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New South Wales (Southern NSW) |
| Narooma | |
| A small fishing village surrounded by beautiful beaches, bays and coastal lakes, NAROOMA lies at the heart of an area famous for its succulent mud oysters. You can canoe and windsurf on the Wagonga Inlet or sail to Montague Island – an offshore sanctuary for sea birds, seals and penguins. If you actually want to disembark at the island, you’ll have to join a tour organized by the NPWS in Narooma (tel 02/4476 2888; tours daily winter 3.30pm, summer 6.30pm though morning tours are sometimes available; 3hr; $60), since it’s a protected wildlife reserve. | |
| Southern
right and humpback whales have begun to reappear in the bay between
September and November, and tour operators also organize whale-watching
tours in the event of any sightings; you can book at the visitors
centre on the highway (daily 9am–5pm; tel 02/4476 2881). Cruises
cost $30–40 for a 2–3 hour trip, including a visit to Montague Island
to see the seal colonies. The visitors centre can also book you on a
scenic cruise aboard the Wagonga Princess (tel 02/4476 2665) a
century-old pine ferry which winds its way in and out of secluded bays on
the river, stopping off for a guided rainforest walk and oyster tasting
session ($18 for a 3hr tour).
Diving can be found off Montague Island all year, organized by Ocean Hut, 123 Princes Highway (tel 02/4476 2278) costing $45 for one dive and $60 for two (Jan–Apr grey nurse sharks and tropical fish; Aug–Dec mainly seal-spotting). In Narooma good motels and resorts include Forsters Bay Lodge Motel, Forsters Bay Road; Tree Motel, 213 Princes Highway, which has a pool and barbecue; and the beachside Island View Beach Resort, on the highway 3km south of town. Pub Hill Farm, Scenic Drive, 8km west of Narooma, is a farm-style B&B which has a couple of en-suite rooms and offers a baby-sitting service. Clark Bay Farm offers disabled-access accommodation, with electronically activated doors and beds. Lynch’s Hotel, on the Princes Highway, serves contemporary Australian meals daily, including the local oysters in its recommended restaurant. There are several bistros at the Marina on Riverside Drive at Forsters Bay, including the sumptuous Simply Seafood (lunch Tues–Sun, dinner Tues–Sat; tel 02/4476 2403), and the less pricey Quarterdeck next door. Rockwalls on Campbell Street has à la carte seafood specials, costing around $15 for main courses (closed Sun & Mon; tel 02/4476 2040). Casey’s Café at the top of the town’s hill, on the corner of Canty and Wagonga streets (tel 02/4476 1241) is the best place for a coffee, also serving healthy, hearty food. Narooma’s nightlife doesn’t extend much beyond the vast Golf Club on Balinga Street (daily 10am–10pm; tel 02/4476 2522), with pool tables and poker machines, serving the latest drink in town. If you’re in need of a film fix, there is a delightfully preserved Kinema picture theatre worth visiting – an original cinema from 1926 screening modern movies on Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday matinees (daily showings, except Mondays, during school holidays and the Dec/Jan holiday season). A thriving local Koorie community, run their own Umbarra Aboriginal Cultural Centre (tel 02/4473 7232, fax 4473 7169) at Wallaga Lake, 25km south of Narooma. They operate tours to local sacred sites, including Gulaga (Mt Dromedary), with hands-on activities such as painting with ochres, building bark huts and sampling bush tucker and traditional medicine. (As some of their tours traverse aboriginal lands, special permits are required for external visitors planning on visiting these areas independently.) They also have a cruise with commentary on Wallaga Lake, one of the largest saltwater lakes on the Australian coast. The lake’s black duck is the sacred totem for the local aboriginal community. Entry to the centre is free; activities and tours range from $6 to $45. |
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