Postcard: South Coast Road Trip
Being limited to our state for travel since March last year, we decided to spend January exploring and “glamping” (glamour camping) around the southern part of New South Wales in our converted van. We enjoyed spectacular hikes and bike rides along scenic coastal landscapes, dotted with white-sand beaches and thick forests that have seem to be recovering nicely from the devastating fires only a year ago. We loved the intimate wildlife encounters: free diving with Australian fur seals, Grey Nurse sharks and Port Jackson sharks; snorkeling alongside the largest bull and cow-nosed stingrays we have ever encountered; Kangaroos, swamp wallabies and possums visiting us at our camp site most nights and getting close to some of Australia’s most colourful and spectacular birds including King parrots, Crimson rosellas and huge numbers of noisy Rainbow lorikeets.
Wow, what a delight to snorkel off Bawley Point with our daughter Estelle and mate Matty Johnson and see such beautiful creatures.
Resting under the seaweed were Port Jackson sharks. A first time sighting for me! I have a good collection of Port Jackson egg cases that I've found on beach walks, but I've never seen one until now. They are cartoon-like creatures and small in size.
A few meters away in a rocky gully, we came across Grey Nurse sharks slowly gliding back and forth. The overall scene was magnificent, with swishing seaweed and small fish darting about in the dappled light. Estelle was alive with excitement as we watch New Zealand Fur seals plunge into the ocean beside us.
An excellent morning out on the water. It makes us miss our expedition days and those freedom moments of taking off in our zodiac on adventures.
As the stingrays brush up and nose into your ankles, their skin feels soft and spongy and instantly repulsive. You want to leap out of the way, but as the morning progresses, this bizarre sensation draws you back for more. The Bull rays are monstrous, the largest of the stingrays. As they approach with undulating wings, levitating over the sand, their beauty is awe-inspiring but, in the same instance, instills fear as thoughts of Steve Erwin pop into mind.
It felt like an endless parade of rays with Cow nose rays swishing past Bull rays while Fiddler rays dart through the action, all in the hope of a remnant of fish thrown into the shallows by the fisherman from the cleaning bench at the end of Washer Woman Bay, Bendalong.