What's new at Nelligen?

New Year's Eve at "Riverbend"

2011-12-30T11:00:00.004+11:00

Happy New Year to you all! (well, to the ONE person reading this blog ☺ )

Last chance!

2011-12-24T15:45:00.014+11:00

31 Sproxton Lane, Nelligen, $750,000

"Last vacant block in Sproxton Lane. Moor your boat out the front and build your dream home. WON’T LAST!! Exceptional opportunity to own deep-water front on the banks of the beautiful Clyde River.

The land is situated in a rural setting but close to the historical town of Nelligen and only a few minutes drive from Batemans Bay CBD and beaches on the coast. ENQUIRIES: DAVID 02 4478 1105"

So runs the advertisement by the local real estate agent. $750,000 is a lot of money for a piece of dirt just 19 metres wide and 85 metres long. 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself' because you'll never be far away from them. ☺

If it sells, we can expect another six months of building noise. We will be somewhat insulated from it down here at the end of the lane, but spare a thought for the new owners of # 33 who've just spent close to a million dollars for a bit of peace and quiet!

Nelligen gets seal of approval

2011-09-16T12:33:00.002+10:00

Nelligen has a new, high profile resident - complete with flippers, fur and fangs.

An Australian fur seal bull took up residence at the Thule Road boat ramp in Nelligen about three weeks ago, and has made himself at home ever since.

Nelligen residents say the seal spends plenty of time in the water, but the boat ramp is his favourite patch of land.

“I don’t know how he got here, he must be lost,” a nearby resident said.

“He must be getting a feed in the river.”

The resident said that boat owners had tried to retrieve their vessel via the ramp recently but had been unable to do so because the seal didn’t feel like moving.

“He just comes out of the water, has a scratch and a yawn, lies there and goes to sleep,” he said.

“When people get near him, he just opens one eye, then closes it.”

The resident said that someone had tried to feed the seal sardines on Monday.

“It was no good; he didn’t take it,” he said.

Nelligen Café proprietor Rick Patman said it was thought the seal followed the cruise boat Merinda up from Batemans Bay.

“My daughter has named him Luka,” he said. “He’s a very good fisherman - he’s cleaned out our fish stocks.”

Nelligen oyster farmer Rick Christensen has reported seeing a smaller seal near the oyster leases near Nelligen.

National Parks and Wildlife Service ranger Libby Shields said that the two seals were unlikely to be related in any way.

“They are fairly solitary animals,” she said.

Ms Shields said that seal numbers were on the increase and this would explain the bull’s appearance.

“They are popping up all over the place,” she said.

By law, people are required to stay at least 40 metres from a seal.

“We realise this is difficult in such a place but they can get aggressive, so we would advise people for their own safety not to get close to him, try to feed him or let their dogs get close to him,” she said.

She said that the NPWS would not relocate the seal or take any other measures.

“He looks fine so we won’t intervene.”

Why not on the Clyde ?

2011-01-05T08:51:00.004+11:00

Today's news is good news:

*Water hoon has jet ski impounded*

Police have impounded a jet ski for the first time in Victoria.

Police say a man was racing the watercraft eight times over the speed limit on the Yarra River in Melbourne this afternoon.

Water Police gave chase to St Kilda and arrested the 20-year-old man.

He is expected to be charged with a number of offences including the dangerous operation of a vessel.

ABC News

Don't leave Nelligen without it!

2011-01-01T14:59:00.002+11:00

The question on everyone's lips, stylishly posed on a self-adhesive bumper sticker, is now available at Rick's Café for $3.50.

What's for sale, the handrail or the house?

2010-12-28T21:27:00.034+11:00

Click on image for close-up
A bit in-your-face, this marketing campaign, don't you think?

P.S.

I've since heard that it is the house that's for sale, at $1,990,000 -- and that includes the handrail! However, with such humble pricetag there was no money left over for a professionally painted FOR SALE sign. [Here] it is and [here] and [here] and also [here]!

Mind you, two blocks farther down at the peaceful end of the lane you can buy [Riverbend] for just $10,000 more. For that you get 17 times more land area and 17 times more waterfront, and a stately home which gracefully wears the patina of a bygone age. It exudes character while at the same time keeping all sorts of characters away because the nearest neighbours are SEVERAL HUNDRED metres distant, not watching from behind the fence!

Nelligen. Who knows where the name came from?

2010-12-25T13:14:00.015+11:00

Nobody seems to know, not even my wife who usually knows everything! ☺

As Stuart Magee explains in his beautiful little volume of local history, The Rivers and the Sea, "the need for the place arose in the 1850s when Braidwood and its satellites such as Majors Creek, Araluen and Mongarlowe were up to their ears in the explosion of people and commerce surrounding the discovery of gold.

The movement of goods, people and information between Braidwood and Sydney was chancy and oh so slow. Depending on the weather, bullock trains might take three weeks or three months. Horse-drawn carriage or dray was usually quicker but limited in capacity and expensive. Down the mountain lay the very navigable Clyde and thence a 24-hour run by steamship to Sydney. There was, as I understand the historian Reynolds, some competition between Currowan and Nelligen as to which would receive Braidwood's blessing, and Nelligen won out.

So, in the 1850s, the town was laid out and the road from Braidwood was opened. And a tough road it was too. There is a number of old photos showing the grim results of teams of horses and bullocks going over the side of the Clyde Mountain road.

Nelligen boomed! Over the next 20 years there arose four pubs, two stores, a blacksmith, a bakery, a police station, a court-house, schools, churches and a post office, Above all was the terminal building of the Illawarra Steam Navigation Company. If today you were to set up your picnic in that nice little park between the general store and the wharf, you would be smack in the middle of the 126 x 45 feet ISNC's jetty and store (oh, very well then, 38 x 14 metres). Twice a week the steamers plied between Nelliugen and Sydney, stopping at the far less consequential village of Batemans Bay on the way. The size of some of the paddle-steamers, and later screw-steamers, is astonishing. The Kembla, a paddle-steamer in use on the Clyde from 1861, was 183 feet long. The S.S. Moruya was 150 feet and 530 tons. The S.S. Allowrie was 180 feet. It ran aground on a mudflat in the river on one occasion and had to await the high tide to float it off. The last steamer to call at the Port of Nelligen was in 1952 - 99 years after the first."

But the goldfields centering on Braidwood started to run down, then the timber industry went into decline, and, Stuart continues in his little book, "after such a pivotal role in the development of the southern parts of the state, Nelligen has been deserted even by the highway and left to fend for itself.

All up and down the coast the faces of small towns are being tarted up and titivated by tourist-boards and enthusiastic councils. But Nelligen remains untouched and unimpressed by such progress. Not even the modern marvels of reticulated water and sewerage have imposed themselves upon it.

If I lived there I would hope not to see it change. But you sense it may just be resting after its great exertions and sooner or later some bright spark will again see it as the right place to do heroic things." (reproduced with Stuart's permission)

There is so much more in this delightful book but I won't spoil your anticipation as I am sure your local Angus & Robertson has a copy of this enjoyable read!

It's on for young and old ...

2010-12-15T19:17:00.017+11:00

... the Sproxton Lane Street Party!

I'll let you know if it turns out to be anything like this!

P.S. Nick, I am told even Greeks and Germans are welcome!

As a precaution wear your Bali crash-helmet with your foustanella and pair of tsarouhia !

Don't worry about the fermeli as the weather will be quite hot.

All EARs!

2010-11-28T14:14:00.011+11:00

Our community radio, Eurobodalla Access Radio, has a full program of easy-listening music.

Our favourite announcer Marlies Jaksic is just an 'e' and an 's' short of being 'Deutsch'. She presents Nostalgia on Sundays from noon to 3 p.m. Take a bow, Marlies!

Marlise and most of the other presenters do requests so give them a call on 4474 3443 and ask for your favourite song!

Don't condemn Benny's condoms

2010-11-27T06:43:00.002+11:00

Benny is rebuilding his General Store which went up in flames earlier this year.

His innovative merchandising of placing DUREX right in between Chuppa Chups and Panadol is stretching it a bit (if you will pardon the pun), but then, Benny is a Kiwi just like Ian and Craig.

Ian and Craig were seen walking down a street in Bondi. Ian happens to look in one of the shop windows and sees a sign that catches his eye. The sign said 'Suits $10.00 each, Shirts $4.00 each, Trousers $5.00 per pair'.

