Moulting Lagoon, Swanwick, September 2015

Last weekend we had tried to make this trip, but found that for some reason Wanda's car battery was flat.  So instead we had had a quiet weekend at home while the battery charged! This weekend there was no stopping us.  We set off on Saturday morning and enjoyed a warm scenic drive up the East Coast.

At Orford we stopped for our gourmet ploughman's lunch at Raspin's Beach.  The previous campground here has been closed and some excellent conservation work has been done on the foreshore to protect the birds and marine life.  A pleasant unsealed walking/cycling trail has been built from Raspin's Beach through Orford and round to Spring Bay.

Raspin's Beach

We stopped to visit Spiky Bridge for the first time in many years.  It is an amazing structure, still very solid.

Spiky Bridge

We also visited Spiky Beach, just across the highway from the bridge.  This is a lovely pristine little beach with great views over to Freycinet.

 

For overnight camping we chose the Moulting Lagoon Game Reserve Campground, on the River and Rocks Road just before the turnoff to Swanwick.  This is a pleasant free campsite, with (as it is still the off season) plenty of room with grassed and under tree sites to choose from.

Just over the sand dune is Moulting Lagoon, a conservation area where the shooting of ducks in that season is still permitted (hence the name "Game Reserve"). When we walked onto the wide beachin the twilight we were amazed to see thousands (millions?) of tiny red and blue crabs coming out of their holes and scuttling towards the waterline.

Robert was pleased to try out our new travelling barbecue, table and chairs, and also tested out our house battery charger (for luck).

Everything passed with flying colours.

On the Sunday we made our way up past Bicheno to Apsley Gorge for a short walk - which turned into a long walk.  Read more about that on our Walk a Month blog.