Jimmy's Beach, Hawks Nest

We've now headed west to another beautiful seaside location called Jimmy's Beach, Hawks Nest which is a suburb 220 km (137 miles) from Sydney. This delightful little location is bordered by the Tasman Sea on the east, the Myall River to the west and Port Stephens to the south.

Looking out to Broughton Island - Myall Lakes National Park

Being in such close proximity to Australia's largest city Sydney, Hawks Nest is a popular weekend getaway and holiday location for Sydneysiders.

Naturally with all this water surrounding us we just had to have a fish. Even though we did catch fish there were none suitable for the table.

Quite a pretty location to have a fish

Unfortunately I caught a stingray - but all was good. He was released safe and sound

Seeing this is an oyster growing area I just had to give them a try.
Oh they were so  nice. 

Urunga, New South Wales

After enjoying our stay here last year we just had to come and stay in Urunga again. Last year it was only 3 nights but this time we have extended our stay to 6 nights. With a population of just over 3000, Urunga is another seaside town that's population increases during the holiday season and on weekends.  Urunga's attraction all have to do with water especially surfing and fishing. We have been out fishing a few times but have had no luck. Luckily there's a couple of places I can get my seafood fix. 

He's pretty happy when his day involves having a fish with a beer in hand

These local oysters are definitely up there with best I've ever had

The Urunga boardwalk is a spectacular one kilometre walk over the tidal Urunga Lagoon then out to the beach. 

I really did try to get out early enough to get some shots of the sunrise, but I was a bit late.
But I'm pretty happy with this one. 

This little guy was making a bit of a racket........

......then I noticed his mate he was talking to. 

This lone fisherman was lucky enough to find a nice quiet spot out of the wind. 

The sight looking back at Urunga from the end of the boardwalk is quite spectacular

Wooli

Firstly I must just say how saddened I am by the events that have happened in Paris these past few days. How one human can be so cruel to another human is beyond my comprehension. Is there anything that me as one small dot in this huge world can do? Is there anything we as a country can do? Is going in and bombing them the answer? I don't know, all I know it is all wrong. My heart goes out to all in Paris, all in France and all my fellow humans who's lives will never be as innocent as we once were.

We didn't travel very far to get to our new location, I think we drove about an hour and a half!! I had never heard of Wooli, but another camper recommended we come and stay here and I am once again glad I took another travellers advice. Wooli is a tiny seaside village situated between the Wooli Wooli River and the ocean. Back on December 24th, 1861 when this area was declared a camping reserve it was called Wooli Wooli which means "two water". As the area grew in popularity houses, a public school, a hall and some small businesses were built. 

We were treated with a nice sunset on our first night in Wooli

The pristine Wooli Wooli river are acclaimed to be the most unpolluted river in Australia and its waters are  a haven for wildlife and the very yummy Wooli Oysters. The first oyster leases were established back in 1885 at a cost of 1 pound per year. These oysters are renowned as some of the best in Australia. I have eaten quite a few oysters (natural) in my time and must say after buying a dozen yesterday they are extremely tasty. 

The entrance to Wooli Wooli River was a bit choppy as the tide was going out!!

Off shore is the Solitary Islands Marine Park. The Solitary Islands Marine Park consists of five main island groups and other significant rocky outcrops and submerged reefs. According to information brochures there are over 280 different species of fish, four varieties of turtles and 90 different types of coral. During the colder months it is also a safe haven for the migrating Humpback and Southern Right Whales. It would certainly be a special place for any divers to visit although from what the locals say it is sometimes home to some large White Pointer Sharks!!! 

Windy, Windy Windy !!!

From what I can tell most travellers call into this village to do some fishing. We gave it a try yesterday and there were fish out there because something was doing a lot of nibbling on my line but alas I never caught anything. We were going to head out again this morning but the wind has picked up and it is a very strong 45km, so might wait to see what it's like this evening. 

Arno Bay

We arrived in the seaside village of Arno Bay yesterday and after setting Myrtle up, had another lazy afternoon. In 1863 this tiny village was originally called "Salt Creek Cove", then in 1882 the name was changed to "Bligh" after Capt. William Bligh. Then once again in 1940 the town had another name change to "Arno Bay". Back in the 1800's the town was a port that serviced local farming districts, importing super phosphate fertilisers and exporting locally grown cereal crops. Now it's main position is as a tourist fishing town. Hopefully it lives up to it's reputation and we have some luck in the fishing department. But not today as it's once again pretty windy. I think I have been caught by the fishing bug, I love grabbing my rod, setting it up (which I have just learned) and heading off to do a bit of angling.

This was a first - harvested, shucked and eaten with an hour!! Oh they tasted so nice :)

The Arno Bay Caravan Park is situated right on the foreshore overlooking the wharf. Last night it was so nice listening to the waves as they came crashing onto the shore. That's when it wasn't being interrupted by the guy in the van next to us snoring!! Boy he sure was loud!!

