Road trip: NSW Far South Coast

Amooran Oceanside Apartments are set into one of Narooma’s foothills and the east-facing rooms have an unobstructed view over to Montague Island. It’s also a downhill stroll to the Narooma Golf Club, which makes the makes the decision on where to have dinner infinitely easier.

A dog-friendly accommodation, Oakleigh Farm Cottages has a history dating back to the 19th century. The spacious, country-style cabins are perched on expansive hillside lawns in an enviable eyrie with views to Montague Island. A communal hut has table tennis, a yawning fireplace, cosy lounges and a barbecue and BYO bar area. Oakleigh is also a working sheep farm. Friendly horses Charmer (an ex-racehorse) and Tex (a spotted horse that looks like he’s never even seen a racetrack) are in the next paddock and will entertain a pat, especially around breakfast time. Chooks are let out of their pen each morning and come running up to our cottage, clucking and pecking at the grass.

Until recently, Tathra was familiar to mountain bikers, holidaymakers, and pretty much no one else. It hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons back in March, when the town came under threat from bushfire and subsequently affected tourism, with some business owners believing the town is doing about half the business it normally would. A total of 66 homes were lost to the bushfire, and more than 150 were damaged in the blaze, including an old motor park that was entirely destroyed.

 

One property damaged was Tathra Beachside Holiday Park, which belongs to renowned entertainer Frankie J. Holden. From its grounds, you can look up the hill to the ridge, where brown leaves and blackened trunks still stand testament to the conflagration. It reached the shoreline on fireballs that rocketed down on 100km/h winds. Although the park lost a couple of cabins, Frankie doesn’t dwell on it or add to the negative media reports, focusing instead on how Tathra is bouncing back and very much open for business. “This is a great time to come to the Sapphire Coast,” says Frankie. “A lot of people still have the misconception that, ‘Oh, the South Coast is cold!’ But we call a typical winter’s day ‘blue sky winters’. You need your jacket on when you first get up, but by ten o’clock or ten-thirty you take it off, then you put it back on at about four-thirty.”

When it comes to luxury cabins, you’ll be hard-pressed to find anywhere better than NRMA Merimbula Beach Holiday Resort. The clifftop ocean condo is palatial, with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a gas fireplace in the living room. In fact, ‘cabin’ is a misnomer; it’s a house that happens to be in a holiday park. You’ll be glad of your NRMA Membership discount, especially in the high season, but in the cooler months it feels well worth the outlay.