Ian says to his pal, 'Craig, look! We could buy a whole lot of those, and whin we get beck to InZid, we could make a fortune. Now whin we go unto the shop, you be quiet, okay? Jist lit me do all the talking cause uf they hear our eccint, they might not be nice to us. I'll speak in my bist Aussie eccint.'

'No worries', smiled Craig, 'I'll keep my mouth shut.'

They go in and Ian says, 'I'll take fufty suits et $10.00 each, 100 shirts et $4.00 each, and fufty peers of trousers et $5.00 each. I'll beck up my truck end...'

The owner of the shop interrupts, 'You're from New Zealand, aren't you?'

'Will... Yis,' says a surprised Ian. 'How the hill dud you know thet?'

The owner says, 'This is a dry cleaners'.

Pedalling a Winnebiko around Australia

2010-11-24T09:57:00.013+11:00

Why in the world would anybody, at the age of sixty, in their right minds even think of packing up everything they owned, renting out their home, selling the car and riding push bikes, which at that time they did not even own, around Australia?

Well, Peter and Barbara Guppy, a retired couple from Moruya, 25km down the road from us, did just that in January 2008 - and they are still at it!

Read their blog [here] and [email them] a few words of encouragement!

Netting the big one!

2010-11-15T21:15:00.005+11:00

NSW Marine Parks Authority rangers have recently discovered an illegal mesh net within a Habitat Protection Zone in the Batemans Marine Park. The rangers found the net while conducting a routine patrol in the Clyde River, two kilometres upstream from Nelligen.

Acting Batemans Marine Park Manager, Julie Cooney, said that netting had been prohibited in the Clyde since the Batemans Marine Park Zoning Plan was adopted in 2007.

“All of the tidal waters of the Clyde River have been declared Habitat Protection where netting is banned,” Ms Cooney said.

“If you are caught netting in the Clyde you are liable to be fined up to $22,000."

Anyone with information about illegal netting in the Clyde River is urged to contact (02) 4476 0800. All information received will be treated with the strictest confidentiality.

It's catching!

2010-10-24T20:34:00.010+11:00

It seems that after the recent almost-a-million-dollar sale, others want to get in on the act:

Number 21 Sproxton Lane has gone on the market at $900,000. It was on the market last year - see [here] - but didn't find a buyer. It last sold in 2001 for $288,250.

It used to belong to my old friend Tony Finsterer who first got me interested in Nelligen - see [here].

The property next to it, Number 19, set a record in 2006 when it sold for $925,000.

SOLD! SOLD! SOLD!

2010-10-17T17:11:00.014+11:00

Well, there's still money around: the house up the lane sold for $970,000! People from Canberra bought it as their weekender!

That's almost a million dollars for a property of 1,500m² - or is it 1,800m²? - which makes Riverbend's seven-plus acres (approx. 30,000m²) look very cheap even at twice the price.

The selling agents were First National Real Estate in the Bay. Maybe I should talk to them?

One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind

2010-10-10T08:57:00.006+11:00

This weekend I learned, rather belatedly, something about the birds and the bees - well, bees mainly - as I watched hobby-apiatrist Dimitri (known to his friends as Jim because he's crazy!) got a buzz out of robbing his 20,000-plus bees of their labouriously collected honey.

Sunday's what?

2010-09-18T19:19:00.008+10:00

The Sproxton Lane house is open for inspection!

I am wondering how many house's these semi-literate agent's sell!

The last agent I employed spelt commission with one "m" and one "s". Maybe he should have spelt it "com'is'ion"?

I have passed the matter on to the Apostrophe Protection Society which fights for truth, justice and the abolition of the redundant apostrophe, which i's wedging it's way into place's where no apostrophe belong's.

Sproxton Lane house goes under the hammer!

2010-08-31T08:50:00.005+10:00

This one is at # 9 Sproxton Lane and the auction will be on October the 9th.

You'll never be late again for church ...

2010-08-08T07:44:00.017+10:00

... if you buy Nelligen's old St Joseph's Roman Catholic Church at 1 Runnyford Road.

The first church building on this site was of wood and the total cost including altar and furnishings was about 200 in the old money. The official opening took place on Sunday 24 November 1872 with the Right Reverend The Vicar General (Sheehy) conducting the opening ceremony. The Very Reverend Dean White of Braidwood was in attendance; the incumbent priest, the Reverend J J Garvey, delivered the sermon.

In late 1894 a tender was let to Mr William Isley of Braidwood to construct a new brick church for the growing congregation. The clay for the bricks was donated by Mr Charles McCauley and was dug from the "Racecourse Paddock". The records show that a working bee of sixteen woodcutters was formed from the congregation to cut wood for the firing of the bricks. The wood was donated by Mr Stephen Richardson, the Nelligen butcher. Some of the woodcutters were: Pat Egan, Mick Byrne, Dave Roughley, and Ben, Jim, Pat, Bob and Vincent McCauley. The cornerstone was laid on 24 October 1895 and the new church was opened in 1896.

Socially the Church served its local Catholic congregation for more than three quarters of a century and, being of local significance, has been on the State Heritage Register since 1997. Aesthetically the building, designed in a late Victorian Gothic, has an unusually slender tower and spire, and the building has the potential to reveal information about the stature of the local Catholic church at the end of the 19th century and about the size of the local congregation at that time and the availability of skilled tradesmen.

The Church withstood the many bushfires that have swept the area over the past 90 years and still stands today. Restoration work on the Church was commenced in 1976. A 'damp course' was installed and the majority of the interior plasterwork removed, having been degraded by 'rising damp'. The Church authorities decided that no further services were to be held in Nelligen and restoration work was stopped. The last official service held in the Church was the funeral Mass for Horst Jagow in April 1976.

The building was sold sometime in the late 1990 and converted to an art gallery. It was sold again in 2006 for $475,000 but the new owners never used it, and it has now gone back on the market for $565,000.

Investing in real estate being something of a new religion, here's your chance to combine the old with the new!

Yes we Canberra!

2010-07-28T08:59:00.007+10:00

Has a well-known "businessman" in Nelligen become the bellwether for the election on August the 21st?

As reported in the BAY POST, Nelligen businessman Rick Patman feeds many Eden-Monaro voters with his “all-day breakfasts” but says his vote depends on what Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott feed him.

"I might go Labor, it depends how the ranga bullshits,” Mr Patman said, referring to Ms Gillard and her distinctive red hair.

“Abbott has given me nothing to swing to him.”

Mr Patman has issued an open invitation to Ms Gillard to attend happy hour at 5pm today at the Steampacket Hotel.

Mr Patman said he could be swung by changes to the health system. His son is an asthmatic and he has experienced what he calls “understaffed hospitals”.

The 46-year-old shop owner said he had not seen Eden-Monaro Labor MP Mike Kelly.

To read more about the coffee-drinking swinging voters, pick up your copy of the BAY POST.

FINALLY! A better bus service to Canberra!

2010-07-22T09:54:00.012+10:00

Want to go to Canberra with pick-up from home and drop-off at individual places in and around Canberra?

Call Rixon Bus Service on 44744243 or email Sue at malandsue@southernphone.com.au.

This new bus service leaves from the bus stop at the newsagency in Orient Street every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday at around 8.30 am and arrives at Canberra Airport at around 10.30 am and Jolimont Centre in the City Centre at 10.45 am.

It leaves Jolimont Centre for its return trip to the coast at around 4.30 pm.

The cost is $30 one-way or $55 if you return on the same day's bus in the afternoon (you've got more than five hours' shopping time!)

If you want an individual home pick-up, add $10 to the fare.

A typical Clyde River scene

2010-07-12T17:03:00.003+10:00

Painted by local artist Ritchey Sealy

Progress in Nelligen?

2010-06-17T08:30:00.003+10:00

The Eurobodalla Shire Council on the New South Wales Far South Coast says its draft Villages Development Control Plan will help preserve the cultural heritage of key towns in the region.

The plan is now on public exhibition in Rick’s Nelligen Cafe, and submissions can be made until July 26.

Its aim is to preserve the cultural heritage of Nelligen, Bodalla, Central Tilba, Tilba Tilba, as well as the Tilba Conservation Area.

The Council's Strategy and Heritage Planner, Steve Halicki, says the plan will assist developers.

"To a certain degree the development control plan sets a vision for the development of those areas, and gives an expectation and certainty to developers what they can and can't do within those areas with their development," he said.

Council has booked the Nelligen hall for 4.00 to 7.00pm Tuesday 22 June for public discussion.

