Shoalhaven, NSW

The Leaning Oak

A cabin at Lake Conjola over the April 2026 long weekend — still water at sunrise, open grass under big trees, and a lake you can walk into from the bank. One stay so far, with another booked.

Where: Lake Conjola, Shoalhaven, NSW
Stayed: 25–26 April 2026
In: Cabin
Trips: One so far, another booked

The record

One stay, April 2026

A cabin over the Anzac Day long weekend, on the lake rather than the coast. Photographs from the two mornings and the afternoon in between; the written guide is still to come.

Sunrise over Lake Conjola, the sun low over a wooded far shore and a long column of light down the still water — Sunrise over the lake *— 26 April 2026, 07:00*

Two ducks swimming across still water in the early sun, a timber ramp at the edge of the frame — Ducks, two minutes later *— 07:02*

A child on the swing at the park playground, with the slide and climbing tower alongside under tall pines — On the swing *— 26 April, 15:55*

A man sitting on top of a weathered timber mooring post at the water's edge, seen from behind, looking across the lake to a wooded ridge — Sitting on the post, looking out

Someone in a black hooded jacket sitting on the concrete boat ramp at the edge of the water, back to the camera — Hood up on the ramp

A child in a wide-brimmed hat walking into the shallows at the edge of the lake, thongs left on the sand behind — Straight in off the bank

Two children on a timber jetty, one mid-stride about to jump into the lake and the other watching — Off the jetty

Two people paddling a green inflatable kayak on flat water, the far shore wooded behind them — Two up in the inflatable kayak

Four people running across the mown grass of the park in late afternoon light, long shadows behind them — Running it off on the grass

Two children in life jackets paddling the green kayak away from the bank — Paddling out

An adult and a small child standing together at the edge of the lake, looking out at the water — At the water’s edge

The park, first thing — open grass, big trees, nobody up yet

A green inflatable kayak with two paddlers out on a still lake, framed between the trunks of casuarinas on the bank, a forested ridge on the far shore — Out on the lake *— 26 April 2026, 12:17*

More to come. This page is the record so far — what the park looked like and when we were there. What it costs, which sites are worth asking for, and what is worth driving to are going into the written guide, and we would rather leave them out than guess.

Getting there

How far it is, and how to get there without a car

One map, and one question: how far south, north or inland is this actually? Then, if you are not driving, what runs — and what does not.

220 km by road · about 2 hr 55 driving — the line is straight-line distance, not the route

Coach

Premier Motor Service, Sydney Central to Milton or Ulladulla, daily, about five hours. Then 15 to 20 km east.

Train, then a shopper shuttle

South Coast Line to Bomaderry, then Premier’s PM34 shuttle, Tuesdays and Thursdays only, which lists a stop called “Lake Conjola Road”.

The last leg. You need a car.

Lake Conjola has no route bus — it is not on Ulladulla Buslines’ service area, it is not on the Shoalhaven network map, and route 100 runs past the highway turnoff rather than into the village.

The only exception is that twice-weekly shopper shuttle, and we could not confirm whether its “Lake Conjola Road” stop is the highway junction or a stop in the village.

The park is 6 to 7 km east of the highway.

Coach to Ulladulla and take a taxi if you must, but plan on driving.

Checked September 2026 Check before you book.

Every service above was checked against the operator’s own timetable rather than a travel site, but timetables change and some operators publish no frequency at all — where that is so, we have said so instead of guessing.

Confirm on transportnsw.info or with the operator before you rely on a connection.

If something here is wrong, tell us and we will fix it.

Worth the drive

What there is to do

Almost everything here is free, outdoors and weather-dependent — this is a coast of lakes and headlands rather than paid attractions, and the nearest zoo or museum is more than an hour away.

Conjola National Park and Meroo National Park are not fee-collecting parks, so they cost nothing to enter; Murramarang, further south, is the only one within range that charges.

The thing that catches people out is that no beach anywhere near Lake Conjola is patrolled outside the summer season — Mollymook South is the nearest flagged swim, weekends only from late September.

The sheltered water matters more here than the surf.

Patrol seasons and hours change — Surf Life Saving Australia’s Beachsafe has the current position for every Australian beach.