The view from Myrtle

This is a really lovely, clean caravan park. As you drive in there is a huge and beautiful rose garden with a sign "Belinda's Rose Garden" and park guests are invited to pick some roses to take into their vans. I couldn't resist these beautiful yellow roses. I'm not a huge rose fan but my late Mum and Dad had some beautiful roses and my Dad just loved yellow roses. The rose garden at Arno Bay is named after Steve the owners late wife Belinda who recently died from Asbestos related cancer. It's quite moving having her roses in Myrtle. There are even vases of roses in the amenities block.

They are not only beautiful but smell amazing

As we weren't going to get any fishing done we decided to head into Cowell to check it out. We also had to drive there to get petrol as the Arno Bay petrol bowser has been out of order since the earthquake two years ago. Cowell is a bit bigger than Arno Bay and had a really nice feel about it. There some lovely old restored buildings and from what I could tell they have a fairly production Art Group. They have started what they call "Crap Art" where, some lovely, some interesting painting are hung in the toilets around the town, from the public conveniences to the loo's in the pub. I love novel ideas like this.

The Visitor Centre is situated in a beautiful old building

The pub had some lovely stained glass.........

.........and a succulent pig on a spit for tonight dinner

The novel idea of "Crap Art".......

........ was a great idea

Yeah no cooking tonight. The caravan park had a Fish n' Chips night. For just $12.00 you got 2 pieces of local King George Whiting. 2 local prawns, home made chips and some yummy salads. It was quite a big meal - you can't beat $12.00



Coffin Bay

We are now in Coffin Bay which a little township located on the bottom point of the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. It has a population of around 650 but during holiday season and Easter that can grow to around 4,000. I'm so glad it's not the busy time at the moment. This area is famous all over Australia for its oysters. Some say they are the best in Australia, they are pretty good but in my opinion I think the Tassie (Tasmania) oysters are the best. That doesn't mean I won't be eating as many as I can while I'm here. I'm quite tired tonight and my brain can't think of anything to write, so I might just share some photos I've taken over the past few days.

Mmmmmm Seafood

I'm not sure why but Coffin Bay's golf course has black greens??

As we finished fishing today we were treated with a beautiful sunset

Australia's famous racehorse Makybe Diva

In 2005 Makybe Diva became the only horse to win the Melbourne Cup three times

This Whale tail art in Elliston gave me a giggle

Port Lincoln wharf

Smokey Bay, South Australia

The Nullabor greeted us with a beautiful sunrise as we said goodbye.

Well we survived the Nullabor and as we drove into the first town, Ceduna the outside temperature (according to the cars dashboard) was 46c (114F) yes you read right!! All I could think of was how hot we were going to be putting Myrtle (our camper) up!!.

It's hard to see but it really does say 46c!!!

We drove on through Ceduna and finally arrived at our destination for the next few days which is Smokey Bay. Yeah the temperature had dropped to 44c !!!!!! We have booked a total of four nights here, we actually wanted more but they are booked out. Apparently all along this coastline it gets very busy at this time of year with all the people who like fishing coming here. Anyone who knows me know I just love oysters and I am very excited this peninsula is a popular oyster breeding area. So my first stop was at the local oyster sales. Now I love oysters but nothing beats a freshly opened one. I was in heaven.

Mmmmmmm Oysters

The last few days have been fairly warm, but certainly not as hot as the day we arrived. Yesterday was a hot windy one and we spent the day on the Smokey Bay wharf doing some crabbing. This is the first time I have tried to catch crabs! We had our nets ready, bait which was fish carcasses from the local fishermen and of we headed down the wharf for a new experience.

Smokey Bay wharf

We were told to check the nets every five minutes or so but I just wanted to keep pulling it up to check. They have to be a certain size and you cannot keep the girls as the all have eggs. It wasn't long before I pulled up my net and low and behold I have a pretty good sized crab in there. OK now how do we get this thing with big claws out of the net? Between the two of us we managed. By the end of our session we had 10 blue swimmer crabs for dinner. I was a bit concerned how I would know what the girls looked like but after getting a couple it was easy to distinguish them apart. The boys are bigger and a beautiful blue colour and the poor girls are brown and really not that attractive.
So dinner last night was chilli crabs and they were oh so yummy. Seeing I had never cooked crabs before I was pretty happy with how they tasted.

I was pretty pleased with my first attempt of Chilli Blue Swimmer Crab

Then just as we were finishing up the rain started and didn't stop all night. Quite a lot of areas in the caravan park got a bit flooded, it was a bit amusing watching all the older ladies wading through the puddles to get into the toilets. The rain has stopped now, but we are just going to have a lazy day at the camp as we are moving on tomorrow.