Thursday 26 May 2022
Photos by Mary, Donna, Bob & Karen
The Guerilla Bay to Rosedale walk is an 8.5 km Easy/Medium grade return hike along the gorgeous Eurobodalla coast, best done at low to mid tide.
It starts at Burrewarra Point in Guerilla Bay and passes the concrete Nissan Hut used as a radar station by the Airforce in WWII; the seal colony viewing platform which also gives views north to Didthul (Pigeonhouse Mountain); and the lighthouse and trig at the end of the point. Following the track back along the southern side of the point, it winds through waist high lomandra and groves of old man banksias (Banksia serrata), with low bushes of native fuschia (Correa reflexa) just bursting into flower. Here there are also views south to Gulaga (Mt Dromedary) and beyond.
Heading to Guerilla Bay Beach and its distinctive black rock in the bay, known in the local language as Guarella (meaning big rock), the track then ascends the headland, skirts the newly fenced private property and drops down to a small sandy cove. This is a tranquil spot to take a break and enjoy the isolated setting between the 2 villages of Guerilla Bay and Rosedale.
The track then ascends a second headland and drops again to another small sandy cove called Nuns Beach. This was named after the Nuns’ Retreat cottage overlooking the beach, owned by the Sisters of Goulburn as accommodation for holidaying nuns between 1965 and 1979.
Then it is a short easy rockhop around the point at Jimmies Island to South Rosedale Beach. The walk heads inland on local tracks off the beach, up the hill and through the very soggy gully at Rosedale. It’s hard to believe that Rosedale was once a farm with widespread clearing of the bush for grazing at both South and North Rosedale. Today the area is a subdivision tucked into spotted gum forest.
To return we retrace our steps back over the headlands and follow a couple of different local tracks along the clifftops through Guerilla Bay back to the start.
Karen