For more regional news, [click here].

After a long and extinguished career ...

2010-06-13T15:20:00.003+10:00

... I have been called to the bar!

Let's drink to that!

We have new neighbours!

2010-06-06T10:43:00.021+10:00

Richard and Wendy aboard the Seven Seas 37 ketch "Charon" anchored off "Riverbend" yesterday. They are from Hobart and will sail for tropical Queensland in a day or two. The best neighbours to have!

Richard taking a photo of their ketch from Riverbend

The four of us had dinner by the fireplace, washed it all down with mulled wine, and then started on our sing-a-long. Richard plays a mean honkytonk piano and I joined in with my squeezebox and it turned into a really great night.

[Click here] to read Richard and Wendy's sailing blog.

Don't spoil it by joining!

2010-05-02T12:12:00.006+10:00

The Nelligen Yacht Club, Australia's most exclusive yacht club with a membership of just ONE, is up and running.

Nelligen Iron Man

2010-04-26T16:45:00.003+10:00

Nelligen Iron(-ing) Man

Another sale gone up in smoke

2010-04-03T17:24:00.019+11:00

Remember Ye Olde Nelligen Store that was up for sale? Well, how much are you willing to pay for a pile of smouldering timber?

At 3 o'clock this morning Ye Olde Nelligen Store went up in smoke. It took more than two hours to control the blaze, which authorities say is not suspicious.

I guess this old webpage can now be consigned to history. [More]

Absolutely Necessary Accessorial Luxury!

2010-03-23T09:39:00.016+11:00

GOOD NEWS AT LAST!

Padma has gone into mass production of her hand-crochetted mobile phone pouch, so if your little heart desires this

Absolutely Necessary Accessorial Luxury,
place your order here.

The above photo shows the buttoned-down version which I personally recommend as it takes a long time to open which means you miss most of the incoming calls and thus saves yourself a lot of irritation (especially handy if you are an undischarged bankrupt, habitual womaniser, shonky tradesman, or sell real estate in Tonga).

"When Greek meets Grecophile"

2010-03-22T17:28:00.005+11:00

(more like a Κύκλωψ , if you ask me!)

Engine Room! Full Astern!

2010-03-15T12:39:00.002+11:00

I just heard this morning that Holland America Cruise Lines have cancelled tomorrow's arrival of MS Volendam at Batemans Bay. The Volendam will now be stopping at Eden on Tuesday 16th March.

Sunday morning

2010-02-28T11:47:00.000+11:00

Why Nelligen? Why not?

2010-02-26T08:15:00.033+11:00

Some people ask me why I retired at Nelligen, to which I reply, "Why not?" (I sometimes ask myself why I retired, full-stop, but that's a different story altogether.)

It all started in Canberra while I was still running my small computer consultancy Canberra Computer Accounting Systems and dabbling in tax and accounting work on the side. After I had solved a tax problem for a German friend, Tony Finsterer, for which I refused payment, he insisted that I stay at his weekend cottage at Nelligen.

For several months, I didn't find the time to drive to the coast. When I eventually did I had almost forgotten Tony's offer. Luckily, I didn't blink as I drove across the Nelligen bridge on the way to Batemans Bay and so spotted this tiny village nestled alongside the Clyde River.

I ask for directions to Tony's cottage at the General Store and was shown to # 21 Sproxton Lane across the river. (Tony has since died and his cottage has changed hands twice and is again for sale.)

The cottage was locked and Tony in Canberra. I phoned him and was told to look for the keys under the watertank and to make myself at home. Which I did and which set me on my own quest to find a little place in Nelligen.

At the time, Nelligen was a place forgotten even by real estate agents and nothing was for sale except a few empty building blocks. One such block overlooked the Clyde River from its location in Nelligen Place. I could imagine sitting there on the verandah and taking in the views. Which is exactly what a chap was doing just two blocks away. I walked up and asked if I could join him.

Soon we were not only sharing the same views but also memories of people and places we both had known as "Sandy" Sandilands and his wife Betty had also lived and worked on Thursday Island and in Rabaul in New Guinea. I felt at home at once! A few weeks later I was the proud owner of a block of land in Nelligen Place!

I wanted to build a beautiful little Classic Country Cottage. However, a retired public servant who occupied a small log cabin next to me did what public servants do: be a pain in the coccyx ! He objected to my building plans - TWICE! - on some obscure grounds. This delayed me long enough to find a much better place across the river. And that's how I came to buy "Riverbend"!

"Riverbend" had been auctioned in August 1992. I went to the auction as a spectator knowing that the reserve price was outside my range. It must have been outside everybody else's as well because it didn't sell. More than a year later, in November 1993, the owners accepted my much-reduced offer. The rest, as they say, is history!

(Oh, and I did go back to thank the public servant for objecting to my plans so that I could buy this much better and bigger and waterfront property. Last time I looked his mouth was still open!)

Full steam ahead!

2010-02-14T15:07:00.005+11:00

Batemans Bay will welcome their second cruise ship on Tuesday 16 March when Holland America Line ‘Volendam’ anchors off Batemans Bay for a day-visit. ‘The World’s visit to Batemans Bay in late December was a great success and Eurobodalla Tourism received positive feedback from both crew and passengers on board. The few hundred residents on board who came ashore took pre-organised tours to Mogo Zoo, Tilba and Foxglove Spire Gardens, Pebbly Beach, whilst others shopped and dined in town, walked to nearby beaches, played golf, rode bikes, went kayaking and hired cars for their own touring.'

'Volendam's anchorage in March will be a vastly different scenario', says Catherine Reilly of Eurobodalla Tourism. 'Volendam is a much bigger ship and we expect between 1000 to 1200 passengers and crew to come ashore for the day. More than half will have already pre-booked day coach tours to Montague Island, Tilba, Mogo, and Canberra and we expect the rest to stay close to the Bay, shopping and eating or taking advantage of a hop on-hop off coach or local taxis and hire cars to get to nearby beaches and attractions. The average spend per cruiseship passenger is estimated at around $200 per day'. Eurobodalla Tourism will produce another Welcome to Batemans Bay brochure for passengers and local volunteers will meet and greet passengers at the wharf alongside Eurobodalla Tourism staff.

Volendam is part of the Holland America Line and will be on a circumnavigation of Australia tour. The ship’s vital statistics are a passenger capacity of 1432, crew capacity of 588, Gross Tonnage of 61,396 grt, length of 780 feet, beam of 105.8 feet and a maximum speed of 23 knots. Holland America Line describes Volendam as “having a beautiful garden theme reflected in an artful floral motif throughout the ship's spacious public rooms and elegant staterooms. In addition to fresh flowers throughout the ship, Holland America Line has drawn on its collection of incredible artwork to enhance the interior of the ship's public spaces. Everything from pre-Columbian fetishes and sculptures to Renaissance-era fountains imported from Italy are included in its hallway galleries. At the heart of the ship an elegant sculpture by Luciano Vistosi, inspired by the myriad of moods and colours of a kaleidoscope, greets visitors in a soaring three-storey atrium.“

The ship will most likely anchor about 2 kilometres off shore, west of the Tollgate Islands, and passengers will come ashore via tenders. Volendam is expected around 7 am with passengers coming ashore from 8 am and the last tender for passengers is likely to leave Batemans Bay by 5 pm. “It will be a busy 9 hours”, says Reilly. “Volendam is also scheduled to visit Batemans Bay on 4 November and 16 December and with Batemans Bay now on the international radar, we expect to hear about more cruiseship visits after the Annual International Cruise Industry Expo and Conference in Miami in March."

Three Men in a Boat (to say nothing of the dog)

2010-02-14T14:48:00.022+11:00

from the audio book publishers CSA WORD

This is the hilariously chaotic story of a sojourn taken on the Thames from London to Oxford by the writer, Jerome K. Jerome, with his weary inept friends Goerge, Harris, and the dog Montmorency.

The novel - [click for full text here] - is a series of often very funny vignettes that recount the many scrapes the men get involved in. Rather than the situations, it is Jerome's prose that is the real attraction here. He finds humour in the most banal of objects from a tin of pineapple chunks that is impossible to open, to the description of his friend's day's work: 'Goeorge goes to sleep in a bank from ten till four each day except Saturdays, when they wake him up and put him outside at two.'

