Eight Blissful Days in Bermagui

We had the luxury of spending eight full days in Bermagui where we stayed at Reflections Caravan Park. The caravan park is extremely well run and the facilities are modern and clean. The owners Tom Starr and Sara Wilson are really friendly and went our of their way to make our stay fantastic. It’s also excellent value for money, an ensuite site cost us $491 for nine nights. That also included a long weekend, when rates usually sky rocket. The caravan park is located just a few hundred meters from the town centre where you will find lots of boutique shops as well as a supermarket and other essential supplies. Many of the sites offer a breathtaking view of the beach at Horseshoe Bay.

The information centre is located in the centre of town on Bunga Street. The centre has a great selection of information on the local and surrounding area. Armed with a multitude of leaflets we were ready to explore this beautiful coastline.

Coastal Walk : Haywards Beach to Murunna Point

The coastal walk covers 10km one way from Beares Beach to Wallaga Lake but we decided that we would walk a shorter section from Tilba Road to Murunna Point. We parked our car along Tilba Road and we joined the bush track at the corner of Tilba Road and Wallaga Lake Road. The first section was through typical bushland with banksia’s and majestic gum trees. There was a beautiful fragrance wafting through the air with the spring flowers in full blossom. We emerged from the natural bushland onto a track that took us to the Camel Rock Beach car park. Here you will find a picnic area and toilets. Camel Rock is probably one of Bermagui’s most photographed icons. It was identified and named by Bass and Flinders during the first mapping of the coastline. As the names suggests it’s a rock that juts out from the shore line and resembles a camel. Its magnificence is hard to ignore and you quickly become mesmerised by its beauty.

The walk continued at the northern end of the car park past the Yuin Cultural Heritage sign seen below, through a grassland area where the flora was not as tall indicating a windswept landscape.

Once we appeared at the top of this section the walk progressed through taller shrubs that created a tunnel like effect, it was like entering a secret magical kingdom. The aromas of the bushland with so many springtime flowers was entrancing, our senses were in overdrive. This was my favourite part of the walk, we felt like we were miles away from anywhere and we had the place to ourselves.

Every so often the bushes thinned out and we could see the glistened blue ocean. A word of warning that in a few places there were steep drops at the side of the pathway. Our children are old enough now that it’s not so much of a worry but if you have younger children is worth being aware. About 10 minutes into this section you can clearly identify Horse Head rock, among one of the oldest rocks in NSW.

Once we surfaced at Murunna Point from the overgrowth we were rewarded with the most stunning views of Lake Wallaga and the Pacific Ocean.

From here you can either return along the same path or you can continue onto Lakview Drive. We choose the latter and managed to find our way back to Camel Rock car park. We then returned back along the original path until we reached Montreal Goldfield and the Big 4 Caravan Park. Within the Big 4 Caravan Park is Camel Rock Brewery. What better way is there to finish a satisfying walk?

Blue Pool

This is another iconic image from Bermagui and it is definitely worth a visit even if the weather isn’t being kind to you. We were able to stroll for 300 meters along Pacific Drive that ran along the back of our caravan park to the Blue Pool. Along the way there is a water tower that has been decorated with Joe McKenzie’s work entitled “Spirit Dance”. The original artwork was painted to assist children to get to sleep with friendly, protective spirits warding off the bad spirits. It is a beautiful piece of Indigenous artwork on a grand scale.

The Blue Pool is located directly opposite the water tower and is reached by descending 70 steps from the car park. The weather wasn’t warm enough for us to swim, however we saw others take the plunge. I can only imagine how refreshing this pool would be on a hot summers day. We walked around the edge of the pool, watched the ocean and listened to the the powerful force of the waves as they crashed into the rocks.

Montreal Goldfield

Montreal Goldfield is 7km north of Bermagui and is located beside the Big 4 Caravan Park at Wallaga Lake. Admission is by guided tour and they occur daily at 2pm and it takes about 1¼ hours. It cost our family $25, please be aware that you can only pay by cash. Our tour guide was a volunteer who was passionate about the history of the goldfields and it was very interesting to learn about this special place. Montreal Goldfields is one of only two coastal goldfields in the Southern Hemisphere.

Mystery Bay

Mystery Bay is located 14kms north of Bermagui and is definitely worth the short drive to visit. First impressions suggest that it is a small town surrounded by abundant bushland with a picturesque sandy beach. We wanted to do a couple of walks and to witness the reason for the its namesake ‘Mystery Bay’. As the name suggests the bay is enshrouded in a baffling mystery. In 1880 a government geologist, Lamont Young and his assistant Max Schneider were visiting Bermagui to inspect the Montreal goldfields. Along with three other men they disappeared and were never seen again. A few days later a small boat was discovered at what is now known as ‘Mystery Bay’ with a bullet hole shot from the inside and several of their belongings including a pair of glasses and Lamont’s surveying equipment. There are many theories surrounding the mystery but no one knows what really occurred to the five men. A memorial plaque is displayed at the beach car park.

