Bermagui, a Sth Coast Wonderland
September 2nd 2009 08:37
I am currently staying at my parents place on the South Coast of NSW, Australia outside a beautfiul town in a more beautiful area known as a Bermagui. My parents live 10 minutes from Bermagui in a smaller area known as Fairhaven on the shores of the majestic Wallaga Lake.
On one side of my parents 3 acre property, known as Dragon's Lair, is the stunning and inspiring Wallaga Lake, on the other side, you can hear and walk to the amazing ocean and it's spectacular beach, Camel Rock. This beach is about 10km's long and you can walk all the way into Bermagui if you choose or relax on the beach, fish or surf until your heart's content.
I love coming here for many reasons, the first reason is mum's cooking and big family open plan home that is more art gallery than house. Both my parental units are artists, my mum is a renowned ceramicist (potter) who has been doing her work for over 20yrs and has international awards for her work - least of all The Wedgewood International Tea Pot competition. My Stepfather is internationally recognised as one of the longest succesful wood turners in the world who has travelled world wide exhibiting and lecturing on woodturning and it's many areas. Small Plug for them: You can see both of their works around the country in many art galleries but most locally at the CRAFT NSW GALLERY in the Rocks at Sydney.
I also love coming here to unwind, the place is set on 3 acres of gardens on the edge of The Montreal Goldfields. The gardens are all the parental's work and have thousands of natives and exotic plants. They also get visited by hundreds of different types of birds and wildlife, yesterday afternoon before dinner I watched multiple kangaroos come up to the house and saw for my first time a joey sitting in the pouch of mamma kangaroo - way cool, but crap, a pouch would be awkward.
The quiet coastal town and fishing harbour of Bermagui is one of the prettiest and most peaceful sights on the Sapphire Coast. The area was first settled by Europeans in the 1830's. This area is the home of the Yuin aboriginal community and there is much here of cultural and historical interest.
The port at Bermagui was established in the 1830s for the local dairy farmers and the town, planned in 1867, quickly developed into a fishing harbour. Gold was found on the Bermagui River late in the nineteenth century but the rush was short-lived as finds were disappointing.
In spring the warm currents brought Marlin and Yellowfin Tuna close to the coast and charter boats would take divers, deep-sea and game anglers out to sea.
One of the most notable figures to exploit this aspect of Bermagui was American author of ‘westerns’, Zane Grey who wrote of his experiences in An American Angler in Australia (1937) and his posthumously published novel, Wilderness Fresh. The town park is named after him and the local hotel has photographs and memorabilia of his stay.
The crime novelist Arthur Upfield lived at Bermagui for a time in the 1950s. His novel ‘Mystery of Swordfish Reef’ (1960), starts at Bermagui with the disappearance of a boat.
The story was probably inspired by the fate of geologist Lamont Young who was sent from Sydney to inspect the new goldfields at Bermagui in 1880, and who along with four others, mysteriously disappeared.
Behind Bermagui lies Gulaga (Mount Dromadery) which was sighted by Captain Cook on his Australian discovery voyage. Between Gulaga and Bermagui, Wallaga Lake offer visitors a wealth of activities including many water sports and bush walks. One of which is climbing the magnificent Mount Dromadery, which is on the other side of the lake which my parent's place looks over. This mountain has been in the news all week thanks to an alleged bungled back burn by NSW Forestry that turned into a blaze that is still going and has destroyed most of the vegetation on the mountain and caused townships in the area of the mountain to either be evacuated or for preperations to be put in place. Tilba Tilba, a country town hideaway gem was close to evacuation and this would have been devastating if this town went up. It makes some of the BEST cheeses in the area and is a small art and historic town well worth a visit.
All the photos in this article are either taken by myself or my mum and are all of either hers or my stepdad's artwork or from the property itself. All the pics of flowers I took this morning and these are only but a small sample of the nature on this place.
It should also be noted that Dragon's Lair has a BnB styled Studio Lakeside Retreat that is open for bookings. I am trying to get a website finished for them in the next few weeks but accomodation can be checked out via HERE
On one side of my parents 3 acre property, known as Dragon's Lair, is the stunning and inspiring Wallaga Lake, on the other side, you can hear and walk to the amazing ocean and it's spectacular beach, Camel Rock. This beach is about 10km's long and you can walk all the way into Bermagui if you choose or relax on the beach, fish or surf until your heart's content.