Conjola Beach boardwalk and the lake foreshoreFive minutes from the park.A pram- and wheelchair-accessible boardwalk runs to Conjola Beach with a platform looking over both the ocean and the lake — about fifteen minutes on foot.The lake side is the calm option for small children; the ocean beach is not patrolled.Boyd Lookout nearby has tables, a barbecue and toilets, but the access road is gravel and poor after rain.Free
Narrawallee Inlet picnic areaAbout fifteen minutes south, and the best spot in the district for toddlers — sheltered, shallow, with barbecues and a picnic area at the northern end of the inlet.Go near high tide. At low tide much of it drains to sand flats.Free
Milton Showground MarketFifteen to twenty minutes, at 107 Croobyar Road.First Saturday of the month, 8:30 to 1:30, over a hundred stalls, with parking and a cafe.Check the council calendar before driving over — it also carries mid-month dates that do not fit the first-Saturday pattern, and we could not reconcile the two.Free
Ulladulla lighthouse and the Coomee Nulunga Cultural TrailAbout twenty to twenty-five minutes.The trail starts at Deering Street with parking and signage at the lighthouse, and runs through coastal heath down to the beach with Aboriginal cultural interpretation along the way.Nobody publishes its length or grade — the Ulladulla Visitor Centre on (02) 4444 8820 is the listed contact if you need to know before you go.Free
Southern Headlands WalkCouncil finished this in stages: twenty kilometres one way from Narrawallee Inlet to Blackburn Head at Burrill Lake, linking ten beaches, marked with Banksia symbols.You do not do the whole thing with children — pick a section.The Bannisters Point end at Mollymook is a short out-and-back with the best views.Council says only that short sections suit families and does not state pram access.Free
Bendalong Boat Harbour BeachTwenty-five to thirty minutes north, back out to the highway and in again.It faces north, so it is the beach to choose in a southerly.Small car park, toilets, a cold shower — and the car park genuinely is small, so it fills on a warm weekend.Not patrolled.Free
Meroo Head lookoutAbout thirty-five minutes south, off the highway past Termeil.Sealed road to the car park, then 800 m return, grade 2, fifteen to thirty minutes — one of the few genuinely easy lookouts on this coast.National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) lists it for whale watching; the southward humpback migration runs roughly August to November, which is the leg where they travel closer in with calves.Free
Murramarang National Park — Pretty Beach and Depot BeachForty-five to fifty minutes south, so a day out rather than an afternoon.Eastern grey kangaroos graze the grass behind Pebbly Beach and around the campgrounds, which is the whole draw for children.Pay machines take cash and card except at Pretty Beach, which is card only.Check the NPWS alerts page first: 1080 fox and wild-dog baiting runs in periods through the year and is lethal to dogs.$8 per vehicle per day
Ulladulla Leisure CentreTwenty to twenty-five minutes, at 139 Warden Street.Indoor 25 m pool, outdoor 50 m, a learners pool and a toddler pool — the wet-weather answer.The catch is Sunday: it opens 8 to 12 only, and closes on public holidays.Adult $8.30 · child or concession $6.30 · family $29

Checked September 2026 Check before you go.

Fees, opening hours and seasonal closures change, and we have not been to all of these.

Distances are approximate — put the name in your maps app rather than trusting our figure.

If something here is wrong, tell us and we will fix it.

Local, for us

Groceries, mandirs and where to eat

This coast is well served for Indian restaurants and thin on Indian groceries — the opposite of what most people expect.

There is one small Indian shop at Nowra and nothing else until Wollongong, so bring atta, dal, whole spices and frozen paratha with you and treat anything you find down here as a bonus.

There is a gurudwara at Nowra, about forty-five minutes north, open daily with langar on Sundays.

There is no mandir anywhere on the South Coast at all.

Indian grocery

EK Stores, Nowra — the only Indian shop on this coast84A Kinghorne Street, Nowra — about fifty minutes north, and as far as we can find the only Indian shop between Wollongong and the Victorian border.It is small and it is genuinely trading: its own social media was posting this week, with pooja items, deity dresses, peacock feathers and Indian snacks on the shelves.What we have not been able to confirm is the staples — whether it carries atta, dal and whole spices in useful quantities.Hours vary and the directory listings for them are unreliable, so ring 0470 394 226 before making the drive.
Nothing else between Wollongong and the Victorian borderNot in Ulladulla, Milton, Burrill Lake or Mollymook. We checked the trade directories for both Ulladulla and Nowra and searched by name across the corridor. Ulladulla has a Woolworths and a SUPA IGA and nothing else. Buy your staples before you leave home.
Wan Long Oriental SupermarketShop 1, 86 Worrigee Street, Nowra — about fifty minutes north.Pan-Asian rather than Indian, but its own site names Indian food in the range, so expect basmati, some dals and spice packets. Do not expect atta or pooja items.Ring (02) 4423 6779 before driving fifty minutes for one thing.
Fairy Meadow Spice Corner27 Elliotts Road, Fairy Meadow, Wollongong — the nearest dedicated Indian and Sri Lankan grocer, about two and a quarter hours back up the highway.That makes it a stop on the drive down, not a mid-holiday errand.It has no website; we confirmed it through a local food directory rather than its own words, so ring (02) 4244 5619 to check it is still trading.

