***This is not a sponsored post***

***Eurobodalla Coast Tourism invited me for an expenses paid weekend***

***All opinions are my own***

 

Nothing sets the tone for a romantic weekend quite like arriving at your destination after a five hour drive south ton nature’s playground – Eurobodalla – and realising that your bag containing your clothes, Ugg boots and the whiskey is sitting at home on your bed.

Believe or not, although someone else packed the car, I just laughed.

 

We arrived at our water front cabin at the Narooma Easts Big 4 in the dark, so we had no idea until the morning that we were nestled on the edge of the estuary, with sea birds pecking away at low tide.

We arrived starving and dying for a beverage or five. When Steve, the helpful manager heard our plight he suggested we drop our stuff quickly to the cabin and he gave us a ride up the hill to the Narooma Pub before the bistro kitchen closed for the evening. That’s what I call service.

Sitting by the fire we ate a solid pub meal, and I grabbed a toothbrush from the servo to get me by.

An early morning trip with Narooma Charters took us over to Montague Island Nature Reserve, or Baranguba as it’s traditionally known.

According to the Dreamtime story Baranguba was the eldest son of Galuga, or Mount Dromedary, which overlooks the region. He got separated from his mum when he went exploring…damned kids.

The men of the Yuin people traveled to Baranguba and used it as a bit of a secret men’s place for 6000 years and barely left a footprint. The Eurpoeans came along and decided to be all civilised with lighthouses and rabbits and stuff and practically wiped it out in 150 years.

These days it’s a most sensational historical site, where you can really feel the history in the air.

The lighthouse and the keepers residence are fascinating (and supposedly haunted), and Francois, the national parks guy who lives on the island during his shifts was incredibly knowledgable but also very entertaining.

The Australian and New Zealand fur seals line the rocks like centurions guarding the island. The Australian fur seals all cuddle up together, and the NZ fur seals don’t schnuggle. No Kiwi jokes required.

 

Although Norm, our trusty captain, did not guarantee us whale watching for it is the wrong time of year, we saw a whale! My first ever.

It was both awesome, and anticlimactic. It was there for but a moment, a humpback breaking the water and then disappearing leaving us hankering for more.

Once we hit land we decided to head inland to try and find River Cottage Australia. We couldn’t find it for the life of us, but we stumbled upon a little historic town called Tilba.

Picturesque and quaint with a single street of lovely stores from another era, and a pub that surprised the hell out me. In the middle of nowhere, the Dromedary Hotel was a welcome sight.

Quirky and kooky with clientele ranging from bikies, to hippies and hipsters, they had a wood burning stove out the back and a live band at 2 in the afternoon. The Dromedary is a music institution in this part of the world with many East Coast tours dropping by for a gig.

 

I started chatting to a local and 2 degrees of separation ensured we had some friends in common, and he gave us a little local knowledge of somewhere to explore in the afternoon.

We didn’t quite find it (nope, it wasn’t due to beers) but what we did find was a stunning walk overlooking pristine and deserted beaches. It was seriously, seriously stunning. We were looking over Secret Bay and Mystery Bay, and the afternoon put on a cracking light for us.

We found a stunning restaurant to dine in at The Whale.

Run by pro surfer turned chef, Matthew Hoar, we were pleasantly surprised. The menu was impressive and the food was great. Oxtail and pork belly with a cracking bottle of wine was the perfect way to end a day of exploring.

The next day was a slow drive home stopping by the Bodalla Dairy Shed and a few stunning spots on the way.

We discovered a truly beautiful part of the world, and we did’t need to go that far to find it. Next time I want more time, more adventure, my bag of clothes and the whiskey.

 

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