New South Wales

Non-essential travel was finally off the table in early June and we could now travel freely within our own state and New South Wales.

Click on the link below to access the map’s detail

Travel map detail

Our original plan was to go through the Flinders Ranges, Oodnadatta Track, the centre and the north but as those borders were closed I started looking at NSW. I started collecting pictures of seascapes along the coast. So instead of going outback as we normally would, it was time to explore the east coast. 

The trees have started to recover from the bushfires last Christmas

Bermagui

After staying with friends along the way, we now had to start camping which was a bit of a shock as it was so cold at night. And mozzies, what are they doing out in winter? It wasn’t long before we realised that we had left several important things at home such as awning extensions, the shower awning and the 16-35mm wide-angle lens. Lindsay seriously thought about going back but I wouldn’t let him; it was too far and we could improvise. We weren’t impressed at the campsite in the Bermagui state forest as it was uneven so we went back to the water tank near the entrance which puts chlorine in the surrounding towns water supplies and camped there. The maintenance man who came to check the chemicals in the mornings didn’t seem to care.

The three main places I wanted to photograph here were Camel Rock, Horsehead Rock and the Blue Pool – all of them were early morning shots.

An early 6 am start to get down to Camel Rock for sunrise. We had been down there the day before to check things out; it looks like a camel sitting down from the steps but it wasn’t the angle that I had seen beautiful pictures of. While I was setting up Lindsay went exploring, I know where they take the photo from he announced, but it meant climbing over rocks and I had wet sand on my shoes. After my slippery accident a few weeks beforehand I wasn’t very excited about climbing over rocks again. My bruise still hadn’t healed and my brain may never get over it. Lindsay took all my camera gear and I stuck mainly to all fours as I didn’t want to take any chances. The tide was coming in so we didn’t have a lot of time. It was the perfect composition and I took a few pictures. The sunrise was pretty non-existent because there were no clouds where I was pointing my camera, they were behind me.

Camel Rock before sunrise

Camel Rock when you walk around the corner

At first, we couldn’t work out how to get to Horsehead rock. The lady at the Big 4 caravan park said you had to walk around at low tide; that there was no other way. The lady at the information centre said there is a track along the cliff and that walking around the rocks was dangerous because of rogue waves. That afternoon we went in search along the cliff. There was only one clearing that you could get a photo and we could see another photographer on the beach so we kept walking to see if there was another way down. Lindsay found a very steep track down to the beach but decided it would be too much for me. Over on some other rocks, we could see four young guys, they then scrambled up to us like ninjas. Fit, 20yr olds that all work for the defence force; nothing that describes me.

Another 6 am rise to photograph the Blue Pool. Another dud sunrise, unfortunately. Great location for swimming in the warmer months I expect. There are two pools, one more rustic than the other. Two swimmers got in while we were there, I can’t understand how people can just sit in freezing cold water, they weren’t even swimming. Lindsay got the drone out and did a few aerial shots after checking whether they minded or not. 

Blue Pool

Blue Pool before sunrise

There are two pools

I did a bit more investigating about where one tree hill might be, between a discussion I had with the information centre lady the other day, the library staff and google – it turns out it’s in Cuttagee. One tree hill is not an official name and while it’s not as spectacular as the trees on sea stacks in Oregon, it’s the only one I’ve seen in Australia. It’s about a ten-minute drive south of Bermagui on the coast road not far from the Cuttagee single-lane bridge. I knew from research that to get a really good photo you needed to walk on rocks and low tide and that wasn’t going to happen. So we took a side road that went close and then walked through the bush. There is a clearing at the point that allows you to see the rock. I then took another shot from the beach and Lindsay got the drone out but he had the settings wrong and it wouldn’t go close enough as it said it was out of range. This drone is going to take a while to master. 

One Tree Hill

There are a couple of jetties on Wallaga Lake but it was debatable whether we could get to them. We started at the boat ramp and were able to walk quite a way but then someone has a sign that says private property, whether there is public access all the way around and they are just trying to deter people, who knows. We didn’t take the chance. We found one jetty which was accessible from the caravan park and the property next door and I could have got there but decided that it would be mostly in shade and it wasn’t that beautiful. The jetty I wanted was on private land, I found it but I could also understand the signs that said private jetty and keep off and I wasn’t prepared to push my luck.

We were hoping to catch up with friends who lived in Kiama and it turned out they were on their way to Bermagui, so we were able to catch up after all, just not where we thought!

