Bermagui Horse Head formation the new rock star of social media

Among those naturally occurring look-a-likes that received the most feedback from readers was Horse Head Rock near Bermagui. In fact, previously little-known beyond Sapphire Coast surfers and seafarers, the approximately 500-million-year-old rock weathered by millennia of restless seas into the familiar shape of a horse's head has since become somewhat of a rock star.

While this column could cheekily claim some credit for the meteoric rise in popularity of the striking rock, it's the explosion in social media that has catapulted it to the top of the must-see list for many Instagrammers and TikTok fans exploring the Sapphire Coast.

"It's now right up there with the Blue Pool for the highest number of enquiries," reports Christine Bimson, manager of the Bermagui Visitor Centre, adding "and almost everyone who asks about it is an amateur photographer of sorts".

Over at the Bermagui Beach Hotel, it's the same story.

"It's the talk of town," says publican Luke Redmond who recalls it wasn't that long ago it was just an obscure rock that "just a few surfers and boaties knew about".

"We now regularly have guests who stay at the pub who have travelled from all over the state and even further just to check out the rock," he reveals. "They get up pre-dawn or do night shoots for their social media feed."

With all the camera lenses focused on Horse Head Rock, Luke admits he "feels a bit sorry" for the nearby Camel Rock, so named by Captain Cook on his voyage up the coast in 1770.

"It used to be the focus of attention, now some people walk straight past it on their quest to get that must-have selfie at Horse Head Rock," he muses.

Of course, not everyone is content with capturing the stock-standard view of the rock from the coastal clifftops, and with the increase in drone ownership, more and more people are taking photos of the rock from the sea.

"Horse Head Rock had been on my must-find list for a long time," confesses Tom Corra of Canberra who recently made a weekend pilgrimage to photograph it.

"You can get up close to the rock via the beach, but the tide wasn't in our favour," explains Tom, who had his drone in his backpack, "so flew it out over the waves to get a closer view".

"I did a fly-over and turned the drone around to come back and to my amazement... the view from the ocean-side is even more spectacular than from the land. Rather than a horse head, it looks like an actual horse in the ocean! A truly amazing natural feature," he exclaims.

Horse Head Rock is located around the headland to the north of Camel Rock Surf Beach, which is about 8km north of Bermagui. If tide and sea conditions are favourable, it can be accessed by the adventurous by rock hopping around the base of the headland. However, the safer and council-preferred option is to take the 1.5km (one-way) elevated walking path from Camel Rock Surf Beach car park to Murunna Point to a purpose-built viewing platform.

The sign at the trail head currently doesn't even mention Horse Head Rock but in response to its growing popularity, the local council is hoping to soon rectify that. Further, Bermagui Area Chamber of Commerce & Tourism is planning an extension of the Bermagui Heritage Trail to an additional 10 sites, including Horse Head Rock.

Camel Rock Surf Beach car park is located on the unmarked road off Wallaga Lake Road. If walking from Murunna Point, parking is available at Wallaga Lake Reserve along Wallaga Street. Note: no dogs are allowed on this walk. It is a culturally significant area to the Yuin people.

For many Bermagui old-timers, the coastal landmark will always be known as Wintles Rock, named after Emily Wintle whose family ran a large adjoining property, the span of which included the present-day Wallaga Lake Heights, Regatta Point and Ocean Lake Caravan Park.

The daughter of early European settlers, Emily (nee Gillespie) married Robert Wintle and together they ran a wattle bark farm until Robert died when Emily was just 39, leaving her with 10 children. If that wasn't enough to keep her busy, she acquired an 11th when a friend died.

According to a spokesperson for the Bermagui Historical Society, "Emily then took on a haulage business as it was more profitable than farming. With two drays pulled by eight horses, she took stores from Bermagui to Tilba, backloading with railway sleepers. There was no bridge across the lake and the goods had to be unloaded from the drays and put onto barges."

