Narooma is Gorgeous





Narooma Surf Beach Cravan Park



The view from our site south



We drove into Narooma on a beautiful sunny day. Our first glimpses of the inlet and ocean were all turquoise and blue in sparkling sunshine. It is a truly gorgeous place.



We drove into the Surf Beach Caravan Park, and  found our site high on a hill, looking south over the main surf beach, and with the magnificent Narooma Golf Course, right beside us to the north. This is heaven. In fact, I have it on good authority, that God has a weekender here and regularly plays the course (off scratch of course!).

Since arrival, we have had a bit of a mixed bag in weather, with beautiful days mingled with a couple of cold, showery days, like today. One day we are kayaking the waterways or swimming in the surf, then bang flash thunderstorm, torrential downpour and 10 degrees cooler.

The inlet at Narooma

The cool days have given us time to explore the area, which has some terrific scenery. Wallaga Lakes and Bermagui are less than 30 minutes drive away, to the south, and Bodalla, famous for it's cheese, is only 15 minutes to the north. You can, and we did, sample the delights these places have to offer. The Bodalla Bakery does great bread, cakes and coffee. Yummeee! We have also taken some spectacular drives through the forests around here, mostly on good dirt roads, though with all the heavy rain, there have been some hairy moments, where 4wd has been a distinct advantage! That advantage turns into a big disadvantage when you get home, and find 5 tonnes of mud stuck to the car. Think I can charge the caravan park for top dressing now I've washed it off?

The area around Bermagui is very nice. It is a fisherman's paradise, with a lot of big game fishing taking place at this time of the year. The new "Fisherman's Wharf" area by the harbour is really nice, and was last weekend the scene of the annual blessing of the fleet, with much celebration. We were there the day before, so saw most of the preparations without the parking problems!



Guess who? and living the dream!

Tea Room in Tilba Tilba

There is also the quaint area of Central Tilba which has the twin towns of Tilba, and Tilba Tilba. Now that's a lot of Tilba! Seems that quite some time back, two brothers had a fight over religion, so one brother left town (Tilba), and moved 2 kilometeres up the road to build his own church and town (Tilba Tilba). Personally, I think it was just a ploy to get twice as much money out of the tourists, which seems to be succeeding. We spent a lovely few hours in Tilba Tilba, talking to Ken, the sticky, gooey, yummy,fudge man, and a lovely lady, who sold around 40 varieties of tea, of which we now have many to sample, and there was the broken down ex footballer from South Sydney, whose name I didn't know at all, who runs the cafe we chose for morning tea (a good choice it was too!). He told us of how he came to Tilba Tilba through Narooma, where he came to play football. He said he came to Tilba Tilba as part of the Narooma footy training. The coach brought the team out to nearby Mount Dromadary and had them carry a keg of beer to the top. It took 17 men 2 hours, where they promptly sat down and drank the contents, and all rolled down the hill home! They lost every game that year and had a new coach for the next season!!!


More of Tilba Tilba's Shops



The residence at "Foxglove Spires"

Based on his recommendation we headed down the road to Tilba, to see the very famous garden "Foxglove Spires", voted best private garden, some years back, on Burkes Backyard. It is also a nursery, cafe and gift shop, where we spent a very nice couple of hours. The gardens themselves had been let go a bit, but you could still see the magnificent layout and setting.



The entrance to Foxglove Spires garden



Some of the covered walkways and archways, must be sensational in full bloom. Apart from the garden, there wasn't a lot more in Tilba. We think the congregation went with Tilba Tilba, and stayed!

I should also mention the cheese shops in Tilba Tilba. We sampled some beautiful cheeses here. Better than at Bodalla, in our opinion, and especially at the Cheese Factory, very reasonably priced. Also really good jams, chutneys etc. The culinary life goes on and on and on.........

Back in Narooma, it was time for golf. Sorry all those non golfers, but I must indulge. The Narooma Golf Course is famous. It is regularly ranked as the best country course in Australia, and features in the top 100 of all courses in Australia, usually around 65 to 70. The famous hole is the 3rd, Hogan's Hole, of which it is said, that every golfer must play once in his/her life. A big tick on my wish list. The first 6 holes are perched high on the cliff and must be among the most beautiful in golf.

The 2nd at Narooma Golf Club



My Thursday booking was washed out, so Saturday was a must, and the weather did the right thing. The event was a 4 ball, and the club did the right thing by giving me a strapping young lad of 15, Jordan,  with a 4 handicap, as my partner. We started well and when I stood on that famous 3rd tee, I could see why it was so famous. Only 135 metres, but between tee and green is a sheer chasm full of ocean. My 8 iron hit the green and I two putted for a par, the only one in my group. Yes!!!!! I had a wonderful day. Watching young Jordan hit balls into the statosphere, was quite amazing. At the 308 metre par 4 8th, he hit his drive into the green side bunker, and at the par 5 11th, he cut the corner and hit his drive 320 metres!! Hit the green with a 7 iron and 2 putted for birdie! For all the non golfers just say wow!!! We finished the day with a respectable 42 points, and I was a very happy golfer.



"The Sherrif" Charter Boat on a good day



Fishing is the other great passion in this area, so John had hoped to indulge in fishing charter to Montague Island. I had chosen the charter boat "The Sherrif", but unfortuneatly the weather would not co-operate, so now I have run out of time here and will wait until later, and a bit further down the coast, to complete this indulgence.



Whilst the food scene here hasn't been spectacular, we have had some good meals at the O'Briens Pub, with an amazing view over the Inlet, and the Na Siam Thai Restaurant, which was as good a Thai feed as we've had anywhere. You also can't beat fish & chips on the deck at Taylor's on Forster's Bay, and thankfully Carol hasn't lost her touch. As I speak, on the coldest day we've had so far, the caravan is full of delicious smells, as Carol cooks her Goulash Soup. So it's time to go, as dinner awaits.