BODALLA....nsw

Most people who enjoy fine dairy food has heard of Bodalla, makers of ice cream, butter and so much more. But have you ever visited the town ?

Just under a five hour drive south of Sydney is Bodalla on the stunning Eurobodalla coast with the Princess Highway running straight through. Years ago Bodalla was the home to the Big Cheese, but unfortunately it looks more like a big tub of ice cream than cheese. The main attractions to the town are the boutique shops and Bodalla Dairy. Here at the dairy you can spend several hours enjoying a host of dairy product from milk shakes, ice creams and bush tucker, plus down the back the kids can feel the small animals. Inside the building you can watch the workers turn the milk into different products, watch the machines pasteurise the milk and make cheeses. If all this is too much why not make a weekend of it and stay in one of their self contained units out the back. By doing this the next day you can spend a few hours wandering the beautiful shops that line the main street plus enjoy some of the best coffee and pastries that the coast has to offer. 

It was in the 1860’s when Thomas Mort arrived in the area and was blown away by the stunning settings that he knew it was perfect for a town and especially dairy cattle. Over the next few years he spent developing a town and his own dairy industry named Bodalla. As you enter the town from the north the stunning All Saints Anglican Church sits proudly on the hill which Thomas Mort ( a church Anglican ) whom the church was built in memorial for by his family but sadly passed away before it was finished. Self guided tours are available for this amazing architectural building both inside and out, all they ask for is a donation to help the upkeep. The granite stone was sources locally along with the stained glass windows, timber-work and the pipe organ that still is in use today came from England.

Mort’s arrival here was an interesting one as he started setting up his empire, he was a businessman and was soon looking for new ventures. Over the next few years he trialled share farming and attained the Boat Ally estate just north of town. Soon realising potential for the dairy industry he slowly got rid of beef cattle, somehow drained local swamps and replaced them with dairy grasses, built a maze of fence lines and the rest is history. Around Bodalla these days most of the shops make their own food and gifts plus recycle good that need a new home. Today more than 15,000 trees have been planted to attract more birds and insects to this already stunning area. 

There are several meanings to the name Bodalla, from the local Aboriginal meaning ‘near two or many waters’ ( Bodalla is in the Eurobodalla shire which means many waters also ), it also comes from Boat Alley and later blended to the name today.

 Now don’t think for a sec that there is nothing else around, in fact the whole area is loaded with history. Just 20km to the west head out to Nerrigundah and explore the gold mining history where just after Mort arrived, gold was found in the hills. Unfortunately, it was a little overrated as it died out only years later after a shanty town was built and mining gear was bought in. These days those with a little fitness can walk in to the old town and admire the stamper and mines that have been left behind. With gold fortunes, bushrangers marked their territory here too with notably the Clarke bushranger family who once took over over a local hut and held up anyone that dared to pass by. Apparently they held up the local tavern, shot horses, stirred the locals and in the end escaped several shoot outs with police and locals. 

National parks surround the Bodalla area and there are stunning areas to explore from the Deua NP to the north, Eurobodalla NP right on the coast and the marine park that protects the offshore environment. The whole south coast is a beautiful place to explore with stunning waterways, pristine beaches down to quirky little boutique towns, there’s something along the way for everybody.