The Marine Park is keen on the idea that the NCMG Dive Group does some hunting for rare/threatened/interesting species. Weedy seadragons certainly fall into that category, so we plan to organise a trip out of Batemans Bay to have a look in the area around the NW of Black Rock. We will be hoping for a group of say eight, so that four buddy pairs could survey the area systematically. Depending on how this goes, we could then look at searching for other species.

Following the success of ourlast snorkel at Tomakin, we are running another at Barlings Beach.

Meet at the beach end of the track on the Guerilla Bay side of the Barlings Beach Caravan Park at 10am. This will be a social/fun outing, but Jenny Edwards will bring the survey equipment so that anyone interested can learn how we do the snorkel surveys.

We will give you a briefing beforehand on safety issues and what you might expect to see. Bring mask, snorkel, fins and, if you have one, a wetsuit(water temperature is around 18-19 degrees at the moment).

Please contact Jenny Edwardsif you want to come, and give her a phone number for contacting you if the weather or seas are unsuitable. Please RSVP using contact details onback page.

Our next NCMG activity is a national park and beach walk at Meringo.
WHEN Sunday 19 July (school holidays) starting at 10am.
WHERE Meet at the National Park at the end of the bitumen at the southern end of Congo,
BRING A picnic for after the walk, wear walking shoes that don't matter if they get a bit wet and all the usual stuff (hat, sunscreen, wet weather gear if necessary, etc).
ANDREW GREEN will be leading the walk.

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As you can see it was perfect weather. The group saw an ancient aboriginal tool-making stone quarry. In the waves they saw dolphins and a large school of salmon and overhead, sea eagles. In the rock pools there were large elephant snails and an impressive array of anenomes.

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The invite...

Hello NCMG members

Just a reminder that the MURRAMARANG COASTWALK is on this Sunday 16th of August Meet at the Wasp Head parking area at 9am for a walk south of Durras (low tide 0.6m at 9.40am) As you pass Murramarang Resort, turn immediately left and follow this road straight ahead until you come to a car park. It will be sign posted Wasp Head. It is important not to drive south of the Resort along the Old Coast Road as this will take you to the more remote beaches of Murramarang National Park.

The suggestion is to walk from Wasp Head, south, taking in Wobbegong Bay, Emily Miller Point, Emily Miller Beach to Dark Beach and perhaps Flat Rock, the distance would be about 3 kilometres. Two Durras locals, John Perkins and Paul May, hope to come along and share their knowledge of the area. Paul is the local expert on the geology for this area and with his former teaching background he is an accomplished explainer.

Wear walking shoes (not thongs), hat, sunscreen, and bring a backpack with snacks, drinks, camera. etc

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The day itself...

For our most recent outing at Durras we were joined by some members of the South Durras Landcare group. John Perkins pointed out the Sooty Oystercatchers on the rock platform and told of the successful rat eradication program on Brush Island. Removal of the rats has seen an enormous boost in the numbers of successful hatchings of this endangered bird as well as others such as Fairy Penguins.

Paul May, from the Landcare group, led the walk and explained the fascinating geology of this rim of the Sydney Basin. We were shown fossil molluscs, brachiopods and bryozoans that had inhabited the sediments when the sandstone was the soft bottom of a shallow sea. The sediments were laid down as Gondwana broke up over 200 million years ago and show evidence of past ice ages as well as more recent volcanic intrusions.

Later we travelled to nearby Myrtle Beach to see where the sandstone basin slopes to the surface and rests on the much older twisted Wagonga Shales. The straight line between the two rock formations represents over 270 million years of erosion.

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