Huskisson - Restorative Escape

 

A grey welcome to our weekend away. What a damp summer we're having.
Currambene Creek freshwater empties into the Jervis Marine Park at Huskisson.

Rant Warning – explains why we went. Skip to the first subtitle for info on the place.

M watched me fade this year – I don’t think I’ve ever come to the end of a teaching year in such an exhausted state. Teaching 1½ terms remotely was hard but so was coming back to class with the aim of  trying to achieve academic growth, redesign learning for more group work, as well-being gurus decided this is what the kids needed. All this whilst maintaining the required social distancing and mask wearing without irritation at the fifth reminder of ‘Nose out - Germs in’ to the same students every class. Providing ‘memory making’ events because camps had been missed and being ‘fun’, the push for ‘easier reports’ that required double the time and normal end of year events whose time lines were skewed and colliding - all took their toll. We made it because everyone on staff, parents and kids supported each other – it was a true team effort.

What frayed the thread for many teachers though was the NSW Minister for Education, Sarah Mitchell, accusing teachers of 'hanging students out to dry' by going out on strike on Dec 7.  This action was a desperate attempt after all other negotiations had failed as the union tried to make the govt. take notice of the terrible strain teachers are working under because of lack of funding for staff, infrastructure and resources in so many schools. Ms Mitchell is a career politician and has never worked in the field of her current portfolio. The strike was making the point that the care of students is founded on competent teachers who are well resourced in time and materials. The fact is that the demands required for a competent teacher and the salary have been out of balance for a long while, leading to fewer capable students choosing this career where intelligence, flexibility, creativity and tireless commitment are base requirements. Without quality staffing, the ideals of education will not be achieved and Australia's future is being hamstrung. First time I’ve ever yelled at the radio in my car.

Obviously I was unhinged and needed a rescue package. I am very lucky to have a husband who realised this and was able to arrange one! As soon as the compulsory First Aid course was over on the last day for staff in 2021, he whisked me off to the South Coast.

A hybrid lesson is where there are some kids at home and some in class and both need to be taught.

A Tiny Town in Jervis Bay

A very clever young man I once taught was named after this area of the world, I don’t blame his parents for wanting to have a daily reminder of this beautiful place.

We managed to secure last minute accommodation at the Huskisson Beach Resort. Sounds 5 star but a more accurate title would be Huskisson Huts. Sleeps 6 with a minimalist kitchenette (like a hotel room but with a microwave) and single bathroom. The double bed was in the living space and the 4 bunks in a separate room. It was clean and had good air-con and was one park crossing away from the beach. Late or early check in was a breeze with an excellent system at a motel closer to the township; code in – pay bond - keys out. Each hut was a different colour so even though the weather was dull and forecast to remain so, it felt cheerful.

Huskisson Beach Resort - a hut just a park away from the beach.

The best food in the town was the Huskisson Bakery and Cafe. After a quick walk around the bay to the main street we spotted a queue for coffee – always a good sign! So we lined up, checked in and our eyes almost fell out of our heads at the wealth of pastries and cakes on display. A customer told their friends that they did the best shakes on the coast. Luckily we had to wait a while to order – so hard to choose. The coffee was worth the queue and their impressive ‘give back to the community’ business plan made us decide to support them again the next morning.

Huskisson Bakery and Cafe - best food in town.

M's physio had been to Huskisson and told him that the best place to eat in town was The Stonegrill. A super hot volcanic stone is delivered to the table with your order on it sizzling away. He was fairly dubious as going out for tea and having to cook for yourself is not really the point but we went anyway because it reminded us of our youth in the 1980s. 

We met the brothers who own the place on our first morning walk and were lucky to secure a table at this popular eatery. One of the guys was the floor manager, a bigger than life character who made the experience quite entertaining. Grand kids served us and were so polite and efficient, it reminded me a little of the Italian osterias we ate at in Venice and Naples. They even offered a tiramisu on the dessert menu which was delicious.

When the cut of raw chicken turned up on the sizzling stone we suddenly realised that to avoid food poisoning it would have to be sliced and cooked into bite sized portions. M did a great job! Later we thought that the utensils going between raw and cooked meat would probably have earned a fail in any food tech class! I ordered a kitchen cooked barramundi with a butter and caper sauce - very nice.

Even though the beaches and the glittering ionized air were our primary goals – Christmas was so close and only the international pressies had been bought, wrapped and dispatched. Luckily there were lots of interesting little stores along the main street, not just the typical hippie beach town spots. The picture theatre at the end was covered in Christmas lights and opposite the sports grounds was an antiques and collectibles store called the Trading Post.

Plenty of tours and water sport companies to hire experiences from in the main street.
If you didn't find the perfect shell memento on the beaches pop into the Trading Post for a selection.

Closest Beach to the hut we stayed in, the sea reflects the sky, grey day - grey sea. Dogs allowed off leash until 8am at this patch of the bay. My early morning walks had lots of friendly fur people keep me company. I met an interesting woman who was employed at the NSW teacher's union - the only school conversation had for the whole three days though.

I'm always amazed at the 'tiling' on south coast rock platforms.  An arm of this jutted out where Moona Moona Creek empties into the bay was covered with adolescent seabirds being taught how to catch their breakfast. The chatting between parent and chick was fascinating.

A pair of Pied Oyster catchers had a huge variety of sounds, they kept in constant vocal contact even when their beaks were down in the sand or in a rock pool to catch food. 

