If you’re searching for a pet friendly camping site on the south coast of NSW, look no further than Mystery Bay, located near the town of Narooma – the name said to be derived from the Aboriginal word meaning ‘clear blue waters’.
After our first stay during the school holidays in January, my family and I promised to go back to what we believe to be nature’s most special place for man and his best friend. So back we went to Mystery Bay for the Easter long weekend!
With Eurobodalla National Park to its north and south, Mystery Bay campground is scattered throughout the native bush overlooking the ocean and spectacular cliff top views. If you get close to the cliff edge and stretch your hand out, you might just get mobile phone reception. But who needs to be in touch with people when you have your dog at your feet and pieces of heaven all around you?
And when they say pet friendly, they really mean pet friendly! There are general rules to follow like any campsite, such as keeping your dog on a lead and cleaning up after your dog. Some campers seemed to have missed that memo, but it’s hard to complain when everyone is so friendly and welcoming of each other’s pets.
Waiting in line to the pit toilets can actually turn into a fun affair as you meet like-minded dog lovers and chat away about your pets and your camping experiences. Yes, there are pit toilets; although, it’s not as bad as it might sound. And no hot showers…. oh, and the showers are outside in public view. Just wear your cozzies, hold your breath (cold!) and scrub quickly.
Besides the wonderful little walking paths, the beach is breathtaking and I think enjoyed best during sunrise and sunset. Like other beaches in the area, the Mystery Bay seaside boasts remarkable large rocks, which at low tide become rock pools. In fact, I met a lady walking her daughter’s two Vizslas on the beach and she said the dogs love to catch fish near the rock pools and even pawed out an octopus the day before!
Cruz was not interested in catching fish with his new Vizsla friends. Instead, he rolled around in the sand and chucked seaweed into the air, which did not amuse the canine fishers. That’s all right – we went on to play soccer, or at least tried to because Cruz kept running off with the ball in his mouth. My 6 yo daughter yelled ‘it’s a foot game Cruz, not a mouth game!’ Will he ever learn?
The night before we left, one of the campers mentioned how Mystery Bay got its name – something about a dead child that washed up on the shore. That’s awful and creepy, considering it is pitch black if I have to walk to the toilets in the middle of the night! I checked the Geographical Names Board of NSW which states Mystery Bay was named after the unexplained disappearance of five men in 1880. All that was found was their abandoned and wrecked boat washed up on the reef.
The real mystery behind Mystery Bay though is the disappearance and reappearance of my daughter’s thongs, one sandal at a time! We lost one in the sand and found it the following day, only to lose the other one on the way back to the campsite and then located it our last day during a game of beach soccer. Talk about going flip flops!
Can’t wait to go again!
