July has rolled around pretty fast and we are surprised to learn that it’s the “Winter School holidays”. If we had been in the UK still, at this time of year it would be the long school summer holidays. However, for Australians it’s a shorter 2 week break from school.
Despite it still being winter and chilly in the mornings, we were delighted to find that lots of the days were blue skies and sunny!
Having had our fair share of winter colds we decided to venture out to the coast for a few days break, keeping our fingers crossed that the weather report was true and that it would be warmer there. Living in Canberra we are lucky to have a choice of beach destinations to choose from, many of which are all only 2 – 3 hours drive away – which by Australian standards is no distance at all.
We chose to head to Merimbula for a few days. This is only around 3 – 4 hours drive from Canberra, basically driving East through the Snowy Mountains. There had not been snow yet but the scenery and views enroute were still spectacular.
Driving the Monaro Highway with the music pumping was a delight as the roads are easy going and there were no cars in sight. We stopped off in Cooma which is a small town which must get snowy later in the season because there were plenty of flashing Snowman signs outside the shops.
We later stopped off at Bemboka the “Village in a Valley” where we were recommended to drive the scenic way to the coast. We were glad we did as the drive was so pretty. This rural area reminded me of some of the scenery in Wales.
Once we arrived in Merimbula we found we had stumbled upon a little bit of paradise. Merimbula is on the Far South Coast, also called the Sapphire Coast for it’s brilliant blue waters.
Merimbula is spectacular, being situated on Merimbula Lake there are plenty of beaches to choose from and gorgeous sunsets. We were also delighted to find that the coast was 10 degrees warmer than Canberra. We stayed at the NRMA Merimbula Beach Holiday Park. Our caravan was cute and cosy and such a delight to find the lights and heater on for us as we arrived just after dark. (Note to self buy a road map – do not reply on your mobile phone navigation as if the phone battery is used up you will find yourself a bit stuck!)
The holiday park was ideal for Bella because it offered children’s activities, including a jumping pillow, face-painting, craft activities and more. There are also splash pads and swimming pool on site, as well as pedal go-karts that you can hire and pedal furiously to get around the park in!
There is plenty to do in the Merimbula area including the chance to explore different beaches like Tuthra beach and Pambula beach or drive down the coast a little to Eden, another spectacularly beautiful area. Despite it being the winter holidays, we got to enjoy lovely sunny days of around 18 degrees Celsius, which would be a UK summer temp!
While staying in the area we also drove down to Eden and admired the pretty viewpoint. We weren’t lucky enough to see whales, but later in the year you can often see them when they migrate and travel past the coastline here.
After enjoying the local sights and beaches for a couple of days we decided to drive home a different way – up the coast and to look back around, rather go directly back the way we had come from. This meant that we could explore more of the coastline and see some of the beautiful beaches further up the coast too.
This plan also meant we could call into the Bega cheese factory which was an unexpected delight. We got to sample the different varieties of Bega cheese which were delicious!
We also stopped off at Mystery Bay and Potato Point in Eurobodalla National Park. Both of which were magical. The deserted Mystery Bay was quite beautiful and when we arrived at Potato Point we were lucky enough to see a spectacular amount of Australian wildlife. First off a Lyrebird wandering by the side of the road. Then when we parked up we were greeted by the sight of a wild Emu and Kangaroos and wallabies. Amazing!
We enjoyed Merimbula so much that we’d love to go back again another time.
