Nambucca Heads and South West Rocks

After saving the lizard we travelled to Nambucca Heads, another river (creek). The attraction is known as the V-Wall Outdoor Gallery.

“Leave your personal message on this outdoor breakwall gallery. Everyone is encouraged to paint a rock at the legendary V-Wall Nambucca Heads to leave their holiday messages, inspirational words, and memories. “. That’s it, a breakwater where the stones have been painted by members of the public. A few examples in the pictures below.

On to South West Rocks that is a pretty area with a goal built on the headland. Trial Bay Gaol has a chequered history that is linked to the bay which is situated half way between Brisbane and Sydney. The bay was regarded as a safe haven for ships to go into during south-easterly gales, however, it offered no protection when the gale-force winds were easterly or north-easterly. To remedy this, they decided to build a breakwater and safe harbour at Trial Bay in 1861. However, the government didn’t fund it until 1877.

At the time there was prison reform taking place and the gaol was built of stone, rather than cheap alternatives, all cells were individual and the gaol would take prisoners at the end of their sentence who wold be employed in the construction of public works ... a breakwater. They could learn skills useful for future employment and enjoy new privileges and freedoms as they approached the time of their release from prison.

One delay was caused because the local rock used to build the gaol was granite, very tough and required a lot on man-hours to finish the blocks. These delays caused increased costs, that, in turn, required more funding. As a consequence, work constructing. the Breakwater began in 1889 - 28 years after the idea was raised. Again, local granite was used.

Progress on the construction of the breakwater was constantly hampered over the years due to the work being washed away in storms. By 1903 the breakwater had reached less than 20% of its planned finished length. The cost plus other factors (including the silting of the harbour caused by the construction of the breakwater, the establishment of a serviceable overland system of transportation along the coast and the improvement in sea-going transport) led the Department of Public Works to abandon the breakwater project in 1903. Shortly after, the prison was closed. The houses and buildings were sold off and removed to various places around the district.

The goal lay empty until it was used to house approx 600 internees during WW1. However, mid-1918 a German ship was seen off the coast. Believing this may be an attempt to release the (mainly) German internees, they were made to burn the wooden buildings and everything they couldn’t carry, the internees were taken somewhere else and the gaol was abandoned. It has remained abandoned ever since. Being built of granite, the structure is not going anywhere soon, unless it is dismantled.

After all that culture, the BBQ on the beach, even with the uninvited guest, and the sunset were astounding.Read more