An early start on Sunday saw me taking a coach through the salubrious NSW town of Queanbeyan and across rolling plains and the cutesy towns of Bungadore and Braidwood on the way to the coast. The coach broke through the rugged Budawang ranges at Clyde Mountain, meaning a descent through winding hairpins at little more than 5mph. There were occasional snatches of sublime views through the gum forest, just a shame the coach couldn’t stop. After a brief stop at Batemans Bay (a bit like Paignton) I reached my destination at Broulee.
As well as the endless stretches of sand on this section of the coast, there are numerous inlets and waterways (perfect for kayaking), and of course, a few birds feeding on the ample supplies. This one was at Candlagan Creek on the north side of Broulee.
I walked on into the next village called Mossy Point, a really pleasant place, quiet and leafy, with homes and wooden jetties lining the Tomaga River. Here I am at Mossy Point, with views across to Tomakin.
I had a nice little lunch at Mossy Point before heading alongside the coast back into Broulee. There were plenty of these flowers lining the clifftops.
I came to Broulee as a bit of a birthday treat and I got more than pampered at the place I was staying. I was greeted with afternoon tea and cheesecake before I went out again to try and walk of some of those calories, this time heading to Broulee Island (which is actually linked to the mainland by a small spit of sand.
Here are a couple of Broulee Island rocks. They rock!
I caught a bit of a sunset from Broulee Island, the sun dipping below the rugged ranges to the west.
And with that I had fish and chips from the only takeaway in Broulee and took advantage of some pampering at my accommodation with a complementary bottle of wine, cheese and use of the spa bath.
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For some reason, I woke really early on Monday morning, so I took a small pre-breakfast jaunt to a headland overlooking Broulee’s south beach with distant views down the coast and towards the inland mountains. Where I was staying was literally 50 metres from this beach.
Some final pampering at my B&B with a brekkie of fruit and a fry up led to some more walkabouts, this time heading south down the whole extent of Bengello Beach. Walking on sand is always so nice but can get a little arduous when the beach is 7km long! Here is the beach a few of those kilometres down!
I made it to the North Head of the Moruya River, which I then followed all the way into Moruya. The walk along the road wasn’t all fun fun fun, but there were some scenic highlights, with sandy coves and shallows in the river creating turquoise waters.
The landscape changed a little approaching Moruya, with paddocks and farmland stretching on until reaching the barely penetrable ranges. I scared an echidna on the way (unintentionally of course, it's not like I was running up to it shouting, cam on then, I'll ave yer) causing the little guy to curl up in a spiky ball. I also saw a little golden speckled lizard on a rock, he wasn't too scary.
Annoyingly I didn’t have much time to take in Moruya as I was worried about missing my bus (there’s only one a day). In the end I made it with time to spare (enough spare time to have some fish and chips again!) The journey home was fine, a slow ascent of Clyde Mountain and some company speaking to someone from Bristol! It was a great couple of days – tiring yet relaxing – still, it was nice to come home and see some snags on our barbie to welcome me back!
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