NSW South Coast

Ocean-washed beaches for swimming, fishing, sun-bathing extend all the way from Berry to the Victorian border. But the South Coast has much, much more than beaches.

Just ask the Sydneysiders, who return time and time again to favourite holiday haunts -to tourist centres, historic towns, fishing villages and secluded havens around Jervis Bay and Sussex Inlet, to places with such serendipitous names as Mollymook, Ulladulla, Narooma, Bermagui, Merimbula and Pambula.

There are all the makings for adventure holidays — bushwalking, canoeing, horse riding, four-wheel drive tracks and rock climbing, with the special challenge of Pigeon House Mountain, west of Ulladulla. Tranquillity and beauty are conducive to lazy days, the waterways and ocean to swimming, surfing, boating and fishing,

You’ll find quieter waters at Sussex Inlet, Lake Conjola and the unusual twin-lakes system at Tuross. The surf rolls in to a multitude of sandy beaches between Shoalhaven Heads and Eden. Some are tucked away along the George Bass Drive, starting from Bateman’s Bay, a circular drive which passes the beauty spots of Broulee and Mossy Point before rejoining the Princes Highway just north of Moruya. Narooma, in a peaceful seaside setting, has a spectacular golf course.

Offshore is Montague Island, of yachting fame. It is a closed sanctuary but, from the water, you can see its rocky foreshores and playful penguins.

Further down the coast is the Bega Valley famous for its cheeses, with its colonial townships and rich pastureland.