Mandirs and gurudwaras

Guru Nanak Darbar South Coast13 Westbrook Road, Nowra — about forty-five minutes.Darbar Sahib open every day 5 am to 7 pm.Sundays: Sukhmani Sahib Paath from 10, kirtan 11:30 to 1, langar 1 to 3.Their site carries a page headed “new location” without saying when they moved, so a WhatsApp message on +61 424 204 562 is worth sending if you are travelling specifically for it.
No mandir on the South CoastNothing between Wollongong and the Victorian border — not in Nowra, Ulladulla or Batemans Bay. We checked by town, by shire, and against the Australian Council of Hindu Clergy temple list.
Sri Venkateswara Temple, HelensburghTemple Road, Helensburgh — about two and a half hours north, past Wollongong. Opening hours change with the season and with festivals; the temple keeps a “today’s hours” page, so check that rather than a fixed schedule. (02) 4214 9080.
Sri Vishnu Shiva Mandir, Canberra82 Mawson Drive, Mawson ACT — about two and a half hours inland via Braidwood, so much the same drive as Helensburgh. The better choice if you are carrying on to Canberra rather than back up the coast. Hours are not published; ring (02) 6286 6404.

Pure vegetarian — any cuisine

Pilgrims Wholefoods, MiltonThe Settlement, shops 8–10, 97 Princes Highway, Milton — about twenty minutes, and the one kitchen in the district that serves no meat, poultry or fish at all.Vegetarian since 1980. Burgers, patties, pies, wraps, breakfast; much of it can be made vegan.Seven days, 9 to 3 — daytime only, so it is not a dinner option.It rebranded from Pilgrims Milton, so older listings point at the wrong name. (02) 4455 3421.
A warning about the Treehouse Cafe4 Boree Street, Ulladulla.It appears on the regional tourism board’s own vegetarian and vegan trail, and it markets raw vegan desserts.Its menu also has salmon hash, a poke bowl with grilled Atlantic salmon and a pork bowl.A good cafe — but not a vegetarian one, and a family trusting that tourism listing would be caught out.Same goes for Native and Craft Surf at Ulladulla and Leaf at Nowra: all veg-friendly, none meat-free.

Indian restaurants — vegetarian and non-vegetarian

Baar Baar MiltonShop 3, 65 Princes Highway, Milton — about twenty minutes, and the closest Indian restaurant to the park.Substantial vegetarian section: paneer butter masala, navratan korma, lentil curries, tandoor breads. Also beef, so not a meat-free kitchen.Tuesday to Sunday, 5 to 9 — dinner only, closed Mondays. 04 6088 0188.
The Bay Leaf16 Wason Street, Ulladulla — about twenty-five minutes.Licensed and bring your own (BYO), around thirty-six seats, takeaway available.Dinner runs 4 to 8:30 seven days; lunch is 11 to 2:30 on weekdays.Its own site is ambiguous about Tuesdays and about whether lunch runs at weekends, so ring (02) 4454 5208 if you are counting on a midday meal.
Kohli’s Waterfront4/3 Orient Street, Riverside Plaza, Batemans Bay — about an hour south. Lunch Thursday to Sunday, dinner seven days from 5. Note the address: the centre was St George Mall and several listings still say so, and an old Beach Road address is still circulating. (02) 4472 2002.
Nowra, if you are heading northThree on Kinghorne Street, all confirmed: Kohlis at 116, (02) 4421 0300; Two Brown Men at 130, (02) 4402 7870, closed Mondays; and Saffron and Spice at 152, (02) 4446 6897. Roughly forty-five minutes.
Out of season, ring firstThese are small-town kitchens. Two of them already close one day a week, and midweek trading in Milton and Ulladulla thins out in winter — a place open seven days in January may be Thursday to Sunday in June. Do not trust posted hours in the shoulder season.

Checked September 2026 Please check before you drive.

These were verified online, not by us in person, and small businesses close, move and change names without updating their listings.

Distances and times are rough — put the address in your maps app rather than trusting our figure.

If something here is wrong or has closed, tell us and we will fix it.

Where next

Other places in the record

Distances are straight-line from this park to that one, which is enough to tell you whether two trips could be one.

15 kmDiscovery Burrill LakeShoalhaven, NSWtwenty minutes down the same coast 25 kmPalm Beach Caravan ParkJervis Bay, NSWnear enough to do both on one trip 150 kmBonnie ValeRoyal National Park, NSWa couple of hours down the road 170 kmCockatoo IslandSydney Harbour, NSWa couple of hours down the road

Something on this page wrong, or out of date? We would rather be told than be wrong — tell us about this page. And if there is something you wish this site covered and it does not, tell us that too.

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