This image is from NSW National Parks and Wildlife services who say that these birds are listed as endangered. They moved too fast in their hunt for me to get a decent shot in the low predawn light.

Walking back from our morning coffee we strayed off the path that runs past the camping ground with their glamping tents for hire and a beach side street where old houses are being knocked over and very expensive apartment towers (4 levels) are rising up. 

The Jervis Bay Marine Park has a memorial at Huskisson for a terrible naval accident that happened off the coast in 1964 (Nana remembers it!). In a night training exercise an aircraft carrier, HMAS Melbourne sliced the destroyer HMAS Voyager in two. It sank in two minutes! Remarkably 232 sailors were saved, 82 on the ship lost their lives. I was so impressed that although this accident was completely caused by human error, the navy has still acknowledged it and has this big site. The granite memorial has other sailors names who called the bay home, from other battles etched into it as well.

The water was cold – summer hadn’t really arrived yet so we drove to a host of beautiful beaches instead of just splashing about at the beach we listened to through the night. The wind provided a free exfoliate on all exposed skin as we sat and read but it also chased the clouds away and gave us more sun that rain. Can wind burn blister?

Hymans Beach is long and has the reputation for having the whitest sand in the country. Lots of holiday homes in the little village and a decent looking cafe. We drove past many lovely little beaches on the way here. 

In the bush at the other end of Hymans Beach were a pair of King Parrots, their desire for the green berries they'd found was greater than their fear of us standing by and watching. This ancient banskia tree seemed to be emitting a honey scent. An English couple stopped to chat as I was trying to work out the source of the smell. The guy was excited to discover where hedgehogs came from, what a joker. I don't think there are any hedgehogs in Aus, just the native echidna. I stopped myself sharing May Gibb's story of the Banksia men. M was halfway back to the car.

Chinamans beach, one up from Hymans - smaller but just as white. The brave who stepped into the surf didn't stay long. Bowen Island top left in the National Park. 

A Cool Cabana set up at Murrays Beach in the National Park.

An easy walk through the bush from Murrays Beach took us to Governors head. Bowen Island is a sanctuary for little penguins, it is illegal to have a boat within 30m of it. The huge waves in this bottle neck is a greater protection for them. The pounding was so loud and violent - many big rocks just under the surface of the sea caused massive plumes to spray into the air.

 

Thanks Google for the map.

There are so many great walks in the Booderee National Park, you need a pass to enter which can be bought online or at the manned hut on the border - $13, valid for 3 days. The gates close at sunset. Interestingly the actual village of Jervis Bay is in this park and is a Navy base with really nothing at all for a visitor to see except signs barring entry.

Looking up the coast from Cape St George Lighthouse towards Governor Head. M was keen to put the Audi's 4-wheel drive capabilities to work so we drove into this historical site on Stony Creek Rd, turn off Wreck Bay Road which is opposite the Jervis Bay Village turnoff.

This lighthouse is a string of disasters. The original site, chosen by seamen and geologists was ignored by the guy who built it. He chose the site for ease of access and construction. The lighthouse then became a beacon for destruction, Wreck bay became obsolete at the ships smashed into the coast. Even after they stopped shining the light the sandstone tower had to be knocked down because it shone so bright in the moonlight that it still attracted captains to the wrong place. This place also has a strange and awful history of child deaths from sickness, shotgun accidents and cliff falls. One lighthouse family had several children die in their time serving here. ghost tales just waiting to be written!

Left: Looking south from the lighthouse.     Right: Audi proudly parked along side other adventurers.

Coastal flora. Biggest Kangaroo paw plant I've ever seen in the garden at the Hut. The walk to Murray Beach had bush full of these red fruiting trees - after searching on line I think they are Diploglottis campbellii, a bush tucker known by the colloquial name - small leaf tamarind.

 

After a couple of nights we had to be away home so Willow could go back home instead of dog sitting and to get ready for the long list of Christmas festivities. We went via Berry and Kangaroo Valley for shopping and feasting. The road between these two places is gorgeous and a real hairpin adventure over Berry Mountain. (I think hill would have done when names were being chosen!) After all the rain the Fitzroy falls were full and overflowing!

The Audi was having too much fun to stop for pics, this is Rodney Campbell's photo.  

Thank you M from the bottom of my heart – a weekend getaway to the coast is a splendid restorative escape.

Places to look for accommodation on other than the big commercial sites.

https://holidayscollection.com.au/ I would try this company first next time.

$$ https://jervisbaybreaks.com

$$$ https://www.jbbeachhouses.com.au/

A spot for camping? https://www.visitnsw.com/destinations/south-coast/jervis-bay-and-shoalhaven/jervis-bay/accommodation

I'm sure the owners of this black house at Chinamans Bay are Kiwis. The pohutukawa out the front was huge.

Reading Then:

I snuck into Big W to pick up a book off M's Christmas list before the First Aid Course so he would have something to read.

John Grishom's The Judges List. A very straight forward plot, no thrills like his early work. Set in Florida and surrounds - good characters. (Of course I read all his books too.)

I finished Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens which has been on my TBR pile for a while. Set in the same area but the marshes of south east US. First novel of a biologist so descriptions of the flora and fauna were great. The main character was nicely complicated with a mindset that humans are only animals after all. A story about a neglected girl's mental, emotional, spiritual and physical survival from the time her mother walked out, part love story, part murder mystery.