Hi from Narooma,

After an early rise, ablutions, breakfast, and a leisurely packing of the car, I departed at 7:10. I was thankful to be in the air-conditioned comfort of the car, as I was dripping sweat due to the humidity (the greenie in me was reluctant to turn on the house air-conditioner at that time of the morning).

By 8:45 I had reached Milton, where I stopped at a bakery to obtain the usual provisions. That’s also where I left the Princes Highway, heading south along a minor road, ’til I reached the turnoff to the Clyde Ridge Road, forsaking the tarmac for dirt. My route was basically west, until reaching the upper part of the Clyde River, where I stopped for morning coffee at 9:20. Whilst there, I was serenaded by a couple of Kookaburras. That’s one of my favourite sounds; it always brings a smile to my face.

I was away again by 9:40, heading south, roughly following the Clyde River. By 10:20 I was at Shallow Crossing, the river having become much wider.  It’s close to where it becomes estuarine.

Just after Shallow Crossing I made a slight deviation from following the Clyde River, heading west, uphill, to check out the view from the Mogood lookout.

I took some photos to the north as well; they were rather hazy, due to bush fires in the Budawangs, but one could see the silhouette of the Pigeon House and the Castle.

After going back downhill by a slightly different route, the road (now aptly named the River Road) followed the ever widening river, sometimes very closely, until reaching the King’s Highway at Nelligen, where I headed east to rejoin the Princes Highway at Bateman’s Bay.

I had lunch at the Bodalla Park Rest Area, a few kilometers shy of Narooma, at 12:30. It’s a very nice spot, nestled in the shade of tall Spotted Gums; I’ve stopped there a number of times on previous trips.

I arrived at the motel in Narooma just on 1:00, somewhat earlier than I had anticipated.

After settling in, I visited the National Parks & Wildlife Office, to get more information on the Wadbilliga and Deua National Parks, and to ascertain if there were any road closures due to fires (thankfully there isn’t). The temperature was now 35 C, and the plans I had to take some walks around town evaporated. I decided to veg out in my air-conditioned room and plan tomorrow’s activities.

Thankfully it started to cool down around 5:30, as a thunderstorm began to brew. There was a lot of rumbling and flashing in the distance, but nothing happened locally until about 7:30, when it started to rain, albeit rather lightly. By then I’d just finished my room service dinner, so I sat on the balcony, listening to the peaceful patter of rain, the sounds of the surf and the songs of bellbirds in the distance, while sniffing the petrichor.

The Google Map below shows the route I took, and marks the locations from which the photographs were taken.

Cheers,
Julian