Shoalhaven: Coast & History

10-12th September, 2004

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Text and photographs © David Powell, except where indicated.

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On the 11th September, 2004, the Shoalhaven Country Line Dancers held their Annual Ball at the St Georges Basin Country Club near the shore of the very scenic Jervis Bay. A group of us made the most of the opportunity and took a long weekend. We did end up doing a bit of dancing, but most of the time was spent sightseeing and other distinctly non-dance related activities.

Friday

Fitzroy Falls
Image © NSW National Parks

An early start to the day. Headed south taking the long but scenic route. I wasn't actually expecting much sightseeing on this trip, but in the end it turned out to be mostly just that. First stop after a few hours driving was "Fitzroy Falls" where we took a long break. Saw the falls and did several of the shorter walking trails. The Falls are in the Morton National Park and were originally known as "Throsby Falls" after Charles Throsby, the first European to see them in 1820. Governor Fitzroy renamed the falls after himself in 1850 and in 1882 the area was made into a reserve. On site there's a visitor's centre with a museum, a wildlife reserve, lookouts, bush walking trails and of course, the Falls. The falls lie on the Yarrunga Creek, which drops some 82 metres down the escarpment, and flows into the Kangaroo River. Because of drought and a dam upstream, the flow is not as spectacular as it once was - even in the 1980's the flow was considerably greater. However, even in the driest of conditions, the falls still flow. Only once in recorded history have they dried up. As well as a view of the falls, from the lookouts you can see the valley below, with typical Blue Mountains scenery - rugged sandstone cliffs and well-forested valleys. On a clear day, as it was, the view is quite beautiful. Just as impressive is the sight of the valley full of thick mist, obscuring all but the head of the Falls, the only sign of the falls being the sound of the water. That's how it was on a previous visit. "Spellbinding" was how it has been described and I can't argue with that. Apart from the falls and the view of the valley, some of the sights that particularly caught my eye included a very knotted and gnarled tree that looked right out of some dark horror story (even more impressive coming upon it in the mist, I'd dare say), a termite mound and a rather precariously balanced boulder on the cliff face not far from the falls (I can't include foto's of everything, I'm afraid). There's a small village there called Fitzroy Falls. Very discretely hidden - a few houses and B&B's.

Fitzroy Falls in the Mist (April, 1996)
Image © David Powell, 2005

View of Valley from Falls Lookout
Image © David Powell, 2005

Back onto the road and onto Kangaroo Valley. Just north of the famous bridge (more on that latter) we just had to stop at "The Old Barrengarry Store" that claimed to sell the "world's best pies". The shop was an old 1880 country store and post office. As for the pies, I dunno if they were the best in the world, but they were certainly very good.

After the pies we had a look at the bridge. Variously known as the Kangaroo Valley Bridge and more correctly as the Hampden Bridge. The bridge was opened in 1898 and named after the then Governor (hint, if you want your name preserved for posterity, you obviously need to be a governor!). The bridge is one of the few suspension bridges in Australia and is the only surviving colonial suspension bridge in the state. It has medieval style sandstone towers at either end and a span of 77 metres. The river bed is about 17 metres below. Well enuf statistics. The bridge isn't large, but it has a grandeur, no doubt from the styling of the towers. 17 metres doesn't seem much, but the river (Kangaroo River) does seem quite a way down. Next to the bridge is the Pioneer Farm Museum. It was closed - but I've been thru' it on a previous visit.

The Old Barrengarry Store
Image © David Powell, 2005

Hampden Bridge (April, 1996)
Image © David Powell, 2005

Over the bridge (no overtaking, it's one lane) and onto the town of Kangaroo Valley. The valley is said to be one of the most picturesque and charming areas in the state, a claim I can hardly dispute. Lots of walking trails and nature to be seen in the valley, however this time 'round it was the history I was interested in. However the spectacular natural scenery of the valley cannot be left un-noted. It's worth a visit, just for that. Almost every building in the town is historic, especially those along the main road. There's the obligatory old inn - the Friendly Inn Hotel (built 1892), churches, monuments, old homes and shops and a school (built 1884). I was taken by the Church of the Good Shepherd - when I was living in the USA, I attended a church with this name, a Catholic church. This one was Anglican and was built in 1878. For better or worse the town has been 'discovered' by the rich set, so it's full of cafe's, restaurants and the like, but the place has still managed to keep the atmosphere of a sleepy small country town. In part, no doubt, because most of the newer additions are discretely off the main road. The town also has something of a reputation as an antique centre and there're several antique shops in the town, each catering for a different niche. I did manage to pick up a few presents at the antique stores. Add to that a plethora of craft shops and you have a village that has been well and truly "touristised". Still, I guess that has ensured the town's survival when many others have long since given up the ghost.

