An experimental day today. I left the Olympus and my beloved 17mm f1.8 lens in my bag all day and focused (yes I went there) on using my iPhone X camera exclusively. Post processing was done with Lightroom Mobile and all images uploaded via a mobile WordPress app. Sooooooo no computer today. Why I hear you ask? Well why not. Mixing things up a little and virtually no post processing of images, just resizing. Please give positive/negative feedback in the comments section.

Mallacoota or ‘Coota’ as written on the bar ladies’ shirts at the local pub, is a sleepy little place with huge potential. In high season, it is jam packed full of tourists. That’s at Christmas time 6 months away. We virtually have the place to ourselves, all of those other tourists have their caravans up in Queensland at the moment. No one over 65 is left in NSW or Victoria; apparently it is a law. That may not be totally accurate, however Erin tells me that Palm Cove is overflowing with grey nomads right now, seeking the warm temperatures of a FNQ winter.

Getting back to Coota…there is simply so much you can do if you are an outsidy kinda person. Fishing, surfing, kayaking/canoeing, waterskiing, walking trails, mountain biking trails, boat rides, beach walking; it goes on and on. The bakery is everything that you would want from a small country town, with chilli beef pies to die for. Not to mention that the pub dinner surpasses any, and I mean any, chicken parmigiana I have previously eaten. OMG it was good, the tomato- based sauce was freshly made, the chicken an actual chicken breast and the complement of cheese and everything else was divine. It would be worth the drive in here just for the Parmi.

Travelling south from the camping ground, this time on our mountain bikes, we stumble across a well laid out path that leads us to cliff tops and lookouts for the beaches. Rocky ancient decaying mounds are bursting out of the sand in each cove, littering our infinitely serene view.

Damn we missed the tide by three hours, there is water where sand should be. At Secret Bay, we clamber up a rocky headland, using shrubbery as hand holds to the top of the saddle and then a sand slide back down to the beach on the other side. Again, along the beach towards the next headland. Picking the sets and judging the wave action, we just manage to run around the rocky outcrop to find a hidden gem. A cave in the rock mountain at the beach. Just like the movies, where the tide comes in and fills the cave and access is ONLY when the tide is low. Three entrances, and something small that kept flying in and out. It may have been a microbat or a small bird. Perhaps this is where the vampire bats actually live. No time to stop and check, as we needed to get back before our only choice was to swim home.

Going home, was a combination of beach riding, trail riding, road riding and beer. Not necessarily in that order.

Shells littered the beach, spirals, snail, stars and the occasional crab. New life was all around, new growth amongst the fire ravaged tree trunks. Mallacoota was one of the worst affected regions from the 2019 bushfires. Thick sea grass and sea weed rolling up to the shoreline. Ducks in the wetlands, black swans in the lakes, lizards, bugs, snakes … Life moves on…