Day 105 – Proper Occa

With the bulk of the miles of the outward journey done we had time to explore today. Taking a recommendation from the hostel owner we backtracked slightly to our first stop, Pebbly Beach in Murramarang National Park. In the morning you’re supposedly likely to see kangaroos on the beach and parakeets leaving the trees. For $7 parking fee we thought we’d check it out first. We saw nothing but a nice beach and two Americans driving their car into a post.

After eating breakfast in the car park, the remnants of a fruit cake, we headed back into town for a game of Mini golf. The course was one of the best ones we’ve played on so far, with lots of ramps and fibreglass obstacles. I narrowly beat Tom to bring the global mini golf score to 4-2 to Tom, although I have won on more continents (he got lucky in New Zealand ).

Heading back out on Princes Highway, route 1, it wasn’t long before we stopped again, this time at Mogo Zoo. We got a discounted entry, with out YHA cards, to one of the most varies zoo’s I’ve been too. To start with we toured the big cat enclosures which contained every thing from Lions to Snow Leopards. We were saddened by the sight of a few of them pacing back and forth but they looked in good health. Next to the Lions were a number or Red Panda enclosures. They can best be described as very cute red teddy bears. Not far from them we spent a while watching a family of Meer Kats. Away from the main buildings were some large enclosures in which we saw Zebra, Giraffe, Emu’s, White Lions, Onyx, Kangaroos, Wild dogs and Tapir. Seeing them in their large enclosures I felt quite sad for the large cats in their small cages. Back in main buildings we saw a couple of huge Burmese Pythons and the worlds smallest monkeys, tiny Tamrins.

Continuing North we reached our stopover town of Narooma. One of the main reasons for heading out in this trip was to get here and see a rock formation at Wagonga Head. After getting directions from the information centre we made our way round the harbour to a rock formation where the sea has carved a hole in the shape of Australia. Its a pretty good likeness and makes for a good photo.

With time on our side we headed further south to a place called Mystery Bay. This pretty much marks the end of where the main road follows the coast. The beach that we found was golden and the silicate sand squeaked as we walked along it. Out at sea we could make out the lighthouse on Montague Island; we’d seen some of the old lamp gear back in the information centre. At the end of the beach a small spit of land, where the waves washed in from opposing sides, marked Cape Dromedary.

With enough exploring done and it being past the danger hours for the sun we headed back into town to find a beach. The best was the surf beach, which we had virtually to ourselves. Unfortunately the water was too rough to swim so I went for a run instead. The sand was soft and my feet dug deep. I ran to the end and back a few times, each retracing my steps, making the sand remember my path after the waves had washed away my prints.

As the light started to change and the temperature cool we got some food in and headed for the hostel. The owner was, as Matt would say, proper Occa (a reference to slower speaking rural accent) but down to earth and very friendly. On the face of it the  hostel looked like a bit or a  run down old motel, in fact it was one of the nicest we’d stayed in. recently refurbished the kitchen and its wares were brand new, the room had en suite and best of all we were given a towel. Let me explain the significance of this; for months now I’ve been using a small chamois like travel towel so getting a big soft towel was like heaven.

Our roommates for the evening we three lads from Liverpool who’d been stuck there for some time waiting for the Rego to come through on a car they’d bought. After sitting and chatting with them and the owner by the BBQ we got invited to go to the local pub. When I say the pub I mean the pub where all the locals go. Called the The Million Dollar View, for the view by day is stunning, we drank with what seemed like the whole town. It was a great night out that ended with cards back at the hostel in the early hours.