The book is a wonderful read. The movie, starring Tim Curry, Michael Palin, and Stephen Moore, is a real treat but hard to get. Here's the full albeit rather washed-out sequence from Youtube:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8

Well, Nick, there are two of us already, and we also have the dog! All we need now is the third man and we can be off down the Clyde River in "Amber Lady". Just don't forget the opener for the tin of pineapple!

Stiff competition

2010-02-09T14:59:00.014+11:00

Nick the Greek is running an advertising campaign for his hardware store in Wagga. I suggested this marketing ploy. Being Greek, he thought "Buy 2 for the price of 3" was better but I was able to talk him out of it.

Competition between Nelligen shopkeepers seems to be hotting up as well: rumour has it that one shopkeeper took out an AVO against another one. I had to GOOGLE to find out what an AVO is !!!

Who said that nothing ever happens in the country? As one old-timer mumbled under his breath when I commented on how nice people in the country are: "Give them time!"

Do not disturb!

2010-02-01T13:29:00.006+11:00

Nelligen is one of those places that almost wishes not to be noticed. It invites passersby to take a Sunday afternoon nap with it.

It has a community hall that keeps one eye open just long enough to give tourists a chance to buy a few trinkets.

Trinkets such as a mug from the Sydney 2000 Olympics for just 10 cents. Selling something for 10 cents these days is like saying, "We want you to have this as a gift from us but we don't want you to feel bad about it, so give us a coin you forgot you had."

Nelligen feels like rest. Real rest!

REMYdial action completed!

2010-01-31T13:18:00.016+11:00

A certain vessel has returned from the obscurity of Cyne Mallows Creek, refurbished and restored to her former glory.

Welcome back, REMY!

She's a Compass Easterly 30 who's spent all her life at Pittwater and Gosford before coming to Nelligen.

The Reception Committee:
John McSmith, Harbourmaster, Port Nelligen
Nick Ligakis, Neighbour-at-moorings and shipping magnate
Peter Goerman, (self-appoint.) Commodore, Nelligen Yacht Club

Looking out for Lucas

2010-01-01T11:42:00.030+11:00

Click on image for a close-up of book

An (unfinancial) member of the Nelligen Yacht Club phoned to say that the Alan Lucas was sailing up the Clyde River.

Of course, anybody who has sailed the east coast of Australia or read any number of sailing magazines over the last four decades will know the name. Alan Lucas hit the sailing scene in 1968 with the release of his indispensable pilot book, Cruising the Coral Coast, now in its eighth edition. So to attract Alan's attention, I sat on the jetty and waited, nonchalantly displaying a copy of his Cruising the Coral Coast (albeit an old 4th edition which I picked up from the local op-shop - remember, I'm a self-funded retiree!).

Altogether twenty-three books and cruising guides have been published by Alan Lucas since the 1960s, covering not only Australian cruising grounds but the Pacific, Europe, Red Sea and Indian Ocean, along with a plethora of How-To Manuals. Alan is quick to add that most ‘never went to a second edition or were unceremoniously remaindered.’ Regardless, many of us have more than one well-thumbed Lucas book in our library and remain on the look-out for additions to the collection!

Born in July 1936, the young Alan Lucas began his lifelong passion for life afloat on the Lane Cove River, “…much of it trying to drown myself in a strange range of home-made craft, from tin canoes to rafts, war-surplus rubber dinghies and aeroplane wing fuel tanks…” In his early teens, VJs and open 12’ skiffs replaced the earlier prototypes before he became the proud owner of a “dilapidated 6-metre launch” which he ketch-rigged. Although a foundation member of the Sydney Junior Offshore Group, racing has never featured heavily on the Lucas sailing agenda. ”Big time racing doesn’t grab me being a non-competitive person,” he says. “However racing is the best way to acquire sail trimming skills. In that area, cruising makes you pretty slack!”

Alan's flair for graphic layout has origins in his trade as a commercial artist. Freelancing in advertising agencies kept him afloat financially in the early years, enabling him to dabble in a variety of far more alluring odd jobs like his stint on a 22m Tasmanian trading ketch running fishing charters out of Sydney and working in the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron boatyard. This was “the best” - says Alan and no doubt the beginning of his love affair for ‘mucking around with boats’.

At 22, he began building the first, a 9.5m plywood ketch called ‘Rendezvous’, launching her two years later as his first live-aboard home. For 11 years, 'Rendezvous' carried Alan up and down the East Coast, to the Top End, Timor, the Solomons and New Guinea (where he was lucky enough to meet Robin Lee Graham of Dove fame. ”His cat and mine got along famously.”) During this busy period he also married, had a son and penned the first Coral Coast.

”The inspiration for the book came in 1963 when I proposed a series of anchorage articles for the now defunct ‘Powerboat and Yachting’ magazine. When told the pay, I decided to risk doing a book! I tried getting a Queensland publisher to no avail so I sailed down to Sydney where Horwitz Grahame finally accepted it in 1964. Why they then took four years to release it is beyond explanation – I just don’t know because by the time it was at last published, I was in the Torres Strait.”

The ‘Hippy Era’ was in full swing and Alan says the guide was well received more for its “folksy, life changing ways” than its anchorage descriptions. “Incredibly, I received quite a few letters thanking me for wrenching people out of their nine-to-fives to do something different. The most extraordinary incident was when I found a castaway on a Torres Strait Island who had accidentally been abandoned there by a charter boat. He reckoned his battered copy of 'Cruising the Coral Coast' was the only thing that kept him alive (in those days it had a lot of bush tucker and cooking-type stuff in it). He wasn’t fawning because he had no idea I was the author and I didn’t tell him!”

While ‘Cruising The Coral Coast’ lured legions of ‘squares’ seaward (and sustained the odd castaway!), 'Rendezvous' was meandering its way far from the limelight but indelibly into Alan's memory as one of his favourite boats. He affectionately remembers his first live-aboard home as “Rough as guts but a good sailer that never needed a hand on the tiller – she balanced on all reaches with nothing more than sail adjustment.”

If only life ashore could have been as easily trimmed! After moving onto Palm Island where he worked as skipper of the cargo boat, his marriage failed and 'Rendezvous' was sold. By 1972, life on the land had lost its novelty – forever. “I have to tell you, living ashore was the most vile period of my life”, Alan emphatically maintains. When asked to share his most frustrating cruising experience, his answer is simply, “None. The only frustrations I’ve experienced were living ashore.”

Over thirty-five years of living aboard lay ahead but back then he simply longed to return “to a lifestyle that never hurt me.” Leaving Palm Island behind, he bought a steel hull and deck in Gladstone, refitted her over a few months and set off on this original ‘Soleares’ to cruise the East Coast, completing the second edition of Coral Coast and the original guide to the NSW Coast along the way.

In 1975, he found a kindred spirit in second wife Patricia. A widow with three children and a sense of adventure to more than match his own, Patricia was immediately at ease on the water. The instant family demanded a bigger boat and a very run-down motor sailer named 'Silver Spray' was quickly purchased. Once again, a refit was needed, this time at Mosman Marina before a quick jaunt north where 'Silver Spray' was sold. Moving ashore behind Hervey Bay, the couple set upon building themselves a ‘real family-sized boat’ – the 18m ferro schooner, ‘Alegrias’. In just 15 months their new home was launched and fitting out completed afloat.

So with their newly-built ‘real’ boat, the Lucas family headed off for “points North, South, East and West, doing the usual coastal thing plus the SW Pacific.” Alan nominates “Watching the joy of my second family as they saw New Guinea for the first time” as one of his life's cruising highlights. "My tearing them out of Sydney suburbia was more than vindicated." Diminishing family numbers and the high cost of running a big boat eventually saw 'Alegrias' delivered to Darwin for a new owner in 1980 and the next chapter began.

Another stint of shore life was narrowly avoided when “going ashore from 'Alegrias', wondering where the hell we were going to live, we stumbled on a 14m ferro-cutter in the Sailing Club yard – just a bare hull and deck plus an engine, mast and a bit of hardware. We bought her, stowed most of our gear aboard, then drove to Sydney to round up equipment and revise my NSW book.”

You need a boat to revise a cruising guide! And yes, yet another refit ensued. This time a Tasman Seabird named ‘Response’ was given the Lucas touch before ‘doing’ the NSW coast. After serving its purpose, 'Response' was sold and the couple returned to their new cutter, ‘Tientos’ in Darwin. “There were just three of us by then, living in a perpetual dust storm as we fitted her out and rigged her.” 'Tientos' hit the water in September 1981, Indonesia in sight. But endless trouble with failed equipment saw them returning to Darwin, “I think all companies sent their duds to Darwin back then!” Alan muses. After a second failed attempt they finally gave up, sailing to Cairns for what Alan termed a ‘proper recommissioning!’

