Peaceful Retreats of the Far South Coast

Dairy farms, fishing and long stretches of coastal national park are all part of the landscape of this tranquil region.

Following the Pacific Highway south from Batemans Bay takes visitors through some of the most scenic countryside in Australia. Staggeringly beautiful coastal scenery, verdant pastures where dairy farming has been practised for generations, untouched rainforests and picture-postcard glimpses await you around every turn.

Batemans Bay lies 280 kilometres south of Sydney at the mouth of the Clyde River. Fishing is popular in both the river and along the coast, with plentiful catches of tuna, marlin, snapper and kingfish. Just south is Old Mogo Town, an imaginative and entertaining theme park showing life as it was during the gold rush period of the 1850s.

The fertile farmlands around such towns as Central Tilba and Tilba Tilba have occasioned a renowned dairy and cheese-making industry. At Central Tilba, which has a quaint streetscape of wooden houses, there is a cheese museum highlighting the processes involved.

Cobargo, inland from Bermagui, is also known for its historic wooden buildings and gracious main street. Bermagui is a fishing port on the river of the same name and close to the Wallaga Lake National Park.

Bega, 430 kilometres south of Sydney, is the major commercial centre of the region renowned for its cheese production, with a heritage centre open to the public. Further south at Tathra is a heritage-listed timber wharf erected in the 1860s – one of only six in existence. An adjoining maritime museum is of great interest to all the family.

The 5,800 hectare Mimosa Rocks National Park is just north of Tathra. Created in 1973, it stretches 17 kilometres along the coast and takes in beaches, lagoons and headlands.

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Eden was originally established as a whaling station, although these days visitors prefer to watch whales cruise past as part of their spring pilgrimage. A whaling museum tells the story of the town, and visitors should also explore the 10,500 hectare Ben Boyd National Park, which encompasses Twofold Bay.