To all you wine lovers!

Riverbend Cottage now gives you a complimentary bottle of wine on arrival! In keeping with most of our guests' age and taste, it's a delightful Pino More which improves with age: the older you are, the better you like it. ☺

Last of the summer-guests

Our repeat-guests of many years past have returned to Sydney and our short 'tourist season' is over for another year. Thank you for being our guests again, Kath and Phil, and we look forward to seeing you again at the end of this year.

Perhaps you will be luckier with your fishing next time, Kath! We didn't have the heart to tell you that the last sizeable fish that came out of the Clyde River was so lonely, he gave himself up ☺

First visitors for the season

The sign is up to welcome our first visitors for the season to Riverbend Cottage!

The cottage looks spic and span with the fridge full of goodies and plenty of DVDs and books to keep them entertained ...


... and the bed is ready to watch those starry nights on the river from (to challenge the myth that it is incorrect to end a sentence with a preposition; it's the sort of nonsense up with which I will not put.)

Sail ho!

Brian Darcey, an old PNG-friend, has just emailed to say that he'll set sail from Cairns on the 15th of November and should be anchored off "Riverbend" sometime in late December.

Fair winds, Brian, and see you soon! (And here are your sailing instructions up the Clyde River - in German, of course!)

Clyde River waterfront property for sale

You have to live somewhere - it may as well be Paradise!

Here's a bit of an advertisement on my own behalf: the sale of our 7-acre-plus property "Riverbend" with almost 400 metres of absolute waterfront near Batemans Bay on the South Coast of New South Wales. For more information go to www.nelligennet.com.

It's the sort of property that is usually passed down the family as there are only a few like it on the Clyde River. I have been here for 18 years and for me it's time to move on - regrettably! - as we plan to live for part of the year in Kalimantan (Borneo) in Indonesia which makes it near-impossible to also maintain such a large property this far south.

The price - for those who can afford it - is very realistic as nearby unimproved waterfront blocks just 1500 square metres in size and with as little as 19 metres of waterfront have recently sold for $750,000. By contrast, "Riverbend" consists of eight titles, comprising approx. 29,200 square metres (see map), is on sale for $2 million, lock, stock and barrel. For those who feel a little financially challenged, I can offer very substantial vendor's finance on below-bank finance terms.

If you're interested, contact me by email to

riverbend[AT]batemansbay.com

Nelligen gets seal of approval

Nelligen has a new, high profile resident - complete with flippers, fur and fangs.

An Australian fur seal bull took up residence at the Thule Road boat ramp in Nelligen about three weeks ago, and has made himself at home ever since.

Nelligen residents say the seal spends plenty of time in the water, but the boat ramp is his favourite patch of land.

“I don’t know how he got here, he must be lost,” a nearby resident said.

“He must be getting a feed in the river.”

The resident said that boat owners had tried to retrieve their vessel via the ramp recently but had been unable to do so because the seal didn’t feel like moving.

“He just comes out of the water, has a scratch and a yawn, lies there and goes to sleep,” he said.

“When people get near him, he just opens one eye, then closes it.”

The resident said that someone had tried to feed the seal sardines on Monday.

“It was no good; he didn’t take it,” he said.

Nelligen Café proprietor Rick Patman said it was thought the seal followed the cruise boat Merinda up from Batemans Bay.

“My daughter has named him Luka,” he said. “He’s a very good fisherman - he’s cleaned out our fish stocks.”

Nelligen oyster farmer Rick Christensen has reported seeing a smaller seal near the oyster leases near Nelligen.

National Parks and Wildlife Service ranger Libby Shields said that the two seals were unlikely to be related in any way.

“They are fairly solitary animals,” she said.

Ms Shields said that seal numbers were on the increase and this would explain the bull’s appearance.

“They are popping up all over the place,” she said.

By law, people are required to stay at least 40 metres from a seal.

“We realise this is difficult in such a place but they can get aggressive, so we would advise people for their own safety not to get close to him, try to feed him or let their dogs get close to him,” she said.

She said that the NPWS would not relocate the seal or take any other measures.

“He looks fine so we won’t intervene.”

The Cottage has gone digital!

The holiday season hasn't started yet but we've got started already by installing a brandnew SANYO high definition digital TV/DVD Combo in the Cottage!

Of course, it'll come with scores of DVDs of some of the latest - and also some of the most classic - movies for our guests' enjoyment. Cinema Paradiso indeed!