Day 16: Tura Rockpools

Kilometres:153km

Diesel: 0

Food: $12.40

Ice: 0

Gas: $27

We rose with the sun this morning and took one last stop at our favourite little hang-out in Eden…The Skate Park. With bathrooms, fantastic tennis reception and grass for the slacklining, we had been spoiled these last few days. After checking out the sunrise we made an early start and headed to Merimbula. Because we were us, we were way too early for the market we knew didn't start until 8am. While we waited we took a walk around the peninsula, made some breakfast and watched as Merimbula came to life.

An hour or so was spent wandering around the ocean-front market. Grandmothers sold their baked goods, farmers sold vegetables and some guy with no shoes sold overpriced clothes from Nepal. I figured we’d be there in a couple of months so put off purchasing my crazy overalls until then.

Thanks to the joys of social media, we had gotten wind of an incredible rockpool and were eager to see if we could locate it in real-life. And aren’t we glad we did.

As we walked out along Tura Head, two paths diverged and, this time, we took the one more travelled by. It took us to the edge of the headland where we scrambled down some rocks past a couple of fishermen and were rewarded with the most beautiful mermaid pool to date. Crystal clear water, colourful seaweed and one large fish who had become trapped at high tide. The sun came out from behind the clouds and once the fishermen went on their way, we had this incredible place to ourselves. Time was killed easily here as we floated, gazed, dove and swam about in our little piece of paradise.

Walking back to the car we passed a number of families making their way down to the pool we had just left. Perfect timing. We gathered a few groceries and rewarded Veruca with some new air in her tyres, a quick scrub of her windows and some new gas for her gas cooker.

Further up the coast at Tathra Lookout we made a delicious lunch and parked ourselves on a picnic rug under a tree to eat and enjoy the view. From there a bad mood came over me. They seem to come from nowhere these moods and all Chris can do is duck for cover. A surf check at the mouth of the Bega River didn’t help as the hot sand burned my feet, despite me scooting across it gazelle style.

Our drive continued north and from the road we spotted a couple of ridable waves. Further investigation found wedge-like waves (not dumping), a medium-sized swell (perfect) and nobody out! Even better! We donned our swimmers and zinc and my mood was washed away by the salt water. How on earth could I possibly be anything but ecstatic as I floated around in the clear water with no need for a wetsuit. How could I be annoyed when I was surfing the best I ever had? It was delightful.

Further up the coast we stopped in at Bermagui Blue Pool for a look, before utilising the showers to get rinsed off and ready for our evening-in. We settled in Narooma and made dinner at the park, along with a tonne of other groups and families. Our evening was interrupted slightly though with calls of “get the ambulance, he’s passed out and there’s blood everywhere” ringing out from across the road. I sent Chris to check if we could be of any help but all we could do was direct the ambulance when it arrived.

A little later, and mid-way through an excellent 4-set tennis match between Kyrgios and Dimitrov, a big 4WD pulled up in the dark nearby. Immediately I felt my heart rate rise. Standard. Were they going to do something illegal? Would we witness it and then have to make a speedy escape with Veruca? My mind wandered. With their high-beams lighting up the park in front of us we waited with baited breath. They pulled out a bag and…released a little possum they had been caring for with enthusiastic cries of “go buddy go"! Oh geez. I really need to have more faith in people. With the excitement over, Chris napped while I watched the end of the tennis before we made our way to the Bodalla Park Forest Rest Area which was packed! We found a spot near the road and fell into exhausted sleep around midnight.