Hello from Shell Cove,

I left Narooma around 8:30, after visiting the bakery and filling the tank, heading north. Between Narooma and Batemans Bay, if there was an alternate route closer to the coast, I took it.

At Batemans Bay, my plan was to take the “Western Distributor”, from the other side of Nelligen, to Milton. It’s a forestry road, further west than the road I took on the way down. It follows the ridge tops, rather than the Clyde Valley. When I arrived at the turn-off at about 10, there was a sign indicating that it was closed to through traffic, I expect as a result of bushfires. I had morning coffee there, while I planned an alternate route.

I elected to make my way to Marulan via a bunch of backroads. I headed towards Braidwood,  turning off the Kings Highway  about 10 km shy, travelling through Mongarlowe, Charleys Forest, Wog Wog, Corang, Oallen (where I had lunch around 12, on the Shoalhaven River), Windellema, and Bungonia, before joining the Hume Highway near Marulan (Mongarlowe and Bungonia are hamlets; the others are property names).  From there it was the standard trip home via the Hume and Illawarra Highways. I arrived home around 2:30

Here’s the route map on Google Maps.

Cheers,
Julian