I love coming here for many reasons, the first reason is mum's cooking and big family open plan home that is more art gallery than house. Both my parental units are artists, my mum is a renowned ceramicist (potter) who has been doing her work for over 20yrs and has international awards for her work - least of all The Wedgewood International Tea Pot competition. My Stepfather is internationally recognised as one of the longest succesful wood turners in the world who has travelled world wide exhibiting and lecturing on woodturning and it's many areas. Small Plug for them: You can see both of their works around the country in many art galleries but most locally at the CRAFT NSW GALLERY in the Rocks at Sydney.
I also love coming here to unwind, the place is set on 3 acres of gardens on the edge of The Montreal Goldfields. The gardens are all the parental's work and have thousands of natives and exotic plants. They also get visited by hundreds of different types of birds and wildlife, yesterday afternoon before dinner I watched multiple kangaroos come up to the house and saw for my first time a joey sitting in the pouch of mamma kangaroo - way cool, but crap, a pouch would be awkward.
The quiet coastal town and fishing harbour of Bermagui is one of the prettiest and most peaceful sights on the Sapphire Coast. The area was first settled by Europeans in the 1830's. This area is the home of the Yuin aboriginal community and there is much here of cultural and historical interest.
The port at Bermagui was established in the 1830s for the local dairy farmers and the town, planned in 1867, quickly developed into a fishing harbour. Gold was found on the Bermagui River late in the nineteenth century but the rush was short-lived as finds were disappointing.
In spring the warm currents brought Marlin and Yellowfin Tuna close to the coast and charter boats would take divers, deep-sea and game anglers out to sea.
One of the most notable figures to exploit this aspect of Bermagui was American author of ‘westerns’, Zane Grey who wrote of his experiences in An American Angler in Australia (1937) and his posthumously published novel, Wilderness Fresh. The town park is named after him and the local hotel has photographs and memorabilia of his stay.
The crime novelist Arthur Upfield lived at Bermagui for a time in the 1950s. His novel ‘Mystery of Swordfish Reef’ (1960), starts at Bermagui with the disappearance of a boat.
The story was probably inspired by the fate of geologist Lamont Young who was sent from Sydney to inspect the new goldfields at Bermagui in 1880, and who along with four others, mysteriously disappeared.
Behind Bermagui lies Gulaga (Mount Dromadery) which was sighted by Captain Cook on his Australian discovery voyage. Between Gulaga and Bermagui, Wallaga Lake offer visitors a wealth of activities including many water sports and bush walks. One of which is climbing the magnificent Mount Dromadery, which is on the other side of the lake which my parent's place looks over. This mountain has been in the news all week thanks to an alleged bungled back burn by NSW Forestry that turned into a blaze that is still going and has destroyed most of the vegetation on the mountain and caused townships in the area of the mountain to either be evacuated or for preperations to be put in place. Tilba Tilba, a country town hideaway gem was close to evacuation and this would have been devastating if this town went up. It makes some of the BEST cheeses in the area and is a small art and historic town well worth a visit.
All the photos in this article are either taken by myself or my mum and are all of either hers or my stepdad's artwork or from the property itself. All the pics of flowers I took this morning and these are only but a small sample of the nature on this place.
It should also be noted that Dragon's Lair has a BnB styled Studio Lakeside Retreat that is open for bookings. I am trying to get a website finished for them in the next few weeks but accomodation can be checked out via HERE
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Comment by Morgan Bell
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what a talented family
Comment by Wilson Pon
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PS: A big credits to the breathtaking pictures, especially the Wallaga Lake!
Comment by Jason King
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The parents are very talented - mum annoys me - every time she touches anything to do with art it's amazing.
Mum also says thanks - she has had a nice little ego boost this morning.
Wallaga Lake is beautiful Wislon - you would love it.
Comment by Lara M
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Love the name of the property! Looks absolutely amazing and serene...
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
The parents are obsessed with The Lord of the Rings and Toklein. Stepdad's first property was called Rivendell and this one is named Dragon's Lair because of the 8ft dragon with 12 ft wing span dragon that sits in the lounge room. Pretty sure this property is a small homage to The Hobbit.