"Through Elaine's efforts, and of others like her, the history of the Nelligen district will live on."
And so will we, thanks to Elaine's farm-free eggs and beautiful bush honey. You're a living treasure, Elaine! (... and so say all of us)
Our genial café proprietor Terry is calling it a day! Both his leased River Café and his home on Clyde Boulevard are for sale. What a shame to be selling up so soon after all the hard work he put in!
Tong, why don't you step into the breach? Just add 炒面 and 北京烤鸭 to the menu, and you'd feel right at home! You already know Rob Routledge; so give him a call and sign on the dotted line!
As for you, Terry, good luck and look after yourself!
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I love a sunburnt country, A land of sweeping plains, Of ragged mountain ranges, Of droughts and flooding rains. I love her far horizons, I love her jewel-sea, Her beauty and her terror The wide brown land for me!
Dorothea Mackeller, |
Moving from place to place for twenty years, I never stayed long enough to experience other people's death; however, the quarter-century spent in little Nelligen since then made up for it; firstly, because for the first time in my life I've been settled enough to become involved in community life and, secondly, because the people I befriended were mainly in my age group and older.
Betty Heycox, whose standing-room-only church service and funeral we attended today, wasn't just part of Nelligen's community life, she was Nelligen's community life. She was also a very good friend whose passing leaves a big hole in our hearts.
Vale Betty!
Having downsized to a small Sydney unit, retirees Noni and Stewart are feeling restless. They're keen to find a coastal home which caters to their passions and has ample space for the family to come and visit.
They checked out our beautiful South Coast, and where did they end up buying? In Nelligen, of course! - or more specifically, at 16 Currowan Street in Nelligen.
And what's the best thing about the property? Well, it's just a few hundred metres, as the pelican flies, across the river from "Riverbend":
(Just kidding; the property also has ample under-the-house storage space for Stewart's stuff :-)
To watch the whole episode on ABV TV's iview, click here, then from the next page click on this image of Noni and Stewart.
(If you don't want to waste your time at Malua Bay or Congo but escape straight to Nelligen, fastforward to around 32:40).
or click here to view and print the brochure
Most travellers speed across the modern bridge that spans the Clyde River and fifteen minutes later reach Batemans Bay. Before 1964 they would have joined the long queue of vehicles waiting to be ferried across on the punt. 30,000 vehicles used the punts at Nelligen in 1963, the year before the bridge opened.
But a lot has changed at Nelligen. In its heydays Nelligen was a busy seaport and coastal town. The village was laid out in 1854 when the Illawarra Steam Navigation Co (ISN) began operating here.
Nelligen became a depot for supplies brought down the coast from Sydney and up the Clyde River by the ISN. From here they were transported mostly to Braidwood and the neighbouring goldfields.
By 1860 fine hundred horses and nearly as many bullocks were carrying the trade between Nelligen and Braidwood. By that time the village boasted four public houses, two stores, two blacksmiths, a baker and a watchhouse manned by two policemen.
Today Nelligen is a quiet little backwater, but still fulfilling the role of a rest stop for the traveller as it has done since the "road" via the Clyde Mountain was opened in 1856.
It is a picturesque little town, nestled as it is on the banks of the slow-flowing Clyde River. Nelligen has an air of history and old-time charm about it, remaining untainted by the progressive developments down the road at Batemans Bay.
Click here for an early-morning view of Nelligen and the Clyde
Nelligen Community Notice Board
Bygone Days of Nelligen & Batemans Bay
