Day 9 Boydtown to Tathra -70 kms

Packed and left Boydtown around 8.00 am and rode to Eden for breakfast in a cafe. Encountered the first hill where we had to get off and walk. It seems any gradient that is 10% or more is too hard for us fully loaded.  Prior to this we rode up every hill.  It seems that the NSW hills often have much steeper gradients than the Victorian ones.

Stocked up with water and got some gas for the stove at Eden then headed off for Merimbula.

Stopped in Merimbula which is a beautiful spot but the town is very commercialized around tourism. We grabbed some rolls, cold meat and salad mix from the supermarket and made ourselves lunch which we ate by the water.  Joe replenished the library at the local Salvos.  Great value.

After lunch we rode on to Tathra (more hills and a bit more walking).  The road out of Merimbula was incredibly steep and long.  In the heat it seemed to take forever to get up. Tathra is a very pretty spot and quite undeveloped. I went for a swim but the water was full of brown weed so I was reluctant to put my head under the water. There was a group of kids getting surfing lessons.

We took advantage of the public shower (cold) & change rooms to wash off layers of sweat and sunscreen before spending the rest of the afternoon in a beach side cafe overlooking the historic wharf

At 5.00 pm we headed off to find a campsite. Ended up at the Seabreeze Motor Village where we paid $20 for a tent site. While setting up Tony was bitten twice by these big ants with massive mandibles.  Ever seen a grown man scream like a girl??? We got some pictures of the ants, but in the excitement of the moment got confused about which picture was the right ant.  Which one do you think it was?

We just got set up when it started to rain which continued all night. Fortunately the park had  a covered BBQ area where we were able to cook dinner under shelter.  We had company for dinner in the form of a possum who was clearly bored with our witty and scintillating conversation.