Australia - 15th October 2005 - Weekend on the Nature Coast, New South Wales

Namoora

I headed for the coast early Saturday morning, arriving in the small town of Namoora at about 9 a.m. after a very pleasant 2 and a half hour drive through the mountains and forest clad countryside that lay between Canberra and the coast.

First activity of the day was Whale Watching. This two and a half our trip was a bargain at $65 and took us from the wharf at Namoora out into the Tasman Sea and as far as Montague Island. En route I saw several Hump Backed Whales, lots and lots of Doplhins, hords of Seals and a good few Mutton Birds (ok, not quite as exciting as the other creatures!).

After the whale watching, I went to a nearby beach a couple of 100 metres from the wharf and sat on a rock looking out to sea and reading Patrick O'Brian for a good while. Very very nice indeed.

I decided there was plenty to do in the area and so checked into a really cheap motel and stayed the night, with the intention that I'd climb Mount Dromedary the next day.

• On the way to Namoora:
  

• Hermit Crabs in the inlet at Namoora:
  

• The inlet from the wharf:
  

• Our boat, the Silver Dollar, back from fishing:
  

• The catch - Snapper anyone?:
  

• There were lots of Jellyfish in the inlet!:
  

• And we're off.....:
  

• Cap'n Woolley :-):
  

• Thar she blows!!!! Our first whale of the trip....:
  

• Man rescues jellyfish? Actually it's a cap!:
  

• Oi! Hump Back!:
  

• It's getting closer! Do you think it heard me?!:
  

• Splash:
  

• Look! It's waving to us!:
  

• Slurp:
  

• We saw loads of dolphins. Tricky to photo though!:
  

• Sunbathing seals by Montague Island:
  

• Seals on the island:
  

• Yet more seals!:
  

There are a few small videos from the trip too. Even small videos make for quite large files though so watchout!

• 15102005Narooma133.mpg: A short video of one of the whales (5mb)

• 15102005Narooma139.mpg: Video of the seals at Montague Island (6mb)

• 15102005Narooma143.mpg: Dolphin video (8mb)

• Pelicans waiting patiently for scraps of fish from the fisherman gutting and filleting their catch:
  

• Namoora Surf Beach:
  

• And again...:
  

• And...... again:
  

• View from the rock Martin sat reading on: