Leap Year Lamentations...

Kia Ora Readers!

We're currently in a little campsite in Moruya, South Coast, NSW and I'm writing and looking out on some very happy cattle munching very, very green grass in the field behind. Hard to believe that only a few weeks ago, according to a local, it was all brown and dead looking and they were watching the behemoth that was the Currowan Bushfire bearing down on them from the hills beyond.
As we hit Autumn in Australia officially tomorrow (March 1st), it gives us chance to reflect on what has been an 'incredible' summer of weather extremes with loss of lives, property, domestic and wild animals, and also the thousands of acres of native bush. Fire and Flood.
This current stretch of the South Coast has been incredibly sobering; none more so when forced to stop at road repairs yesterday. Both sides of the road revealed many destroyed houses amongst the trees. These were people's homes that once would not even have been seen from the road. And this scene is replicated in many areas of Australia that we've still to visit.
We have decided as much as we can to go and visit some of these areas, but not in a voyeuristic way as I have deliberately not taken photos of these scenes, so that in some small way we can help the economy of those towns by spending even a small amount. The South Coast in the Summer would ordinarily host over 90,000 tourists and they were all told to evacuate when the fires got closer leaving a huge deficit of holidaymakers in the busiest time of year. Some towns were not directly affected by the fires and therefore will not receive any government compensation despite the mass evacuations and road blocks preventing anyone visiting. 
So anyone visiting Aussie in the immediate future, get out and find some of those affected areas and spend the night there and eat and drink in their restaurants or their wineries, and buy your groceries locally.
I have really been trying not to dwell on 'bushfires, bushfires, bushfires' in our blog, but it is hard not to when everyday we drive through blackened bushland. Everywhere people have stories of their fire experience and so it is important to listen and learn from them. Government level too....there is climate change - the compelling evidence is all around us. Let's hope lessons are learned from this very catastrophic event.
That said, what is amazing about nature is the regeneration and with the rain it has brought new growth on what looks like dead trees. In their own way it is a beautiful sight with the contrasts of green and red leaves against the black trunks.

 

To the journey, we left Kangaroo Valley for the last time this year, and bid a fond farewell to everyone there. Irene and Derek were great hosts once again and Dennis will definitely miss them...or was it the Schmackos? Von had a go at tie-dying with interesting results.

We left KV in a much healthier state (the Valley...not us !) than when we arrived and showing it's majesty that we had fallen in love with when I first visited in 2009. The Cambewarra Mountain lookout has always been a source of amusement as it's invariably swathed in low cloud so we were very lucky to have a blue sky day and what a view of the Shoalhaven in all its' greenery. 

Barrengarry Mountain also turned on a spectacular view of the Valley for us. 

Before heading off south we gave Dennis one final visit to Culburra to see his buddy Ted and even here it was great to see the beach slowly cleaning itself of all the ash and blackened detritus. It'll take a while I think. Great to see some of the Harris clan too.

So as you can see from the map ( a number of people are very happy we are now providing a route map within the blog!), we are meandering down the coast and first stop was Ulladulla for three nights. 

Great campground with a huge pool and walkable into the town too. There is a harbour with an active fishing industry, albeit a bit smaller these days, so fresh fish for dinner.

Fascinating for all of you geologists out there too, with some amazing rock formations and fossils. 

 

As you may have realised in the previous blog we are keeping ourselves amused with signage and Ulladulla did not disappoint. Followed up by a very similar sign in Broulee further along the coast. Someone is chopping down native flora ! And so signs are up threatening quite HUGE fines albeit Eurobadalla Council are slightly cheaper. 

It didn't take a rocket scientist to work out who the culprits could be as directly across the road from the offences were beach houses who presumably now have a better sea view... So I figure the signs are about 'embarrassing' instead of prosecution?

Rather like this one for dog owners which I quite liked although it clearly is getting ignored judging by the amount of poo I had to step over.

Having had a very relaxing few days in Ulladulla we have meandered down the coast wowing at some stunning beaches ...

....and wowing at devastating bushfire aftermath which really messes with your mind. 
We deliberately diverted into a small town called Mogo which did get a huge amount of media interest as part of the historic street of shops burnt down. It was uplifting to see the town so busy and getting on with it, and so a jar of pickles made by Carol was duly purchased and also some dark chocolate coated ginger from the Mogo Lolly Shop. The Lolly Shop sadly did lose their building but have set up next door and happily trading again.

There were some tourists taking photos but we had bigger things to photograph...remember the plaques on stones...Yes Mogo have one....for their Sewage Treatment Works. Who knew?!

From Mogo we headed to our current location but not before I had researched and found another rock of much importance. Moruya Granite to be precise, and this was mined in a small quarry just along from the campground. 

It was the granite used in the building of the Pylons at either end of Sydney Harbour Bridge. From Moruya it was shipped to Sydney. Also used for the Anzac War Memorial, and the base for the Queen Victoria Statue on George Street. See every day is a school day, and for those I dragged up the pylon when they visited Sydney now you know where the granite was sourced.

I found more Silo Art...well more of a Mains Electricity Box (?) but it worked for me..

We found no people on horseback on this stretch and no BIG things but we did find a wooden Airman who was apparently in the East Indies Air Force who were based out of Moruya Airfield during WW2. Von's Uncle Steve might find this of particular interest.

This leads me to one of those moments that we fall upon now and again.....I think I need a new category of QUIRKY. Our neighbour at the campsite walked past us with a guitar and we engaged in conversation as to where he was playing and he pointed us in the direction of the Air Raid Tavern, a hostelry in the High Street. So having checked it was dog friendly off we went. The bar is run by a, shall we say, eccentric chap who only opens the Bar twice a week (Thursday & Friday) and only between 3 and 8pm. He does not do food apart from crisps which are very nicely presented in a bowl. 

You are however, allowed to order any takeaway and bring it into the bar to eat. There was live music; trumpet player, followed by a young lad playing Spanish music, and then our neighbour on acoustic guitar who did a very good rendition of Oasis Wonderwall! The bar owner is currently hand mosaic'ing the floor of the pub...literally a work in progress as all the cement etc were still littered across the floor and finally, here's where it was a little intriguing, his posh bit of the bar was clearly a shrine/tribute to Princess Margaret !!!! ( think this amount of !! is justified)



And then this morning up bright and breezy for a trip to the local market which showcased local produce and crafts. Given what the local area has been experiencing over the last few months it's quite impressive they can still get stuff to market. And hey, a town that has a store with the following all in one can't be all bad eh Jonny Gritt?

That's it for now possums...apart from Dennis is due a worming tablet.
Tomorrow we head to the Capital State. Yes Canberra here we come for culture and parking on a driveway! Hoping for lots of signs, and plaques on rocks, and not to mention important statues ! Watch this space.......

(campsite on the right of the river in the trees)