Mollymook - a south coast gem

If the south coast beaches were a  necklace, the Shoalhaven and Clyde river mouths would be the clasps and Mollymook would be the diamond pendant.

Southern end of Mollymook beach - January 2021 -a hoard of hopeful surfers gather in the middle. No wonder sharks get confused and think they are seals - maybe wet suits should be made fluorescent yellow or blues as camouflage.

A week on the South Coast of N.S.W. is just what any well-being coach would prescribe. Especially when our October booking choices lucked the first clear weather week since Christmas! 

The drive down was easy breezy with a stop at a town with more home ware and doorknob shops than perhaps any other I've ever seen in my life. Berry is the place to go if you want a special something for your interiors. The doughnut van is legendary and there are many great places to eat on the way to the Treat Factory at the other end of town.

Lunch stop at Berry. Top left - M across the road from a famous doughnut van - safest place to be!
Bottom Left - founder of the tree lopping, dairy farm building colonialist settlement, Alexander Berry.
Right one of the many, many, many home ware stores in this official Historic Town.

 Driving into the Jervis Bay area we started to see the black trunks covered with fern like regrowth of the eucalyptus devastated by last year's fire storms. One valley after the Sussex Inlet is still grey and black. An engineer testing the remains of a burnt out home near B's family property said that the bricks had survived a 700 degree C roasting. How did any of the flora or fauna in the area survive? So many volunteers kept the flames at bay where they could. His Pop's place was surrounded by fire but his buildings survived. The clean up has only a few dangerous black, dead limbs on trees down in the paddocks left to go. Fabulous valley views, all green and sparkling with the summer rain. We had a wonderful evening, relaxing on their cool terrace with perfect weather and no insects, except the loudest cicadas ever heard, for a family BBQ and frisbee chasing Tilly, B's border collie.

Right - Recovery from the fire storms a year ago. 
Left - images from a film thanking volunteers for saving the town of Sussex Inlet and all the people who had evacuated there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncyye7sogPk 

Milton is another lovely wee town full of fashion and food. Check out Pilgrim's (A vegetarian cafe), Woodstock Chocolates - YUM and Coast, serving perfect Eggs Benedict. 

Behind the library is a collection of work from local artists, I loved Ann Rayment's pieces. (Go to https://bluethumb.com.au/ann-rayment to see and buy her work.) The road down between the IGA and the chocolate shop takes you to one of the most serene rooms on the South Coast. After getting caught on the beach for too long, do your skin a favour and book a facial in at the Beauty Indulgence Day Spa. They have a room with two treatment tables so take a buddy with you - bliss.

Even Petal got up for brekky when B picked it up from his sister's holiday job cafe - Flour, Water, Salt - and bought white peaches fresh off the tree at the orchard stall on Princes Highway. 

Top Left - An Ann Rayment for sale in the gallery behind Milton's Library.
Bottom Right - Beauty Indulgence Day Spa (PH. 4455 1192)

Rick Stein has his Bannisters restaurant in North Mollymook. His Weekends Abroad TV series (BBC) is keeping my desperation for European travel on a leash at the moment. If the purse doesn't stretch to his place, just below it is the Pool bar, it has really good pizza (Pat says 7/10, praise from a lad whose Dad built them a pizza oven in their backyard.) and party rooms that made sharing all the orders with B's Dad and family - delicious. The honey baked brie with bread made at the bar is just what you need after wallowing about in the sea all day. One of the home ware stores in Milton had copies of all of Rick Stein's recipe books for sale and was selling a Finnish game, similar to the French boules which kept the 'young ones' on their toes in the evenings.

Finska with M & B although Willow was the champion. Bought from 'Home at Last'on Wason St, Milton.

   R. Stein's Bannisters at Mollymook. This is the Roast Pumpkin and Feta pizza but my fav, the Capricciosa, introduced me to the delights of smoked mozzarella! Willow said that one time when they had been there in the evening, a guest from the attached hotel was doing laps in the infinity pool. Very relaxed!

Jay walking is a life threatening pastime in these towns on the Princes Highway, so we made sure we headed to the pedestrian crossings to make it across safely. The strangest little antiquities and odds and ends store around (Nikki B's) and the surf shops line the eastern side of the street of Milton. The community is to vote this Valentine's Day if and where the by-pass will be built to keep the southern through traffic away from the local roads. 

Ulladulla harbour (Go on say it fast lots of times!) - the clouds swished from inland to the Tasman with barely a sprinkle. 