Perseverance paid off and in 1982 they left Gove on a circumnavigation covering 5 years and producing some vivid memories, like Alan's most nerve-wracking moment at sea when they were “fired at by an Ethiopian gunboat, ordered alongside in a 3-metre swell and interrogated under a row of cocked rifles.”

Returning home in 1987, 'Tientos' was one of the last boats to be cleared in Maryborough before the customs office closed mid-year. Another revision of the Coral Coast was due and the family again headed north for Torres Strait.

Son Ben was ready for high school the following year, prompting the next round of musical masts. ”We deluded ourselves into believing we couldn’t handle the correspondence schooling so moved into a home unit at Point Clare, near Gosford NSW.”

14m of boat was obviously more than they now needed and 'Tientos' was sold to make way for ‘Renee Tighe’. As with most of the Lucas’ purchases, the 9m wooden ketch was in deplorable condition. “We bought her in Queensland, then sailed (and bailed!) her back to Point Clare. I put her in an industrial yard and spent all of 1989 restoring her before launching in 1990. While Ben enjoyed high school (and a peer group that didn’t sail away), Patricia found a good job and I spent much of my time at sea somewhere along the coast.” A few years later, Alan and Patricia moved aboard permanently, leaving Ben where he wanted to be - ashore. “It worked out well” Alan says “because he could ‘man the base’ for mail transfers etc!” Five years' cruising followed as the couple took on the massive job of self-publishing the Coral Coast. ”The pay is better but the commitment to be somewhere within reasonable reach is a tough balancing act”, Alan says. “Going foreign again was out.”

However a new project beckoned – more than big enough to temporarily quell any wanderlust. “For some time, Patricia and I had wanted to build the ‘ultimate’ boat which, regardless of how experienced one becomes, remains a vague notion. But our choice was a 15m shoal draft ketch developed from the lines of a Chesapeake Bay Skipjack. We built 'Soleares II' of fibreglass over seventeen months and launched her in June 1999. 'Renee Tighe' was sold during the period, having overlapped nicely as a home. This all happened in Maryborough, just 20-odd miles from where we built 'Alegrias' twenty-three years earlier.”

This undeniable icon of Australian cruising and ceaseless adventurer has passionately charted a life many of us can only dream of. Along the way, he has inspired and guided many towards their own calm anchorages while quietly living by an all encompassing philosophy. ”When you live life on your terms, in your preferred environment and can support yourself within that environment doing something you love, life doesn’t get much better. A billion dollars couldn’t buy my scene!”

Well, I would have liked to have met Alan Lucas but unfortunately our Club member is not only unfinancial but also bad in spotting a boat as the one sailing up the Clyde was not Alan's! "Storm Boy", you must have had your head buried in the bilge these past ten years because Alan's "Soleares II' is a two-masted ketch, not that single-masted 'weekender' anchored outside your front yard!

P.S. Some interesting reading on Australian coastal cruising and cruising guides for the east coast of Australia.

Nelligen of yore

2010-01-01T11:06:00.018+11:00

Nelligen township with the punt across the river in 1964 just before the bridge was built

Jess and Alan Collins, "The Postie", one of the last remaining postmen who still delivered mail by horse in NSW.

Arthur and Nell Tieman. Arthur had been the Nelligen fisherman for over 30 years and took over the job from his father before him. "Only worn shoes twice in my life! At my wedding and my dad's funeral!"

Adelaide Neate (née Schofield). She was born at Orange Grove, today's "Riverbend", in 1888. Her father was the ferry master. Later she became the licensee of the Steam Packet Hotel.

Frank Daniels, the ferry master at Nelligen for nearly 40 years.

Ernie (Butcher) Ryan, born at Runnyford in 1877, was the Nelligen butcher for 26 years. "Never worn a coat since 1914."

Jim Sproxton, born 1880. Jim's father had been the ferry master when he was a boy. Jim had spent his life driving the horse coach from Araluen to Goulburn.

Image removd by censor!

Peter Goerman moved to Nelligen in 1993
and hasn't worn a tie and very little else ever since.

The Onassis of Nelligen

2009-12-30T15:09:00.010+11:00

Not since the Battle of Salamis has there been such a concentration of Greek naval (should that be navel?) power after "Nick the Greek" brought down to Nelligen his newly-acquired 8th watercraft!

Actually, the Greek fleet against the Persians is said to have numbered anywhere from 310 to 378 triremes but give Nick some time and he'll work on it!

Auld Lang Syne

2009-12-27T15:48:00.010+11:00

Where have the last 365 days gone? Where does each day go? Well, here's a quick summary:

The kookaburras' mad cackling wakes us in the morning. I roll out of bed and go to the kitchen to switch on the kettle. I then sit in the sun and enjoy my first cup of tea of the day. Going back into the bedroom I find that Rover who sleeps between the pillows, has rolled himself into my warm spot and refuses to be moved. So I go back outside taking a carrot from the fridge to feed the possum in his possum penthouse. The almost-tame kookaburra has been following me around and it's his turn to be fed some of Malty & Rover's dog-food. All that effort calls for a second cup of tea!

Drinking my second cup of tea, I wander down my "Meditation Lane" to the bottom of the property where I can look far downriver and possibly spot some early-morning fishermen trying their luck. The track is full of life. I surprise three dilatory rabbits breakfasting in the long grass. The resident kangaroo watches me from a safe distance. A butterfly procession is in full swing. I sit down on a sawn-off treetrunk and, sipping my cup, ponder: 'Does a butterfly know that it used to be a caterpillar and does a caterpillar know when it goes to sleep that it will be a butterfly when it wakes up?' Life flows. Life ebbs. Knowledge has not solved its mystery. We have learned how to blow up the world and walk on the moon, but we still do not know why we are here.

If it is a weekday, I go back inside at around 10 o'clock to switch on the computer to watch the gyrations of the stock-market. As my old mate Noel Butler used to say when I questioned him once why he bought and sold some of those "penny-dreadful" shares, "What else is there?" Some days the market is good to me, on others it isn't, and on some it turns downright ugly but, as Noel put it so succinctly, what else IS there? In between watching stock quotations and listening to the news on the radio, I answer some emails and walk up to the gate to await the mailman. And so, almost without realising it, lunchtime comes around.

"Happy Hour" is when I take my afternoon nap on the sofa in the lounge when Malty & Rover join me. Waking up refreshed, I take a book outside and read for a while, sitting in the sun. Again, almost without noticing it, dinner rolls around after which it is only a couple of hours before I head off to bed to listen to Philip Adams' "Late Night Live" at 10 past 10 on ABC Radio.

And that's it! Multiply this by 365 and you have a fair summary of the year 2009. May there be many more years like it!

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old lang syne ?

CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

And surely you’ll buy your pint cup !
and surely I’ll buy mine !
And we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have run about the slopes,
and picked the daisies fine ;
But we’ve wandered many a weary foot,
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have paddled in the stream,
from morning sun till dine ;
But seas between us broad have roared
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And there’s a hand my trusty friend !
And give us a hand o’ thine !
And we’ll take a right good-will draught,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

Coming to the (Marine) Rescue

2009-12-25T12:45:00.008+11:00

I have been issued with my new uniform by MARINE RESCUE NEW SOUTH WALES and am ready to drop you a line - but you write first, okay?

We wish you all a safe and merry Christmas!

2009-12-20T15:31:00.001+11:00

There is so much more to Christmas than presents to each other, cooking large and heavy meals, opening bottles of good wine and enjoying festivities. It is a great deal more! I know that Charles Dickens is regarded as a sentimentalist. Well, we can do with a little sentiment in these days when men's minds are turning perpetually towards destroying everything and if possible everybody! There is one book written by Charles Dickens which I read every year: The Christmas Carol.

Listen to the unrefined, unenlightened Scrooge talking. He is speaking to his nephew, a pleasant cheerful fellow, possessing a warm heart, and loving life. He came to wish his uncle a "Merry Christmas".

Scrooge mounts his hobby-horse and says: "What's Christmas time to you, but a time for paying bills without money; a time for finding yourself a year older, and not an hour richer; a time for balancing your books and having every item in 'em through a round dozen of months presented dead against you? If I could work my will, every idiot who goes about with 'Merry Christmas' on his lips should be boiled with his own pudding and buried with a stake of holly through his heart!"