Water Tower Art

Another early rise to photograph Horsehead Rock. Initially, Lindsay was adamant that I could get over the rocks but then changed his mind that morning. I wouldn’t have been happy climbing over rocks in the dark. The starting point is the Camel Rock carpark and you walk along the grassy tracks at first, then through the scrub. The clouds were quite heavy along the horizon and the sky gave a little pink but because of the angle that I was shooting, I wasn’t really getting the sky unless I shot it in portrait. Now we wanted the sun to rise above the clouds so that it lit up the rocks. There was so much cloud that it took nearly an hour and it was cold. Lindsay had the drone but had forgotten to recharge the drone’s battery or to even put a new one in since the afternoon before. He had charged the handset. So many things to remember. So he wasn’t going to take off until the light was optimal. By the time he took off I was packed up. He flew down to the rock, if we couldn’t be on the beach we could get the drone down there. At one stage it looked like he was very close but when you looked on the screen, he wasn’t. We met some other photographers in the carpark who had been photographing Camel and Horsehead, they had walked around and said that it was fine. Who knows, maybe we could have made it.

Horsehead Rock

Narooma

Our next campground was at Mystery Bay only twenty minutes away, wouldn’t it be nice if they were always that close?

We couldn’t find the glasshouse rocks yesterday and asked two locals who worked in the street named after them, but they had no idea. Fortunately, the lady at the visitors centre did. Back up to the cemetery where we were but you need to take the turn off before going to the carpark. At the end of this road are two cemetery plots with white post rail fences and beside the right one is a track that leads down to the beach. When the track forks to the left, go down this one, it takes you to the beach where the rocks are.

I love it when boring walls are decorated

There are a couple of walks around town and we walked from the visitor centre to the bridge, there is a boardwalk beyond here but Lindsay was getting antsy as it was lunchtime, so we had to turn around. On the way home, we visited Australia rock. This time I took some photos with my Canon and Lindsay got the drone out. You can see a few seals sunning themselves on the rocks further up the causeway. As they were mainly sleeping I didn’t think it was worth going back to get a longer lens. 

Australia Rock, Narooma

Back in camp, I read some of the tourist blurb to decide where to go next and what to do. I didn’t have any photographic spots until Kiama, but we decided we will stop off in Bateman’s Bay and Jervis Bay along the way. There are several different birds here: Laughing Kookaburras, Eastern Rosellas and Magpies. On our second night, we were visited by not one bushy-tailed possum but the whole family. We had to put the kitchen away as we found one sitting up on the bench and the next morning we could see dirty footprints all over the stainless steel.

It rained quite heavily during the night which usually happens when we decide to put poles up to secure the overnight awning that normally can stay up by itself. Lindsay volunteered to go out in the rain to secure the canvas around the camper as we had been lazy when we set up. It is absolutely freezing at night. We only bought a gas heater to use outside the day before we left and it got a lot of use.

Unusual rock formations on the beach at Glasshouse

An early morning start at 6:15 am to get to glasshouse rocks. The clouds were thick and Lindsay is saying you won’t get a good sunrise this morning. No we didn’t, but you always keep going because you just never know. It was low tide and even though I took both lenses I only used my 24-70, it actually would have been better using Lindsay’s 16-35mm. The day before we hadn’t walked up far enough to see the other rock hiding behind the big one. This place would be a geologist’s dream, with lots of rocks with stripes and swirls. Along the cliff is a row of conifers which make a lovely composition. There are two houses on the cliff what a magnificent view they must have.

Glasshouse Rocks

Batemans Bay

Our campground at North Head in Murramarang National Park was half an hour out of Batemans Bay. It is a free campground if you have a National Parks pass but because of Covid-19, they have to take bookings and charge you a booking fee. We supposedly got the last campsite, although a few of the sites were empty that night. It is a 4WD track down here but you could do it in a 2WD if you went slowly. You can walk to the beach or there is a walking track to a lookout which takes you around the point through a forest of cycads, it is just gorgeous. Lindsay said he was too tired to explore but when I came back from my walk he wasn’t at our campsite. I found him chatting to a group from Canberra, so I joined everyone for drinks and then we went back for another chat after dinner.

Cycads at North Head campground, Bateman’s Bay

That afternoon we got a text from a friend advising us that the Queensland border was about to be closed to Victorians at 12 pm on Friday. We had a permit to cross the border but it didn’t guarantee us entry. If we had crossed after this date we would have to quarantine in a hotel for two weeks at our own expense. After spending the last few months in quarantine at home, we had no wish to be confined to one room for two weeks. I was very disappointed that we were cutting short our NSW trip but Lindsay reasoned that if we could get into Queensland, then we had a better chance of getting into the Northern Territory when they opened their borders, or maybe even Western Australia.

We woke early and set off on the 1000+ km dash to the Queensland border. Even though it was only Wednesday, we wanted to arrive there on Thursday. We had friends who live in Port Macquarie that we didn’t think we would be able to catch up but then found that we could stop at their place and still get through the border at a reasonable hour on Thursday.

Normally state borders are invisible, but not in 2020 as we are about to find out.