Bega and Tathra

Hello everyone,

We had fish and chips for dinner at “home” last night. Eliza was in a hilarious mood, making a mess and laughing so much. She then occupied herself playing with the recycling, plastic plates and bowls, and climbing the stairs outside. We chatted to some other travellers that were missing their grandkids and enjoyed waving to her. But I jinxed myself yesterday, as we were up for our usual 2am cuddles today. I’m enjoying them though as one day I’ll miss them. Nothing a coffee and washing my face can’t fix.

When we got up today it was pouring rain which we expected. We planned a day of wet weather activities as a result. Our first stop was Bega and the Cheese Heritage Centre. Eliza started off terrified of the cow and horse sculptures, but eventually warmed to them and even gave them a pat. She loved visiting overall as there was a huge flight of stairs that her and another little boy kept climbing up and down (and holding up a queue of tourist bus people!) and she ate her body weight in cheese samples. I figured who can tell a toddler off for going back a few times?! She likes cheese as much as both of her parents!!

The exhibit was interesting as we got to see the original wooden cheese factory from 1869 which was moved and reassembled inside, and a lot of old machinery that used to be involved in making butter and cheese in the Bega Valley area. But it lacked proper signage and information about the history of the site. I ended up doing a bit of a Google search to find some information. Bega Cheese began as a small butter factory established in 1899 and has grown into one of Australia’s best known dairy brands (they also incapsulate Farmer’s Union, Yoplait, Vegemite and more these days). The company still remains connected to its homegrown town of Bega and expanded from local milk and butter production to cheese manufacturing, creating lots of jobs in the area and supporting local dairy farmers.

It was raining quite heavily as we left, so we drove into the town of Bega and visited the Bega Pioneers’ Museum, housed in an old hotel building constructed in 1857. The entrance was the original bar. Eliza was such a good girl here, walking around and pointing at things and taking it all in. It was basically a collection of old items and photographs from the area which occupied us for the best part of an hour. Eliza made me laugh when she pointed at a painting of an old bearded man and said “dada”. You’ll see how unimpressed Rob looks in the photo I’ve included! We particularly found the part outside that included an old tractor steam engine and Bega’s first ambulance, that looked like a big silver refrigerated truck to us.

We had a quick bakery lunch in town and then hopped in the car for Eliza’s nap. By this time it had stopped raining for the most part. We drove back to Merimbula via Tathra, which was a nice little coastal town. I don’t have any photos except for one from a lookout carpark because Eliza was asleep! We’ve gotten really good at communicating silently and opening and closing the car doors quietly. She had a really decent car nap just over an hour today. Once back in Merimbula we headed to Woolies and Aldi to buy Eliza some snacks. She ate three free bananas and was so vocal and cute running around in the shops that people later recognised her in the street and said “look, it’s the banana kid!” I love her vibrant personality, she turns heads everywhere we go.

We headed home and then went for a walk on the beach. She kept trying to run into the cold water in her clothes! So we wore her out at the playground for a while instead (and saw our lorikeet friends again!) and then went home. Tonight we had dinner at a restaurant called Dulcie’s Cottage housed in a 100 year old cottage. It was really disappointing. The cottage itself was very cute and atmosphere nice, but they didn’t have high chairs. We should have left at that point, but we didn’t. Our burgers were nice but very expensive and we spent our meal alternating running around with Eliza while the other ate quickly. It was not worth what we paid, but these things happen.

Tomorrow we drive to Wollongong. We’ve really enjoyed Merimbula, especially in the off season out of school holidays. It’s been relaxing and really enjoyable as a family.

Love to all,
Claire
Xoxox