That is Ebenezer Scrooge, and that is how a good many people talk these days, though they may use different words.

"Christmas! Sentimental twaddle! Wasting money on silly cards smothered in robins and holly. It's so childish! Spending money which you cannot afford on trifles. A merry Christmas, why not a Merry Monday or a Merry Bank Holiday! Pah!"

Here is the answer which his nephew gave Scrooge:

"There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say, Christmas among the rest. But I am sure that I have always thought of Christmas time when it has come round ... as a good time - a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers ... and not another race of creatures. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket I believe that it HAS done me good, and WILL do me good, and I say, God bless it."

That young man was right, he was right in 1852, and he is right today. There is just - something - about Christmas. The Church has other great festivals, and each one brings its own particular message, Christmas holds the beginning of the very foundations of the Christian religion, no matter which sect you may belong to and whose teachings and forms you may follow.

They're all "simple" teachings: to be kind, forgiving, charitable, and pleasant. To set aside Christmas as a time for friendliness and brotherhood. We may not observe all those things for very long, we may forget them on the morning of Boxing Day, but if we have felt them for one day in the year - well, that is something.

So on Christmas Day when you hear that grandest and most triumphant of all hymns, no matter whether you hear it rolling out of a great organ in some vast cathedral, played on a wheezy instrument in some small village church, or even on the radio or on a record, let the full magnificence of the Adeste Fidelis be an actual demand! "Come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant!" and be joyful, and open your hearts and - enjoy yourself, and have a Merry Christmas.

Peter & Padma & Malty & Rover
and the Possum in his Possum Penthouse, the resident kangaroo, the almost-tame kookaburra, and all other creatures great and small.

P.S. ... and, please, if you win Lotto, remember who sent you this lovely message!

"The World" comes to us on 28 December

2009-12-19T12:20:00.001+11:00

This leviathan, "The World", a luxury residential cruise ship, is coming to Batemans Bay on the 28th of December. The residents, currently from 40 different countries, live on board as the ship circumnavigates the globe. Some residents live on board full-time while others visit their floating home periodically throughout the year.

"The World" flies the flag of the Bahamas and has a gross tonnage of 43,524 tons. The vessel is 644 feet (196m) long, 98 feet (30m) wide, and has 22 foot (6.7m) draft, 12 decks, and a maximum speed of 18.5 knots(34.3km/h) The crew numbers 250. The ship has 165 residential units, 106 apartments, 19 studio apartments and 40 studios, all owned by the ship's residents. The ship carries between 100 and 300 residents and their guests.

"The World" was the idea of Knut U. Kloster Jr. whose family had a long history in the cruise ship industry. The ship was built in Rissa, Norway, by Fosen Mek. Verksteder A/S, and launched in March 2002. In October 2003, the residents of the vessel purchased "The World". ResidenSea in Miramar, Florida, are the management company responsible for operations and administration of the ship, including hiring the hundreds of employees that offer services such as housekeeping, beauty treatments, photography and other amenities on board. The residents, through their elected board of directors and a network of committees, provide guidance to the management about the ships itinerary, finances and lifestyle.

And, yes, before you ask, "The World"'s passengers will go on a Clyde River cruise and come right past "Riverbend"!

Better late than never!

2009-12-18T10:09:00.035+11:00

My old mate in Cairns, Brian Darcey, who was also on Bougainville when we built the mine, phoned me some weeks ago to say that he had had enough of looking at the walls of his suburbian unit and that he was going to live on a boat instead and do a spot of sailing. Well, he's just SKYPEd me from Picton in New Zealand where he's bought himself a H28 sailing yacht.

The Herreshoff H28 is a popular New Zealand design which was originally built in timber but later, when Compass Yachts started production, in a material her designer referred to as "frozen snot".

Brian will sail "Dara" back to Australia in late January after he's renamed her "Tekani II", after an island in the Nuguria Group in Papua New Guinea with which Brian has a personal connection. Not bad for an octogenarian (you know, somebody in his 80s - like October, the eighth month! The eighth month? Well, yes, it used to be the eighth month in the Roman calendar which began in March) who's also an aviator and a self-confessed late-blooming writer.

Brian's purchase almost fell through - literally! - when he fell into the water in Nelson Harbour and lost his driver's license, money, and credit cards. However, he phoned the credit card company's hotline and good ol' Betty in Bangalore had him all fixed up within 24 hours!

Need a crew, Brian?

Sunday morning at

2009-12-13T08:39:00.027+11:00

... with the dogs and the WEEKEND FINANCIAL REVIEW. I am just checking if L-plate shadow minister Barnaby Joyce's prophecy of a financial Armageddon has become reality while Padma is at the local church listening to prophecies of a different kind. We attend the local Anglican church which is to religion what the cucumber sandwich is to food – it goes quite nicely with a cup of tea, but that’s about it. I just can't stand “The Peace of Christ be with you” hugging and kissing (although it's probably as near as I can get to a blind date at my age) so I prefer a financial review to a review of my soul.

The refreshment I am indulging in ('indulging in' is that a bit of tautology? or is this a preposition the sentence finishes in? All a bit too hard for a Sunday morning!) is known as a 'Spider': place two scoops of vanilla ice-cream in a tall milkshake glass and pour in traditional lemonade. Serve with a straw and drink in the memories.

Beautiful Sunday morning

2009-12-06T09:14:00.003+11:00

It's a beautiful Sunday morning and I feel like walking down to my favourite coffee shop, the TALK OF THE TOWN, for a Balinese coffee. Unfortunately, it's in far-away Padang Bai in Bali and I will just have to make do with Rick's Nelligen Café.

Hard Hat Area

2009-12-05T11:36:00.004+11:00

Sproxton Lane used to be a sleepy hollow. No more! For the past six months it's been a building site with reputedly million-dollar houses replacing the cute and comfy beachshacks of years gone by. And they call this progress!

Just a shadow of my former self

2009-12-03T10:34:00.018+11:00

We've just come back from our morning-walk across the bridge to the village. On the way, I took a picture of myself. As you can see, I am just a shadow of my former self. I also took a picture of the Clyde River from the bridge. If you look really close, you can see my little motor-sailer at her mooring on the left side of the river just before it goes round the bend at "Riverbend".

Of course, we stopped at the Nelligen Café for one of Rick's hot chocolates - with marshmallows! "Everybody comes to Rick's."

And that just about sums up the day's acitivities.

Clyde River Salvage Company

2009-11-26T14:07:00.004+11:00

Nothing much ever happens at "Riverbend" except when a neighbour's craft breaks down and my trusty "Lady Anne" has to spring into action to tow the stricken vessel back to its mooring.

This is what happens just now when "Delta Lady" required a tow from "Lady Anne". It was a very lady-like affair!

MS Volendam

2009-11-23T20:31:00.003+11:00

In March 2010 the luxury liner MS Volendam will visit Batemans Bay. 237 metres long and of 60,906 tonnage, the MS Volendam carries 1,440 passengers and 647 crew.

Here's the MS Volendam at Circular Quay, Sydney:

Country & Western Music Christmas Performance

2009-11-22T11:42:00.003+11:00

This is it for another year: the Country & Western Music Association gave its final ear-perforating performance at the Nelligen Hall.

Ring of Bright Waters

2009-11-20T20:19:00.002+11:00

A splendid morning for paddling greeted the Bay Adventure Kayakers who attended Saturday’s time trial at Nelligen. The trial commenced just as the high tide was turning, so the times for the second lap for those paddling the 10km distance were appreciably slower than the first lap as paddlers had to paddle against a stronger running tide.

Bay Adventure Kayakers inaugural annual general meeting will be held on December 5 at 10.30am after the time trial. The meeting is to be held at the club’s unofficial headquarters at Café Nelligen.

Marine Park Lockout

2009-10-04T09:43:00.005+11:00

We have asked all the little fishies that live around our jetty and answer to their individual names Hermann, Wolfgang, Fritz, Albert, Manfred and Herbert, to sign the petition. They all said they would do so although we couldn't hear Herbert's answer too well. He had trouble talking as he had a dirty big fishhook in his mouth.

Houseboat-sighting on the Clyde River

2009-09-19T20:12:00.001+10:00

Happy Birthday to me!

2009-09-16T18:57:00.002+10:00

A certain person who shall remain nameless celebrated his birthday today!