Mystery Bay to 1080 Beach and Mystery Bay to Billy’s Beach

There are two worthwhile walks to enjoy from Mystery Bay beach car park. The first walk is 5km return to 1080 beach. It is a moderate walk along a well graded track through the Eurobodalla National Park. The walk starts from the entrance along Lamont Young Drive (approximately 200 meters from Mystery Bay Beach. We encountered so much wildlife including wallabies, echidnas, colourful native birds, a sea hawk and a python! The python was actually resting on a timber beam above the toilet at the end of the walk. Fortunately we weren’t desperate for the toilet.

The second walk is only 1km return and graded very easy. To access the track you need to walk northwards through the campground. It was late afternoon so we each packed a beer to enjoy once we reached Billy’s Beach. This area is an important Aboriginal site and is ideal for families as the beach is enclosed and sheltered by headlands. The rocks here are churt, slate and mudstone and are around 500 million years old. The rock formations have been created from the pressure during movement of tectonic plates known as foliation.

Tilba Tilba

Tilba Tilba is a 19 minute drive from Bermagui and is located in the tranquility of green rolling hills and pastures at the foot of Gulaga/Mt Dromedary. It is a very small village, protected by a National Heritage listing.

We decided to visit Foxglove Gardens after reading it had featured on two television shows. We were welcomed at the car park by one of the owners who was very friendly and talked about the history of the garden. It cost us $22 for our family of four to enter the walled garden and we were keen to get some inspiration for our own garden. The house situated within the garden is very attractive and around 100 years old. As other people have mentioned in reviews of the garden, it is a little run down from how it would have been originally. The owner explained to us that the property had been on the market for 6 years when they purchased it and it had become very overgrown in the meantime. What was very apparent to us was the love and care that is being restored to the garden. We thoroughly enjoyed strolling around the lake and soaking up the calm and peaceful nature of the landscape.

Central Tilba

Fellow campers at our caravan park recommended a visit to Central Tilba and the mention of a lolly shop had our children enthralled at the idea. Central Tilba is a couple of kilometres further along Corkhill Drive from Tilba Tilba. As soon as you enter the main street (Bate Street) you are transported back in time to a bygone era. The ABC Cheese Factory is situated at the north end of Bate Street where there is also a car park and a picnic area. There are a selection of cheeses and different flavours of honey to sample before you decide to buy. We absolutely fell in love with every cheese we tried, so much so that we returned a few days to buy more to bring home. My favourite without a doubt was their Brie which oozed just as a soft cheese should and tasted divine.

After enjoying a picnic lunch we ambled through this quaint old fashioned village and browsed in several of the stores. Every shop front was so adoringly attractive, some had small gardens in full flower. Our next stop was Lindy Quin’s gallery where many of her photos are on display to purchase. I could have spent a fortune, Lindy Quin has such great talent.

Another short stoll and we arrived at the Tilba Sweet Spot, an old fashioned lolly shop. If you have a sweet tooth, like my children, then you simply cannot walk past this shop. There was such a great variety of lollies and chocolates including many from overseas.

The Dromedary Hotel is an impressive building known to the locals as ‘The Drom’. The seating area at the side of the hotel gave us much amesement, I wonder how many people sit there!

Narooma

A 32 minute drive from Bermagui takes you to the coastal town of Narooma. I am so glad we fitted in time to explore Narooma as we got to see some amazing wildlife.

We parked our car at Bar Rock Lookout and absorbed the crystal clear views of Montague Island. From the lookout there is a short walk down to Australia Rock and as the name suggests it looks like a map of the mainland of Australia.

It is then possible to walk along the breakwall to the end of Wagonga Head. As you begin this section there are warning signs about seals resting here. This came as an unexpected surprise for us, I had never seen seals in the wild before. We sat at the top of the rocks and observed the seals, we witnessed them doing aerobics in the water and we were amused when they were fighting over certain rocks to rest upon. It’s worth noting that you shouldn’t get too close no matter how tempting as they can be very aggressive.

Once we dragged ourselves away from the extremely entertaining seals we drove over to the opposite side of Wagonga Inlet to Mill Bay Boardwalk. The boardwalk is an easy 20 minute return but it will more than likely take you longer as there is lots to see. We were lucky enough to observe two enormous stingrays gliding through the shallow water. We were also fortunate to watch a large number of pelicans chilling out on the rocks.

We loved every minute of our camping trip to the picturesque Sapphire Coast. There is something for everyone to enjoy. Click here for more information about this stunning region. Thank you for reading my article, I hope you have as much fun as we did in around Bermagui.