Merry Beach, Bateman's Bay area

How good is this!  We went to a gorgeous spot on the NSW South Coast called Merry Beach.  I kid you not, and the next beach around the headland was Pretty Beach (and it was).  We had a super relaxing time with Dave as you can see in these photos.  Dave's daughters have these permanent vans setup opposite each other and they were kind enough to allow the three of us use of the holiday park.  Being mid-week and outside school holidays, there were few people there.  Sitting around the fire with a cuppa takes some beating.


Dave and I have the tradition of always having a surf whenever we catch up anywhere near the beach.  This can be challenging when the water temperature drops.  This wasn't as cold as Bulli in winter, but it certainly was 'refreshing'.  The water was crystal clear as you can clearly see in this photo of us in the waves.  We spent several hours investigating the rock pools and interesting formations below the cliffs.






There were several walks through the bushland, along the headlands, on the beaches and across the rock ledges.  Around each bend a fresh spectacular view was waiting.  This photo looks south from Snapper Point Lookout.
Below are a couple of photos showing Pretty Beach, a pleasant 30 minute walk from Merry beach.
Everyone knows that I am the world's least successful fisherman.  Actually, the only two fish I have caught (up until this beauty) were when one ended up in our yabby net and couldn't get out and the other was hooked through the tail as I wound in the line!
This fella was tossed onto the rock platform by a large wave before our eyes.  As it lay struggling in 10 cm of water, I casually walked over and picked it up, Chris took a photo for proof, and then I tossed it back into the sea because neither Dave nor I knew how to clean it for cooking.  Talk about its lucky day!