were on the road. The traffic at that time was not to bad at all.

Jan & Ross had got away about an hour before us and we eventually caught up with them south of Nowra where we grabbed a coffee at a rest stop. As we had got away early and made good time we were able to stop at Mogo to check out some of shops there, ooh goody. The girls did anyway as I covered the town in five minutes and made some phone calls.

We then moved on to Narooma and set up in time for a late lunch. We stayed at the Surfbeach Caravan Park for $33 a night powered. The Big 4 was still on holiday season rates, but $98 a night powered is just ridiculous. Even when they drop to mid season rates on the 1^st of Feb it will be $56. Where we were was a good spot and we went for a swim at the beach after setting up. Very nice. Here are some photos of our spot for the next three nights.

Lamb cutlets on the BBQ that night for dinner, also very nice. An unexpected storm hit us but there wasn’t any wind with it so it was quite cosy. 

Wednesday morning we drove into town and stopped to pick up some fresh seafood at a van stall. We got some beautiful tender squid which was awesome later that night for dinner. Then onto the board walk which runs along the Narooma inlet up to North Head. There were a few sting rays grazing in the beautiful clear water.

Narooma is such a nice spot and the waterways here are beautiful.

Out near the bar at the breakwater were some resident seals. 

After the walk we drove the 16km north to Bodalla and had a coffee at the Bodalla Dairy Cheese Factory. The south coast is so pretty.

After lunch back at the van we grabbed our swimmers and fishing gear and went back to the netted inlet at the breakwater and had a beautiful swim and then a fish. Did no good with the fishing. What a great day that was which was topped off with a beautiful squid dinner.

Thursday morning we drove the 13km to Central Tilba. It is a pretty little town with a lot of character. We walked up to the lookout to begin with. On the way up we met this big red bellied black snake. 

Red bellied blacks are usually not a problem unless you corner them so we just skirted around him and continued on up to the lookout. Linda turned around and continued on back to the car. The area is typically pretty.

There were plenty of craft and leather shops and cafes and the ABC Cheese Factory. I was particularly interested in the history of the place as my ancestors had a lot to do with the area. In the cheese factory I read some items about the history and found these gems.

On the war memorial was an A Southam from the first world war and a H Southam from the second world war.

Here are some photos of the old buildings in the town.

We then drove through Tilba Tilba and out on to the highway to the properties of Kilarney, Courier Creek and Fairview which my ancestors owned. We could not go on to the properties themselves but I wanted to see ‘Southams Creek’ which was so named as they owned and established the surrounding properties.

We then went back to Narooma and visited the cemetary as it was on a headland with great views. I got the chance to speak to sister Pam on the way there and got the information that she and our cousin Jill used to visit our grand uncle, Donald Southam and his wife Donna in Narooma when she was a young girl. So I did a search and found they were buried in the Narooma cemetary and subsequently found their graves.

Back to camp. What is wrong with this picture?

After some shopping we went back to camp. I had to attend to an indicator on the van. The LED sealed lens had got water in it and when we left Sydney it was only lighting up half the LEDs. By the time we got to Narooma it was only showing two little LED lights. I tried getting a replacement before we left Sydney but could not find one at short notice. Dropped in to the Auto Pro in Narooma and they did not have a matching indicator as you can expect so I picked up an ordinary trailer light and wired that up and taped it in place. That was thanks to a tip from my mate John O’Malley. It should see me through till I get home and track down an indicator of the right size.

So that was another full day of interesting and fun things. The weather has turned foul with cool strong winds for our last night in Narooma. But that’s okay as I am now able to get up to date with my blog.