Off to Jervis Bay

It was a gamble as the government could have imposed a lock-down at any time. It seems that lock-down will come when we return to town on Sunday. ‘Fortune favours the brave’ they say. Well in this case it was just as well we took a chance and booked to get out of the city. For the time of year, this area was teaming with people, many doing the exact same thing.

And what a first day…

Final weekend of freedom.

Jervis Bay is about two and a half hour drive from central Sydney. Basically, just head south. The bay itself covers quite an area so several small holiday towns and villages have grown up in the area. It was more a case of what was available last minute, so we ended up staying in Huskisson Beach – one of many fabulous beaches in the bay area. It couldn’t have been better if I had planned it (properly!).

We stayed in one of these colourful little beach front (almost) cabins. Ours was the Blue one.

Welcome Greeting

No sooner had we checked in than this little fella came to say hello. Right on our little terrace, he hardly flinched as I got right up close for the pictures. Staring me down at one point. This is the Laughing Kookaburra. An Aussie character if ever there was one. Part of the kingfisher family it has that same body and beak shape but much larger than other kingfishers. This one was about 35cm long.

The maniacal, laughing call that this bird makes is one you never forget. Early settlers quickly called it ‘the bushman’s alarm clock’.

There are other creatures in the sky here. In their plenty. Large bats (or flying foxes). As the sun dropped there must have been thousands of the things taking to the air. A ‘colony or ‘cloud’ of bats is the term used. Quite a sight but not easy to photograph with a mobile phone.

Beaches

This area is famous for two things. One is obvious as soon as you arrive and look to the water. The beaches really are incredible.

The other thing is not so obvious. It turns out that this area is the second most popular diving location in Australia. No prizes for guessing the first. I suppose somewhere else has to be good for diving in this huge country. Even if that is a distant second.

We visited Hyman’s beach. Said to be the whitest sand in the world. Some claim. How the hell do they work these things out? I wouldn’t know but I am sure this has been examined in detail by those who write the travel guides etc…

The sand was white. I may have seen sand that white before but really can’t remember. All the beaches around here seem to be like this though. It was a fantastic beach and around here we are still allowed onto it. At least for now.

After the beach we went into the local town. More a village really. There are whale-watching tours (but now is not the season) and dolphin watching tours from Huskisson. The problem is that no tours are running right now. Not to worry. We managed a self-guided tour of a mangrove swamp which proved more interesting than I expected.

We also saw this place…. How is this for nostalgia?

This picture house (cinema) has been showing films for over 70 years in Huskisson. Unfortunately, this too has been closed because of the virus fiasco. When this thing is over, we will be back. I really want to see inside this fantastic relic of the past.

More great Australian birds…

We also had more feathered visitors. These fantastically coloured rascals are called rainbow lorakeets. Probably the most unmistakable bird I have seen so far in this country. They have thrived in all sorts of habitats and are widely seen in the city also.

Dani finally meets Skippy

As if all that wasn’t enough, we found a spot to see kangaroos. Dani’s mum had just read about it on some google thing or other. Dani was tired but this one kept him going. We spotted a large gathering of kangaroos but had to walk a little to get up close. How close can get to these creatures? I think we could have got closer, but you never know eh. It was close enough for Dani’s first ‘roo’ encounter and close enough for a few photos.

We finished the day with some great fish and chips from a place called ‘World Famous Fish and Chips’. Say no more. That was a bold claim to live up to. But they managed.

All in all, a fantastic day and we are all knackered. But we need to be up early again tomorrow to make the most of our time in this area. Especially as we have to go back to Sydney….and the impending lock-down…Ugh! I want to stay here…