NSW to Parth Tues 2/4 19 Gerringong

Ros had to work on Tues so Hans was our tour guide for the day. First priority was a coffee at his favourite cafe downtown. I say downtown advisedly because Gerringong is a small town on some very steep hills. Not push bike country. We then walked down to the boat harbour and I was cross with myself because I forgot to take my camera.  It was a beautiful little bay  enclosed by rocky cliffs which had a seapool built by the early residents. There were originally 3 pools: one for men, one for women and one for children. The remaining one was very tempting and I wished that I had my bathers. From there we climbed up the adjacent headland through the most beautifully located cemetary. It was absolutely prime real estate and very farsighted of the early settlers to annex this piece of land. The graves dated from the late 1800's.
Our next stop was in complete contrast as it was The Seven Mile Beach. This is an expanse of golden sand that is very firm and comfotable to walk on.  We went for a walk and I was intrigued by the sand dunes. This beach is exposed to strong winds and the despite the firm sand the wind pushes up dunes about 1 metre high in parallel rows across vulnerable sections of the beach. We had a delicious lunch in a cafe nearby.
Ros had mentioned a rain forest walk as a local attraction and Hans obligingly drove us out there. It was a 2 km walk up hill on boardwalks to a pretty waterfall. I posted the photo in a previous batch. The walk was lovely and not too strenuous. The real highlight though was hearing a Lyrebird singing his repertoire including a rather croaky kookaburra at the end. The other calls: magpie, bell bird, wood chopping and some I didn't recognise he had off pat. It was about 4pm by the time we were quietly walking back to the entrance and we came upon 6 Lyrebirds scratching around near the path. They took off once they realised we were there but I did manage to get a slightly blurred photo of two of them.
By the time we arrived home Ros was almost home from work and when we were organised we went off to the local club to eat again and continue catching up after 20 years of exchanging news in Christmas cards.