Malacoota to Nowa Nowa

Nowa Nowa Caravan Park:  Quirky

The wind picked up overnight and at one stage I wondered if I'd need to get out and put my awning away but I settled for just lowering the other corner and tightening the guy ropes, a little bit of rain overnight means I shall probably be putting away a wet awning, but at least I didn't have the. I won't have the ridiculous waterfall that I saw from when a caravan group we're putting away their pop top.

Putting away my awning in the strengthening wind is a challenge, but I do manage it 

Lookouts on the walk to Secret Beach

I then head to Secret Beach look out which involves a very short walk.

Secret Beach from the lookout

The bushfires in this area a few years back were very intense and that shows in the sections of dead gum trees poking their heads up many are recovering with new growth lower down, in the way that gum trees do, but there are some that are not.

Secret Beach

The track is easy walking and I take it slowly looking for orchids. Is anyone surprised? But not a lot of luck but just walking through the bush with some wild flowers and the Greenery is therapeutic. 

I follow the track past the lookout and it comes out a little further along at the road and a parking area with a sign indicating the tractor secret Beach. So I go down down is the operative word but the track is well formed and there are cement steps 

Secret Beach

Secret Beach is just gorgeous and obviously there are some good offshore reefs because there's a range of kelp and sponges washed up. I walked to both ends of the beach and was rewarded with some lovely geological samples. Very pretty sedimentary rocks. 

Good rocks!

A bit of surf breaking on the rocks

Behind secret Beach is a small area of tea tree Forest, which appears to have escaped the intense fires trees a few years ago 

A gratuitous picture on Secret Beach

It seems the track I'm on is part of the much longer Mallacoota coastal walk and if this is a sample of what it offers it would be well worth exploring more in the future.

A rather lovely wildflower

Skink beside the track

I stop at the Betka River mouth and find this is yet another section of the coastal walk so I walk to the lookout and admire the view but not before negotiating an awfully dog that should have been on laid. Grumpy. Especially since it approached me and wanted to sniff around me. I spoke sternly to it. Why are some dog owners so entitled about their wretched animals?

Betka River Lookout

Betka River Lookout

It's quite sheltered by the river mouth and I sit and eat my morning tea. But walking along the beach. earlier I had needed both my merino and my fleece jackets 

Betka River Mouth

Betka River Mouth

I leave Mallacoota and pass through Genoa without being tempted to explore its attractions as I did that last year and I was rather underwhelmed.

The 'what to do in Mallacoota' included exploring Maxwell's rainforest walk now. I tried to do that last year and it doesn't exist anymore. 

My comments from last year about both are at https://ishalltakethehighroad.blogspot.com/2024/06/roads-less-travelled-and-places-less.html 

As I drive the section towards Cann River, there are some verges that are just ablaze with various shades of Epacris, the heath flowers, and the new eucalyptus growth behind it is great, both new saplings closer to the verge and the further large gum trees with their epicormic growth (I just looked that up!) 

There is also a stunning area of forest with many trees that are semi-smothered with native (I hope) Clematis in full bloom.

I stop at Cann River with the intent of buying milk but their supermarket is closed permanently. I'm glad I don't need fuel as the power is off. I did wonder why both fuel stations were not displaying their prices. 

Passing over the Snowy River. I notice again on the right hand side what I assume is an old wooden floodway which reminds me so much of the one that used to be in the Midlands that was still there when I was a kid and we did trips north to Meander. 

I also passed the Snowy River Motel with no inclination to check its facilities after my experience of it last year.

Apart from being breathalysed about 5 minutes before Google warned me that there were police ahead, the rest of my trip proceeded without event.

I did notice some pale yellow flowers in profusion along the side of the road and I think they may have been yellow dogwood. 

I get to the Nowa Nowa caravan park in good time. It's quirky. It has a set of rules that I thoroughly approve of, including disapproving of dogs along with a whole lot of other behaviours that occasionally happen in campgrounds. 

I set up for the night and then take myself for a walk down to the little shop with very low expectations of them having lactose-free milk. They do have some but only the full cream variety.  I also managed to figure out how the little River loop walk from the caravan park can end up at the shop which is on the other side of the main road and the Princess Highway and the solution is, of course, an underpass which I find when I'm down at the shop.

 

I'm on a spot under a gum tree. Steven, who is the manager of the caravan park assures me that the wind has pretty well blown itself out and I shouldn't have the problems I had last night with my awning.

My campsite for the night

My campsite has a lovely view of the old trestle bridge which I shall export the explore shortly and it's right next to a patch of agapanthus that apparently got eaten by deer last night. So it will be interesting to see whether I see or hear of them. 

Grevillea

There are some rather nice grevillea along the side of the walking track. A diversion goes down under the bridge across the road to a sculpture trail. 

Boggy Creek from the footbridge

A footbridge, which is part of a longer rail trail,  crosses the river and delivers quite a nice view up river towards the gorge, so I the back track to the path to the gorge lookout.

The old trestle bridge

An interpretation sign about Nowa Nowa hotels delivers me the piece of information that in 1958 the height of luxury in hotel motel bedrooms was bathroom facilities and power points in the rooms!

From the Gorge Lookout

I reached the boggy Creek lookout and have a very strong feeling that I've been here before but I think from a closer road point.  I shall have to look back on various blog posts to check. 

It's obviously an impressive gorge, but one cannot see a lot of it from the lookout. 

Just some local wildflowers

I'm rather amused by some late arrival campers who were shown a number of sites but choose to set up next to the only other people on site, a caravan being towed by a vehicle with a Tassie number plate.

I enjoying my sun downer glass of wine with my view of the somewhat decrepit trestle bridge and the bush around it and the sounds of a few birds.

The camp kitchen is as quirky as the rest of the caravan site with a fabulous splashback of pressed tin, but it has everything one needs, which is more than some campsites I've stayed at.