Our destination, a holiday rental in Mollymook, had a couple of turn offs along the 15min drive between Milton and Ulladulla, this is where we had to go to pick up the keys from the real estate agent. It is a more industrial looking town, spread out and not as cutesy as Milton or Berry. It is home to a great second hand books store run by the Lions so you never need to worry about running out of books for those lazy beach days. The harbour is full of fishing boats and I have it from a local authority, that in high seas, teens have been known to even get a surf in there. At the southern end of the Ulladulla strip is Hayden's Pies with a most impressive menu,  fabulous sounding and tasting pastry with delicious fillings. Another take out to look for is the Schnitzel House and Oyster bar, huge choice of schnitzels and burgers - including vege, and the best chips and coleslaw. (Our takeout order above was way to much food - share one serve between two - unless you want a Caesar salad the next day of course.) The Berry farm, which we had planned to go picking at, was still closed due to fire damage but they were getting plenty of local support at their ice cream van. Cones piled high with good south coast dairy with whipped berries mixed through from the surviving bushes.

M took his drone and was rather nervous of flying it over the ocean! One morning was still enough for him to risk a fly over.

Collers beach, just a stair way down the bank, got full dawn sun -  so perfect for those morning swims.

The cliffs and bays are fringed by glorious golden sand beaches, clear waters and fascinating creatures in the air, pools and rocky ledges. The water was warm enough for bracing 9am daily swims to burn off the excesses of an array of great eateries and perfect for splashing about late mornings. Mollymook beach is long and swimmers are protected by lifeguards and flags at the south end and the north. A surf school runs up the northern end and in the middle is a reef where more experienced surfers can get some good breaks when the conditions are right. 

Morning, Noon and Night - Mucking about on the coast.  Plenty of Aloe Vera after sun spray in the afternoons.

Endlessly interesting shapes and life forms found when clambering around rock shelves.

Before it is sand - in a tiny corner of a tiny bay - far from the usual tracks.
Eventually will these shells and stones wash down to be the golden sand of the bays either side?

B showed us a couple of local spots where the swimming was good. Burrill Lake empties into the sea via a narrow channel. This forms a very quickly flowing stream that was more fun than the tube ride rivers at The Palm in Dubai or QE II pool in Christchurch. No having to drag out and carry your floaty ring - just sail down floating on your back or front, side stroke fast as you come around to miss the eddies by the rocks and out onto the sand bank to run back across to do it again. Doing things like that knocks a few years off you.

Lake to sea - Warm, fabulous water fun but without fun park rules and limitations.

Plenty of warnings. The only recorded drownings are out on the beach in sea rips - not in the flow from lake to sea, all international tourists. Heartbreaking. Talk to lifeguards on the big beaches about reading the sea for dangers.

The next afternoon B suggested politely that we all go in his 4WD Subaru to a beach on the edge of a National Park. M was pretty glad that his low hung saloon stayed in the driveway because the access road looked like a goat track off the Princes Highway, if those goats were elephants. The ruts in some places were so deep that other drivers had given up and left their cars on the side and had walked to the car park. One four wheel drive was 'testing his suspension' - seriously that was the observation made, by deliberately driving up a steep sand/bush bank across two 1/2 m deep ruts. What a joy though when we broke out onto the beach. Around 3kms of golden sand, clear sea with sandy bottom and no seaweed! Rock pools to the side for creature spotting and big swells past the breakers for the best float in the world. Plenty of little breaks up and down for hands on mums and dads teaching their kids to surf but no crowds. We could have done with a Coolcabana (https://coolcabanas.com.au/ - must have beach accessory 2021) to rest in shade before spending another couple of hours out. 

Wairo Beach via Potholes rd (seriously - the best reason for a council to never send the grader down).
This is just past Dolphin Point and as I floated out in the swell I was hoping to sea a few friendly fins. I saw them most mornings out from Coller bay, paying no attention to the jet skis getting in for a closer look, too far out to swim though. 

Holiday Blues - wonderful water and big skies. Far superior to the psychological ones when you're back at work.

North end of Mollymook beach. Top right - Australian Design winner - Coolcabanna - made a big splash on the beaches - they were out of stock so we had to rely on our big brimmed hats. B waited patiently for waves but they were very small this day. 

Surfing is a serious business down the coast! At the crack of dawn carloads of youths would circle past our place jumping out and excitedly sharing all the rumours and science of where to go for the best waves. They never bothered to get out their boards though because each morning the sea was flat and calm. Dolphins frolicked with the jet skis, fishermen pulled shiny red flappers out by the rocks and shags dove for their breakfast then dried themselves on a particular tree in front of us. Sometimes there were six of various types fanning their wings with their backs to the rising sun. I named it the shagging branch and was immediately told off by the daughters - hmmm.

