Tathra, NSW

Ratings: CP **  Surroundings ****

Seafood at the harbour in beautiful Bermagui on our day visit there....

And a humpback whale breaches playfully as she journeys south with her calf to the plankton rich waters of Antarctica.

Soft rays of evening sun touch Tathra Wharf. It's the only one of its kind remaining on the New South Wales coast. The first wharf was built in the 1860s for the district's farmers who needed a place to export their wares and extended in the 1900s to include yards and watering troughs for stock. The district's soldiers departed from here to serve in the First World War.

Batemans Bay, NSW

Ratings:  CP **  Surroundings ***

Our first year anniversary of being on the road celebrated with a seafood lunch at The Boat Harbour situated across the waters.

Forested labyrinth of eucalypts and shadows with an under-story of Burrawang trees (a type of cycad) and palm ferns in the Murramarang National Park.

Look! Gnarled spotted gums allow for the growth of forest plants in their crevices and scars.

Semaphore and Purple Shore Crabs scurry for their meals at low tide in mangrove swamps.

Cullendulla Creek Nature Reserve where we discovered one of the largest stands of mangroves south of Sydney. Popping sounds permeate the silence at low tide as the mangrove roots breathe in oxygen.

Ulladulla, NSW

Ratings: CP *** Surroundings ***** (Whipbird in bush near CP)

Ulladulla, Aboriginal word meaning 'safe harbour', where many serene moments were spent watching fishing boats returning with their catch.

 Amber liquid seems to run against darkened rock. During a wet period 3 to 4 million years ago, extreme leaching produced Ferricrete, a hard reddish or brown sedimentary rock with high iron content producing this a colourful landscape.

A solitary pelican and I wait patiently for that fish to bite at Burrill Lake.

"One track for all", a unique spiritual experience walking a track at North Head which tells the story of the people who lived here 40,000 years ago up through the words and carvings of Noel Butler, an Indigenous elder and custodian of the customs and culture of the Budawang people of the Yuin Nation. This carving is just one of the many along the 2 kilometre track around the headland. The  stories are told up until present day and depict the erosion of the traditional way of life of the Aboriginal people in this area and their struggle for survival following the arrival of the settlers.

Each evening I watched a white bellied sea eagle soar over the entry to the harbour and swoop on its prey. On our final evening there, I was privileged to see this couple (female is the larger of the two) quietly observing their territory and perhaps protecting fledglings.