It was hard yakka for Emily, who, along with her workers had to punt the barges and swim the teams across the water, then reload the drays from the barges on the other side. According to local lore, she once had to beat off eight sharks hemmed in by a sandbar. Heck.

Renowned south coast shutterbug William Corkhill took the only known photo of Emily (seated and wearing peak cap) at the funeral of "Queen Narelle" (wife of "King Merriman") at Wallaga Lake, circa 1900. If you look closely, she was one of the only non-Aboriginals present - evidence of her high standing in the wider community.

There was lots of reminiscing among readers following this column's recent exposé on Blundells Cottage and its first inhabitants, especially about the last long-term resident, Alice Oldfield.

Bill Weatherstone of Chapman has especially fond memories as a child visiting "Mrs Oldfield" with his dad to deliver apples in the early 1950s when his family owned Spring Range Orchard at Hall.

"Dad got to know her well and she would always share a beer with him, that she kept cool in what was possibly the bread oven," he recalls.

Bill also remembers Mrs Oldfield's cockatoo, which often welcomed guests with a raucous screech of "Shut the bloody gate!"

"The cocky was always present and 'spoke very clearly'," muses Bill.

Luke Wensing - now of Evatt, but who lived at Russell Hill before it became Campbell - also warmly recalls Mrs Oldfield.

"To get to 'daycare' in the city, I'd catch the 'Duntroon bus' on the corner of what is now Blamey Crescent and Constitution Avenue and the bus often stopped to pick up Mrs Oldfield from her cottage," recalls Luke.

"She used to keep an eye on me as I was travelling alone. I also remember her sending me a 'get well' card when I was in hospital having my tonsils out in 1956 when I was just seven years old."

Meanwhile, Kevin Mulcahy of Tura Beach regularly visited Mrs Oldfield at Blundells Cottage in the 1940s with his mum in her role as an agent for the T&G life Insurance Company.

"After Harry, her husband, passed away (in 1942), Mrs Oldfield lived on her own and although the policy, I assume, had been paid out, my mum still visited and swapped eggs and dressed chooks for milk and cream," recalls Kevin.

"Our visits to 'Mrs O' were a favourite as we would sit in the warm kitchen and have tea and scones with jam and clotted cream. Sometimes she'd even give us a loaf of her homemade bread."

Ah, them were the days.

Rating: Hard

Clue: A little-known ruin at a well-known lake.

How to enter: Email your guess along with your name and address to tym@iinet.net.au. The first correct email sent after 10am, Saturday July 23 wins a double pass to Dendy, the Home of Quality Cinema.

Last week: Congratulations to Peter Stevenson of Macarthur who was first to identify last week's photo as Lake Albina Lodge in Kosciuszko National Park. Built in 1951 by the Ski Tourers Association (later renamed the Australian Alpine Club), the much-loved high country outpost was demolished for environmental reasons by the National Parks and Wildlife Service in 1983.

Peter beat several readers to the prize, including Jan Reksten of Hughes who arrived in Australia in the same year the lodge was built and first went skiing as a child in Perisher in the early 1950s. "It was the favourite destination of many a weekend cross-country ski trip," he reports, adding "during the 1970s my friends and I skied there occasionally and stayed overnight on weekend trips. It was in such a superb location right in the heart of the Main Range - such great memories".

Meanwhile, Pat Garner reports "in 1958 while helping a friend to run a horse-riding school at Thredbo we were asked to use our horses to take the winter supplies to Lake Albina Lodge as vehicles damaged the ground cover.

"This took us several days. I still recall a skewbald mare objecting to her load of drums of kerosene and bucking them off." Gee.

Finally, for all the readers who were thrown off track by not seeing any water in the snow-covered lake, thereby thinking the hut must have been one of several similar-looking lodges elsewhere in The Snowies, here's a photo of the same vista in summer 1976, complete with water views. See it now?

CONTACT TIM: Email: tym@iinet.net.au or Twitter: @TimYowie or write c/- The Canberra Times, GPO Box 606, Civic, ACT, 2601