Just before the surfers came by each morning, a rabbit hopped up onto the lawn and ate up all the dropped pink flowers from a butterfly bush in the front garden. It never ate them straight off the bush. A pond sported frogs and tadpoles and a waterlily opened every morning. A pair of black birds would peer in the open french doors hoping for a crust or two and a very cheeky Magpie-lark would squawk at us then Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle a little under its breath before squawking again. One afternoon I sat reading outside, enjoying the breeze slipping up the bank to cool my sunburnt knees, when it hopped up onto the table, nestled itself down on the glass about 10cm away and turned its cocky little head as if it too was disgusted with the Lee Child novel I had open. Neither of us could believe that he had his victims - a potato farmer too stupid to make sure his car was in condition to make their Canada to New York drive without breaking down at a highly suspicious motel (Rocky Horror anyone?) and his female companion - kill off several heavily armed  ... whoops spoiler.  

Rosella image from Australian Geographic

Sadly, as we were locking up on our last morning, a glorious Crimson Rosella flew straight into the floor to ceiling french doors. It sat stunned for quite some time as we all froze still trying not to stress it anymore. Eventually it fell over - dead. Willow would not let me pull out its tail feathers to keep for Granny, Petal even said taking a photo was bad form (this one is from the Australian Geographic website). B lifted it gently in Costco handy towels and placed it in the bush close by as an offering to the circle of life. I wasn't allowed to sing that as a funeral offering either. When did the younger generation get so serious?

Every morning the galahs, lorikeets, minors and magpie larks hunted through the treetops and hopped around on the front lawn after I threw out the left over toast or croissants from breakfast.

The sun rises on our last morning.

Beautiful Breakfast at Coast before B heads off to fix his Pop's tractor, Willow goes to relieve Persephone's carer's, Petal drives back to Sydney to rescue K and Corn from Charlie's demands and M and I meander back the long way. Willow said that this cafe reminded her of New Zealand, an old colonial house converted to rooms full of tables for eating.

And so we had to leave this beautiful place but because it is only 3 hours from home we decided to dawdle, to put off that which must be done, to unpack and prepare for work again this week. Willow stayed another couple of days with B's family who had been cat sitting Percy - daily visits of course. Petal leapt into the Skoda - tore up through the scenic route to avoid tolls and picked up Chaz from K and Corn before we were even half way home. B had said the B73 through Kangaroo Valley was worth the twists and turns. He was right.

Great shopping and eating at Kangaroo Valley. Quite a few cutsy B&Bs that could do with Sydneysiders booking in for a lazy weekend. Lots of scenic bush walks to do, the pub has a movie sized screen outdoors and Nostalgia , a store of secondhand and new delights has a well stocked 2nd hand bookstore down the back.

As a staff member for Fitzroy House, I figured we had to stop in at the falls named after this N.S.W. governor. A ranger told me that his brother was the Captain of the Beagle - the ship that took Darwin to the Galapagos, good to learn something new.   

The Hampden bridge is a one way crossing of the Kangaroo river.
It was opened in 1898 and named after Governor Hampden (from 1885-1899) 

Temps just right for an open roof - the valley was green and most of the traffic was heading in the opposite direction.

Not drone footage - Phone footage. I wonder how much water there is normally in January - is there a normal to our weather patterns anymore?

Read no young adult fiction this week; none for school - all for me!

Factory 19 by Dennis Glover (Not the NZ poet of the same name who wrote 'The Magpies' whence the Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle is quoted from.) Interesting premise that life was best in the 1940s with an insanely rich guy who wants to recreate it. 

The Last Days of the Romanov Dancers by Kerri Turner - well researched, not bad characterisation. Settings well described.

Eleanor Oliphant is completely Fine by Gail Honeyman - Brilliant. Into the heart of a real character as she pulls herself out of a past blocked from her every day existence. Hope! So well written. A debut novel.

Past Tense by Lee Child - Don't mind Jack Reacher in the films but will not waste another 3hours reading anymore.

Agent Running in the Feild by John LeCarre. He died Dec 2020 so Santa gave his last novel to M. Well written but not as complex or gripping as his earlier works.

Simon the Coldheart by Georgette Heyer - It was on the  shelf in the holiday house. She never wanted it re printed - her first novel - set in the 1400s - Knight rescues damsel from toad like  ... you get the drift. Apparently her husband's favourite so the daughter had it reprinted after her death. Love Georgette Heyer and will forgive the young authoress all. In a brilliant second hand bookstore in Kangaroo Valley village I found another early historical one - The Conqueror.

M added a Wilbur Smith and Alastair McLean from the house bookshelf to the thrillers I read after him. Funny that he didn't want to read my ones.

Petal is in a Heyer run.

Willow read Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart because it won the Man Booker last year. Not a light hearted read for a beach holiday though.