Church of the Good Shepherd
Image © David Powell, 2005

Friendly Inn Hotel, Kangaroo Valley
Image © David Powell, 2005

Cambewarra Lookout
Image © David Powell, 2005

Heading out from Kangaroo Valley along a long and winding road (the only sort into the valley) we took a detour to visit the Cambewarra lookout, which is at the top of the Cambewarra mountain and has a tearoom and picnic area. More importantly, the lookout has very spectacular views of the Shoalhaven region. At 678m, the view is quite commanding and the view stretches for at least 200 degrees.

From there we headed on south to Vincentia, a suburb village of Jervis Bay, where we would be staying the weekend at the weekender belong to some friends, a nice place that had more beds than many motels! Ducked out to have dinner at a local club - where I picked up a prize in the local meat raffle.

Saturday
Got up at the disgusting time of 7am (well disgusting for a weekend) for breakfast. The local parrots were having a feed. Dunno what breed, but they were certainly colourful ... loud .. and quite unafraid of people. Anything for a free lunch I guess. Tho' in this case a free breakfast. Our hosts were garage sale fans so in between trawling several sales we spent the morning sightseeing. Ended the day's sightseeing at Hyams Beach. According to the local tourist PR the beach is listed in the Guinness Book of records as having the "whitest sand in the world". More reliably, the beach (and town) was named after Michael Hyam who received a grant of waterfront land there in 1859.

Local parrots, Jervis Bay
Image © David Powell, 2005

Hyams Beach, Jervis Bay
Image © David Powell, 2005

Alas for the PR claim, it was overcast at the time and the beach looked, well, much like any other beach to me. I guess bright sunshine is needed to make it look white - as it does in the postcards. Whether they've been touched up or not is another matter. Still, I did see another beach earlier in the day when the sun was still out and the sand there certainly did look quite white. Not exactly pristine, but then it was a boat ramp. After I'd taken a bunch of foto's at Hyams Beach, we stopped for lunch at a cafe overlooking the beach. After lunch spent the afternoon at a linedance workshop. Then after dinner back to the same venue for the ball.

White sands, Vincentia, Jervis Bay
Image © David Powell, 2005

Sunday
Not much to write about but there were a lot of beautiful foto's. After packing up, made the most of the clear sunny skies and had a look at a beach a few minutes drive away in Vincentia. The sand there did look white and the water was crystal clear - you could see the sand beneath the water for at least several 100 metres out from the shore, as well as large rocks beneath the water. Continuing along the coast road between Vincentia and Huskisson we made several stops to admire the brilliant views of Jervis Bay - the weather was obligingly beautifully. The different colours of the water was pretty amazing. Hmmm... are there any superlatives I've forgotten to use? Well add them in yourself. :)

Here are some more foto's I took along the coast between Vincentia and Huskisson. These small images don't really do the brilliant blues of the water and sky real justice. You'll just have to go and see for yourself one day I guess. But make sure you bring the sun with you!

We finally ended up in Huskisson where the others continued on up to Sydney. Cynthia and I stayed a while, walking around the town a bit, admiring the scenery. There's a river inlet or the like at "Husky", as the locals call the place, which we managed to catch just as the tide was running pretty briskly. That's the foto to the right.

Before we headed back to Sydney there was one notable event, tho' at the time it didn't seem much - Cynthia and I had our first date. Things have certainly progressed a lot since then, but that's another story - and not necessarily all for publication. :)

Some web sites of relevance (valid as of June 2005)

Fitzroy Falls: http://www.highlandsnsw.com.au/nature/fitzroy_falls.html
Fitzroy Falls: http://www.walkabout.com.au/theage/fairfax/locations/NSWFitzroyFalls.shtml
Hampden Bridge & Kangaroo Valley: http://www.kangaroovalleytourist.asn.au/content/about.html
Kangaroo Valley: http://www.walkabout.com.au/locations/NSWKangarooValley.shtml
Kangaroo Valley: http://wvwv.essortment.com/wollongongaus_rdgw.htm
Hyams Beach & Jervis Bay: http://www.walkabout.com.au/locations/NSWJervisBay.shtml
Jervis Bay: http://www.jervisbaytourism.com/
Vincentia: http://www.time2travel.com/au/nsw/vincentia/
Huskisson: http://www.walkabout.com.au/locations/NSWHuskisson.shtml