GOOGLE service for remote areas

2009-09-13T14:06:00.011+10:00

We are pleased to hear that, in response to the needs of small communities in remote areas without adequate internet access such as Nelligen, GOOGLE Classic has become available.

Nelligen by night

2009-09-13T10:29:00.019+10:00

•

Photograph taken at 2315 hours. The dot is the light
at "Riverbend" with your blogger still hard at work.

Trouble in Paradise?

2009-09-13T10:00:00.005+10:00

Eurobodalla Shire Council’s new food inspection program hasn’t won any fans among local food businesses. Among those unhappy with fees introduced for local cafes, restaurants and takeaways is Café Nelligen’s Rick Patman. He wants council to outline exactly where his $150 administration fee is going. “To me, administration should be entering details into a system and issuing an invoice,” he said. “A trained monkey could do it.”

According to Mr Patman, Café Nelligen has passed two food inspections since January with flying colours. He just doesn’t understand why he should have to foot the $630 bill for the privilege. “It’s $315 each time they come out,” he said. “You get charged $150 in administration each time. I don’t see how they can justify $300 a year on admin alone.”

Either way, Mr Patman says the charges are too steep and that his business is suffering under the burden. “On a bad week that single bill would be at least 80 per cent of my business,” he said. “On a wet day in winter, that’s your whole week gone to Eurobodalla Shire Council alone. Then we have got rent, insurance, wages, electricity, all your outgoings and bills.”

Source: BAY POST

Meet the Nelligen Yacht Club Committee

2009-09-03T18:28:00.003+10:00

They are all stalwart supporters of the Club and men of ...

Want to be neighbours?

2009-09-03T16:26:00.038+10:00

Sproxton Lane is a peaceful cul-de-sac where nothing much ever happens. Of the few properties in the lane, very few ever go on sale. This one has just been listed today! So if you agree that since you have to live somewhere, it may as well be paradise, why not inquire?

Any price idea? Well, here's what one agent says:

"Comparable sales in this location are as follows:
The property next door (Number 19) sold in May 2006 for $925,000.
A property two blocks down in the other direction (Number 25) sold in March 2006 for $750,000. It is now being built on, with ongoing construction costs already exceeding $1 million.
A property next to that (Number 27) sold in March 2007 for $705,000.
We believe the property now for sale will sell at anything between $850,000 and $925,000."

Says he!

With these waterfront beachshacks on 1,700 square metres of dirt having sold for as much as $950,000, what offers for a substantial double-storey brick-house on 30,000 square metres of land (more than all the other waterfront properties in Sproxton Lane combined) with a huge 400 metre waterfront? Register your interest [here]

The mystery of Cyne Mallows Creek

2009-08-28T07:29:00.007+10:00

Members of the Nelligen Yacht Club have expressed their concern about the fate of a certain watercraft which left its Nelligen mooring and disappeared up Cyne Mallows Creek quite some time ago.

Frantic riparian activities have been reported from the upper reaches of Cyne Mallows Creek which would suggest that said vessel is located at S 35 degrees 38.066’ E 150 degrees 09.954’ (give or take a ') where it is being converted into Noah's Ark while awaiting the next biblical flood.

An expeditionary force, made up of members of the Nelligen Yacht Club and other rubber-necking volunteers, was assembled to reach the stricken vessel. As the following video clip shows, they failed to navigate the hazards and the mystery of Cyne Mallows Creek remains unsolved.

Our Social Calendar

2009-08-21T11:41:00.009+10:00

22 August Saturday Moruya Markets

23 August Sunday Country & Western

28 August Friday Nelligen Community Dinner

30 August Sunday Nelligen Church

12 September Saturday Hat & Handbag Parade

Upcoming Adult Education Classes for Men

2009-08-20T15:30:00.012+10:00

Classes for Men at
THE ADULT LEARNING CENTRE

REGISTRATION MUST BE COMPLETED
by Friday, August 31, 2009
NOTE: DUE TO THE COMPLEXITY AND DIFFICULTY LEVEL
OF THEIR CONTENTS, CLASS SIZES WILL BE LIMITED TO 8 PARTICIPANTS MAXIMUM

Class 1
How To Fill Up The Ice Cube Trays--Step by Step, with Slide Presentation.

Meets 4 weeks, Monday and Wednesday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM.

Class 2
The Toilet Paper Roll--Does It Change Itself?

Round Table Discussion.
Meets 2 weeks, Saturday 12:00 for 2 hours.

Class 3
Is It Possible To Urinate Using The Technique Of Lifting The Seat and Avoiding The Floor, Walls and Nearby Bathtub?

Group Practice.
Meets 4 weeks, Saturday 10:00 PM for 2 hours.

Class 4
Fundamental Differences Between The Laundry Hamper and The Floor

Pictures and Explanatory Graphics.
Meets Saturdays at 2:00 PM for 3 weeks.

Class 5
Dinner Dishes--Can They Levitate and Fly Into The Kitchen Sink?

Examples on Video.
Meets 4 weeks, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours beginning
at 7:00 PM

Class 6
Loss Of Identity--Losing The Remote To Your Significant Other.

Help Line Support and Support Groups.
Meets 4 Weeks, Friday and Sunday 7:00 PM

Class 7
Learning How To Find Things--Starting With Looking In The Right Places And Not Turning The House Upside Down While Screaming.

Open Forum
Monday at 8:00 PM, 2 hours.

Class 8
Health Watch--Bringing Her Flowers Is Not Harmful To Your Health.

Graphics and Audio Tapes.
Three nights; Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7:00 PM for 2 hours.

Class 9
Real Men Ask For Directions When Lost

Real Life Testimonials.
Tuesdays at 6:00 PM Location to be determined

Class 10
Is It Genetically Impossible To Sit Quietly While She Parallel Parks?

Driving Simulations.
4 weeks, Saturday's noon, 2 hours.

Class 11
Learning to Live--Basic Differences Between Mother and Wife.

Online Classes and role-playing
Tuesdays at 7:00 PM, location to be determined

Class 12
How to be the Ideal Shopping Companion

Relaxation Exercises, Meditation and Breathing Techniques.
Meets 4 weeks, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM.

Class 13
How to Fight Cerebral Atrophy--Remembering Birthdays, Anniversaries and Other Important Dates and Calling When You're Going To Be Late.

Cerebral Shock Therapy Sessions and Full Lobotomies Offered.
Three nights; Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7:00 PM for 2 hours.

Class 14
The Stove/Oven--What It Is and How It Is Used.

Live Demonstration.
Tuesdays at 6:00 PM, location to be determined.

Upon completion of any of the above courses,
diplomas will be issued to the survivors.

Last Home among the gum trees

2009-08-18T19:32:00.008+10:00

The Nelligen General Cemetery occupies a small site surrounded by trees on all sides on the southern side of Runnyford Road. The cemetery is in two parts, separated by a timbered gully. One lone grave marked with a white timber cross is located in bush to the east of the main cemetery area approx 10m from Runnyford Rd.

Inscriptions date back as far as 1865 and the cemetery is still in use today. For a list of inscriptions visit this webpage.

Extraordinary Meeting of Nelligen Yacht Club

2009-08-05T19:37:00.005+10:00

Business to be tabled:

To consider an application for membership from a boat owner who recently arrived in Nelligen - see photo below

Ye Olde Nelligen Store

2009-07-25T14:41:00.022+10:00

Somebody just sent me this clip with the comment, "Stick this on your blog!"

Yes, it is our village store.

NO, 50,000 does NOT BUY you the property!

Yes, you pay $50,000 - reduced from its original $139,000 - to LEASE the business plus a weekly rent.

Can't see any queues - yet.

Here is the current lessee's sales pitch.

PADMA ANTE PORTAS

2009-07-23T11:00:00.005+10:00

The clip is in German but otherwise universal

Next Tuesday Padma will be back at "Riverbend" and things will be back to 'normal'!

Nelligen Yacht Club - Notice to Members

2009-07-16T12:01:00.007+10:00

How NOT to launch your boat

Minutes of Meeting of Nelligen Yacht Club

2009-07-09T21:22:00.004+10:00

A certain member whose Greek name shall be withheld, voiced his concern at owners of un-masted vessels (e.g. Deltacraft et al) becoming members.

Resolution: "That owners of un-masted vessels may, in lieu of a proper mast, step a broom-stick on the foredeck. The owner of the broom-stick may accompany the owner of the vessel, if so desired."

