Omega man rides into the sunrise

We had a pretty good nights kip, apart from having a bit of a slope on the camper.  We had been worried about the noisy heartiness from a fellow inmate who we decided wasn't really an alpha-male but a lower order: we have designated this "Omega-man".

I have referred to him riding off into the sunrise to keep the Western theme going.  He did depart, but the sun didn't really rise today.
It was also not too warm.  A lady asked me if I wasn't cold, just wearing a polo shirt.  I replied "No, I'm from Canberra."  Her response was "Yes, but I'm from Bathurst and I'm freezing."  I was somewhat surprised - but very pleased - to observe that our solar panels were still managing to get enough rays to be charging the camper's battery.

The big excitement was a Golden Retriever appearing at speed after a rabbit. It lapped a caravan across the road and headed off towards the entrance, reappearing sans bunny somewhat later.  There will be more on this below.

We set out for a walk, noting this sculpture.  Presumably a left over from Sculpture on the Edge- the local version of the Sydney extravaganza.
 Here is the set up for the Dog Show.
 Some of the boats in the harbour.
 This looks up the river to the main road bridge.  Note the complete absence of any sunshine!
 Here is the dog show (sponsored by the Bega and Sapphire Coast Kennel Clubs) in action.  The skill and obedience of the dogs in the various tasks was very impressive.  We didn't take herself in!  See entry for tomorrow morning below.
Our first extra town for the day was Cobargo.  It was raining so I just took this snap rather than one of the colourful main street, as it looked a tad drab.
We then took a foray further inland to Wandella where they had a Memorial outside the Hall.  This really isn't a town but a rural locality!
 They did have a Lone Pine however!
 Qaama -  at least a village, with a shop - had a similar designed memorial ...
 ....and a fair bit older one nearby.
 On to Bega, where we saw masses of waterbirds in a swamp on the edge of town.  The Great Egrets were impressive in numbers (13) and diversity also great.  As we headed towards Tathra I noticed sheets of water in the Jellat Swamp.  I have been here many times in the 1990s and never seen quite so much water.  The weirdest element was about 20 Pink-eared Ducks swimming in a circle: presumably a cooperative fishing venture.  There must have been several thousand ducks here, but the rain made ID difficult and counting impossible.

On getting to Tathra we went to the the beach at the mouth of the Bega River, ticking Little Tern as Bird of the Day and seeing an angler nail a big Flathead.
We moseyed home via the coastal road which weaved through forest and is now boringly bitumen rather than the fun dirt track.  I had a brief nap and we then went for a stroll.  I took this snap of the coast's key plant Datura (?)stramonium.
 This Tiger Moth was the only insect that posed all trip.
 The other invertebrates present when we got to the beach North of Bermagui were these bluebottle jellyfish.  An angler warned us about them for Tammy but I thought she'd be OK.  She did apparently step on a stinger as she kept nuzzling her foot but didn't seem unduly distressed.  More on how upset she was shortly.
The night wasn't promising as:
  1. a strong wind kept flapping the camper elements around;
  2. a twerp nearby used his car to charged his van's battery so the motor ran for about 2 hours!
  3. Son of Omega-man manifested nearby playing an accordion with his colleagues in singalong mode.
2 finished about 8pm,; 3 at 10pm - cannot complain about that- and 1 died down about midnight (having greatly reduced from about 10).

The sun did arise the next morning as Tammy saw when she peered out the window.  She spotted a bunny; dived off the bed (1 metre high) under the flap of the door and away.  Obviously the sting hadn't affected her!  By the time I got out she was nowhere to be seen.  Oh shit!  Fortunately she had just ducked round the back of an onsite van opposite and reappeared without a furry friend.

We packed everything up and weer away by 8:20.  We stopped at Camel Rock  for a bluebottle-free off leash walk for Tam (who had of course already had some exercise).
 I leave it to you to work out if this is part of the camel.
 Leaving Bermagui I was taken with the artwork on this bus shelter.
We stopped again at Wallaga Lake where it was pretty much business as usual.  We then swung through Mystery Bay to see if they had a War Memorial but no joy.  After refuelling at Narooma we took the coast road through Kianga and Dalmeny, both soul-less accretions of holiday homes.  The closest to a soul was this beach-side dunny!

Both places were too recent for a War Memorial. As were Potato Point and Tuross Head.  All that remained was a drive back up the Clyde and across to home.

Comments

sandra h said…
pink-eared ducks seem to like swimming in circles - I've seen 2 doing it at Bungendore Sewage Works, and the 2 near the scout hall on Lake Tuggeranong a few months ago were also swimming in circles around each other.
sandra h
11 February 2015 at 17:38:00 GMT+11
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