Sketches of Merimbula, six

May 14 to May 17, 2014

In Sketches of Merimbula 4, we mentioned the rolling hills in the hinterland around this part of the world, and the splashes of vibrant colours in the clumps of deciduous trees. Well, on today’s little jaunt, we came across a similar view which, as luck would have it, was close to a safe and convenient stopping place, so  we were able to take a photo, which is shown here.

Also, in Sketches 2, last year, we mentioned the golf driving range at Mandeni Resort, where one hits ones golf balls into the lake. We also mentioned last year that there is a 9-hole pitch and putt course where the holes are between 60 and 100 m in length; and a full-length 9-hole, par 34, course at this resort, but said no more about them. This latter course used to be pretty rough, and we had not looked at it in several years, but today we did. And we were very pleasantly surprised to find it very much improved. It is not over-long, with three par threes of 120 to 190 m, five par fours, from 240 to 320 m, and one par five at 415 m. It is well laid out, and any shot that is at all wayward results in a lost ball. The first hole is a par three of 123 m, but there is no fairway—just the tee and the green, and between the two, a lake. The par five needs a perfectly straight drive of at least 180-200m, and anything going at all right is lost in the lake. The second shot needs to be a push forward of about 60-80 m to get past the scrub on the lake edge, before one can get a 150 m shot across the lake to the elevated green. All the holes really do need very good straight drives to stay out of trouble. The fairways are much improved since earlier years, but the greens are still a little bumpy, with more kangaroo poo than is necessary!. Still, it is great fun, and very nice surroundings, with very few people to laugh at you! And we can modestly report we went round the 9 holes in 44!

On Wednesday we drove into the hinterland in search of Nethercote Falls. We had with us our I-Pad, with a maps ‘app’ which displayed a blue dot to represent our position on the map. As we drove, our wife, instead of admiring the lovely scenery, spent the entire journey looking at the blue dot move along the lines representing the roads, and gave us the directions in a voice similar to those to be heard on ‘sat-navs’.  The falls were in some ways disappointing in that there was no water, it not having rained in these parts for some time now; but the little creek was a very pretty series of rocky water-holes, and there were quite a number of birds to be seen and heard.

Thursday’s outing was a trip to Haycock Rock, one of our favourite walks. The scenery there is stunning, with magnificent views along the pristine beaches which run all the way to Eden to the south; and the weather being the perfect conditions we have come to expect, made for a lovely morning. Following our picnic lunch, we spent three hours trying to catch fish at Barmouth Beach, but the hunter failing miserably to provide anything toward dinner, the gatherer was fain to drive to the pizza shop for take-aways! It has been quite some time since we have had take-away pizza, and we were rather surprised at the cost. Maybe they are just as expensive at home, so we shall have to investigate when we return!

Friday, our last day here. We had another hit around the 9-hole course at Mandeni, with perhaps a little less success than on the previous outing. But nevertheless, it was a beautiful day, and very enjoyable. We did not try to catch any more fish, the tides being all wrong, so we bent our steps toward Wheelers Restaurant for dinner, and were very delighted to find that it was every bit as good as last year. Then, back to our apartment to pack all the stuff, to be on the road home on Saturday morning almost before the larks breaketh wind. Traffic was very light going our way, but we were surprised at the number of caravans heading toward where we had just left. We hope they all had as good a break as we did!