Moved: Nick Ligakis
Seconded: Peter Goerman

End of an era

2009-07-05T10:32:00.008+10:00

Until 1964 Nelligen was the end of the line in the sense that all commerce and goods from the hinterland made their way to the town from where they were loaded onto ships for the ensuing sea journey to Sydney.

In those days, Nelligen was a busy trade and commercial centre and much larger than it is today. In 1964, with the coming of a concrete bridge across the river, Ossie Emery set out to photograph every person aged over 70 (as well as a few other local identities) in the riverside town of Nelligen.

As the punt across the river gave way, Nelligen's heydays as a port and traders town came to an end. This little book, "70+", tries to immortalise this era. Click on the book's cover to view some of the pictures.

A night at the ARIA

2009-07-04T09:14:00.013+10:00

Jeff, the Bay's marina boss and would-be-member of the Nelligen Yacht Club, rang yesterday afternoon to tell me that an ocean-going yacht was making its way upriver and would probably spend the night at anchor at Nelligen. And she didn't just drop anchor but berthed alongside the Nelligen wharf which made it even easier for me to introduce myself to the skipper, Bruce from Tasmania, and his beautiful Alaskan Malamute.

Bruce turned out to be a mad-keen snooker player, and so we spent the evening at the Steampacket Hotel, playing snooker, drinking beer, and swapping yarns. Bruce has been sailing for the past year in his yacht "ARIA" and is now on his way north to the Coral Seas and points beyond. No real plans, no real time limits; as he said, "I stop when the money runs out!" I saw him off with a couple of sailing novels and Alan Lucas's "Cruising the Coral Coast" which will be of more use to him than me!

He's now heading downriver again to catch the lunchtime bridge-opening at the Bay. Good luck and fair winds, Bruce, and a pat on the back for Max the Malamute!

Minutes of Meeting of Nelligen Yacht Club

2009-07-01T21:19:00.005+10:00

Should persons of non-Anglo and non-Saxon background be admitted as members?

Resolution: "That Greeks who bear gifts, especially retzinas, be made welcome."

Moved: Peter Goerman
Seconded: Jeff Percival

Commercial break

2009-07-01T09:14:00.045+10:00

NELLIGEN YACHT CLUB

Motto: "I DON'T WANT TO BELONG TO ANY CLUB
THAT WILL ACCEPT ME AS A MEMBER" (Groucho Marx)

Australia's most exclusive

Yacht Club
with a membership of just ONE !

(don't spoil it by joining!)

Send us a message in a bottle or write to

The Commodore-Secretary-Treasurer-only Member
all-in-one
Nelligen Yacht Club
"Riverbend"
Nelligen N.S.W. 2536
Australia

On Golden Pond

2009-05-31T08:18:00.003+10:00

There are many moments like these along the Clyde

Better beans and bacon in peace than cakes and ale in fear - or: Why we live in Nelligen

2009-05-20T09:40:00.015+10:00

Now you must know that a Town Mouse once upon a time went on a visit to his cousin in the country. He was rough and ready, this cousin, but he loved his town friend and made him heartily welcome. Beans and bacon, cheese and bread, were all he had to offer, but he offered them freely. The Town Mouse rather turned up his long nose at this country fare, and said: "I cannot understand, Cousin, how you can put up with such poor food as this, but of course you cannot expect anything better in the country; come you with me and I will show you how to live. When you have been in town a week you will wonder how you could ever have stood a country life." No sooner said than done: the two mice set off for the town and arrived at the Town Mouse's residence late at night. "You will want some refreshment after our long journey," said the polite Town Mouse, and took his friend into the grand dining-room. There they found the remains of a fine feast, and soon the two mice were eating up jellies and cakes and all that was nice. Suddenly they heard growling and barking. "What is that?" said the Country Mouse. "It is only the dogs of the house," answered the other. "Only!" said the Country Mouse. "I do not like that music at my dinner." Just at that moment the door flew open, in came two huge mastiffs, and the two mice had to scamper down and run off. "Good-bye, Cousin," said the Country Mouse. "What! going so soon?" said the other. "Yes," he replied; "Better beans and bacon in peace than cakes and ale in fear." (Aesop's Fables)

The most beautiful season of all ?

2009-05-18T08:18:00.001+10:00

Perhaps! It certainly is the most peaceful season and and lends itself to some healthy introspection and quiet reading.

When a man's best friend is his dog ...

2009-05-15T18:02:00.005+10:00

... that dog has a problem.

I'm booking my two best friends into the Batemans Bay Pet Lodge for two nights - with all the optional extras, of course, like bathrobes and slippers and colour television - while I go up to Canberra to let a surgeon cut off part of my ear and do something equally nasty on my leg.

"Amber Lady"

2009-05-13T13:21:00.003+10:00

A new boat is permanently moored at the Nelligen bridge: the 32-footer "Amber Lady", owned by a Nick Ligakis in far-away Wagga Wagga. I invited him to join the Nelligen Yacht Club but so far no response.

Man eating crocodiles

2009-05-13T11:52:00.008+10:00

I haven't seen any man eating crocodiles - or man-eating crocodiles - but just to be on the safe side, I've put up a sign.

A stroll through Nelligen village

2009-05-12T11:19:00.002+10:00

Mechanic's Institute of Nelligen 1903

We've just come back from a walk across the bridge and into the village which has quite a few interesting sights. This hall was built in 1903, judging by the position of the apostrophe, for just ONE mechanic!

"Shades of Greene" has arrived ...

2009-05-11T13:43:00.000+10:00

... and I'm engrossed in reading Graham Greene's Short Stories.

Good reading but they don't come near Somerset W. Maugham's short stories (maybe Anton Chekhov's do).

Do you have anything to add to this blog? Send your contribution in small, unmarked bills to the writer!

Nelligen Yacht Club

2009-03-22T10:16:00.004+11:00

The waiting-list is growing but the Commodore (me!), Secretary (me!!) and Treasurer (me!!!) of the NELLIGEN YACHT CLUB are resisting the pressure of increasing its present membership of just one (me!!!!) Please don't spoil the club by joining!

Home is the sailor, home from the sea

2009-03-21T20:43:00.002+11:00

Have just returned to "Riverbend" after a beautiful day on the water. There's no place like home and as evidenced by the tee-shirt, Nelligen is right up there with every other great metropolis.

The sun is over the yardarm ...

2009-03-09T17:00:00.001+11:00

... and it's time to test the old "In vino veritas" adage. It's been a peaceful and quiet day at "Riverbend": I engaged in some bibliotherapy, listened to the radio, fed the dogs ... in fact, there's been such a marvellous amount of nothing to do that the day went by real quickly!

The 2000 Shiraz "Queen Adelaide" is a sufficiently mellow drop to consider the ills of the world by as I watch the timeless ebbs and tides of the river. Let's drink to that!

Lunchtime "Invasion"

2009-02-22T12:43:00.008+11:00

The MERINDA has just arrived in Nelligen and disgorged its tourists for their 1/2-hour stopover after which the village will return to its somnambulic state. The cruise, which leaves Batemans Bay at 11 am, takes three hours to Nelligen and back to Batemans Bay, and costs $27 for adults and $14 for children. Padma won a gift voucher for a free cruise with a fish'n'chips lunch aboard and we will do it in the next couple of weeks.

Sunday morning in Nelligen

2009-02-22T08:26:00.001+11:00

Just came back from my walk to the village store to get the weekend papers. The river is still misty and it looks like it's going to be a hot day.

The movie "Oyster Farmer"

2009-02-15T08:57:00.003+11:00

We live on the Clyde River which is famous for its fantastic oysters. More fantastic even than the oysters on the Hawkesbury River. They haven't made a film about it yet but they made one about the life of the oyster farmers on the Hawkesbury. I've just watched it and it's a great Australian romantic comedy - with typical Australian black humour - about love and life on the Hawkesbury River. The little river communities, the oyster farmers with their long-held traditions, and the Vietnam vets who have formed a kind of isolated commune are beautifully evoked in an affectionate examination of unusual lifestyles.

The movie is wonderfully relaxing and visually appealing, even with the shots of the very sub-standard accommodation that many of the oyster farmers endure. Some of the images are just so peaceful and moving that it's a shame some of them have to end to make way for the next scene - early morning on the river is a classic example of this.

"Oyster Farmer" is a revelation. It is warm, humourous, engaging and most of all, totally believable and very rewarding. Bring on the oysters!