Thursday 11 May 2017
Photos by Donna and Mary T
Another perfect autumn day welcomed 24 bushwalkers led by Bev Brazel on an adventure of walking to the top of Broulee Island to find a historic grave. This is the grave of Elizabeth Malebar who died 27 June 1842, aged 45 years.
Elizabeth was the wife of Abraham who was a convicted sea captain on conditional pardon who made a living punting goods up and down the Moruya River and occasionally from the river mouth to Broulee. The grave is one of only a few known graves of this age in the south coast region.
The walk began from South Broulee Surf Club and climbed the nearby road to the top lookout with a lengthy view of Broulee Beach, after which the track led behind headland houses where a local resident welcomed us to another path to views from another lookout – a new feature on this walk.
Once down on the sand the walkers went along Shark Bay and then began the foreshore, sometimes rocky, track around the island, and were thrilled to watch a seal splashing in the waves, also two dolphins and sea eagles.
Soon the track up into bush leading to the top of the island was followed and the large size of the land on top was a surprise to most walkers. As well as finding the historic grave there was a search for any remaining signs of the hotel which once existed in this area of the island and seen by a member there back in the 1950s.
Once back down on the sand the walkers enjoyed lunch on North Broulee Beach and then made tracks back to the surf club car park. Thank you to Bev for a most enjoyable and interesting walk.
Joan B