Jervis Bay
The Jervis Bay region is a highlight reel of natural wonders and Huskisson is the perfect launchpad.
Eastern grey kangaroos, brushtail possums, king parrots and crimson rosellas are among the regular visitors while the notoriously shy sugar glider has also been known to pop by. Tents are set in the thick of beautiful casuarinas, spotted gums and, of course, paperbarks it’s a restful locale that has helped weary city slickers unwind for two decades.
Yet, just a few minutes’ drive towards the coast is the relative bustle of Huskisson. When Paperbark Camp moved in, that bustle comprised “a few shops and a picture theatre,” recalls Irena. Now, Owen Street, Huskisson’s main drag, is packed with eateries and retail stores.
The growth is in response to serious demand. With a population of less than 800, ‘Husky’ remains a small coastal town, but it overflows with tourists in the height of summer. Most visit for a piece of Jervis Bay, the marine paradise that extends from Culburra in the north to Sussex Inlet in the south and east to Point Perpendicular. Home to Booderee National Park, Jervis Bay National Park and Jervis Bay Marine Park, the region is a highlight reel of natural wonders and Huskisson is the perfect launchpad.
“There’s a real mosaic of things going on in Jervis Bay,” says wildlife ecologist Darren O’Connell, who runs Into the Wild Tours. “Variety being the spice of life, it’s got a bit to offer everybody, particularly from the natural resource point of view. It really is what we would call a biodiversity hotspot.”
A major drawcard is the Bay’s 100 or so resident bottlenose dolphins. Daily tours are available and will all but guarantee a dolphin encounter, but your chances are also pretty good from any shoreline vantage point they’re a sociable bunch.
Between May and November, dolphins share the spotlight with humpbacks and, to a lesser extent southern right whales as they migrate south. Fur seals, little penguins, and grey nurse and Port Jackson sharks are also happy residents of this diverse ecosystem.
Marine life loves Jervis Bay for its deep, sheltered, well flushed waters. A drowned river valley, the Bay experiences very little run off from the land, which explains the powder fine white sand and clear turquoise waters that characterise the region’s beaches.
For Russ Newman, this backdrop is also the office. An instructor with JB Surf School, Russ has been holed up waterside since he moved from Deniliquin in 1988, when he was seven. “We just jumped in the water and haven’t got out since,” he says, “snorkelling,fishing, surfing and swimming it just gobbled up a lot of our childhood really. Whenever there was a big bay swell, the town would just stop … everyone would stop work and they would all be in the water. It was a celebration of the local community (and) it was incredible to grow up around that culture.”
Such customs haven’t quite survived modern life, but the laid back vibe persists. And locals are determined to keep it that way. Most recently, the community successfully banded together to save the ‘Heart of Huskisson’ a vacant waterfront block on Owen Street from development. Shoalhaven City Council purchased the lot in 2015 and reclassified it as community land in 2016. A masterplan for the space is a work in progress.
Public objection was also vigorous in the late 1960s when Booderee’s Murrays Beach became the proposed site of a 500 megawatt nuclear power station. Plans were quashed in 1971, but scars remain 11 holes were blown into the seagrass meadow at nearby Hole in the Wall Beach during preliminary seismic testing.
Development in Huskisson has been modest so far. The $50 million Woolworths development in neighbouring Vincentia has alleviated some pressure since opening in 2015. In Huskisson, the shift has so far been a stylish one with vastly improved dining options, as well as a handful of smart homewares and fashion stores, moving in alongside the standard high street trappings.
Standing firm in opposition to change is quaint Huskisson Pictures. The building was constructed in 1913 as a community hall for employees ofthe Dent family, who were localship builders.(Joseph Dent built the Lady Denman ferry in 1911, which went on to operate on Sydney Harbour.)It hassince served as a church,school, library, dance hall and more, and started screening filmsin the 1950s.
An extensive refurbishmentin 1990 transformed the venue into a permanent cinema, butthe exterior has been preserved with barely more than a lick of paint separating it from its former glory. With $11 tickets and $3 popcorn, prices are also a nod to days gone by. “When you look at all the uses, even now with the films, it’s all about people coming together,” says Peter Cotter, who took over the business with his wife Jan in 2006. “That’s what has been happening here for over 100 years. People really appreciate the interaction and the atmosphere, (and) that’s one of the things people really like about Huskisson.”
That, and the absolute magic of the surrounding coastal wonderland.