Bettini family history inextricably tied to Narooma's Wagonga Inlet

One ferry looms large - the Wagonga Princess.

Mr Bettini's father was captain of the 1905-built ferry and for 30 years Mr Bettini earned a living by ferrying passengers around Wagonga Inlet on his beloved boat, regaling them with stories of the inlet, ferries, residents and visitors.

Bettini Lane, off Fosters Bay Road, is named for his family.

His French great-grandfather Jean Anthony Bettini arrived in Australia in the 1870s, managed a gold mine in Charters Towers in North Queensland and at one point owned much of Batemans Bay, Mr Bettini said.

READ ALSO:

His grandfather lived in Cranwell, now known as Blackwood Park, a guest house with holiday cabins, boats for hire and a ferry.

As well as farming oysters, Mr Bettini's grandfather took passengers on the ferry for scenic tours and fishing trips in the 1920s.

Illustrious passengers included Elizabeth, daughter of NSW governor Sir John Northcott, and Walter Arnott, grandson of the biscuit factory founder. Many were chauffeured from Sydney.

Mr Bettini's father was also an oyster farmer, captain of the Wagonga Princess and had two boat sheds from which he hired boats.

Born in 1951, Mr Bettini recalled seeing gypsies with horses and carts in Narooma in the mid- to late-1950s.

Aged two, he fell off the jetty.

"That was how I learnt to swim," he said. "I grew up on the water."

He was an apprentice electrician in Canberra, before travelling around Australia and Europe.

On his return, Mr Bettini worked as an electrician but only when he couldn't earn a living from his real passion - conducting scenic tours on the Wagonga Princess.

Mr Bettini has seen sharks and salmon replaced by tuna and seals.

Mr Bettini said his father once caught a five metre-long shark in the inlet and "at one point the salmon were so thick you couldn't drive a boat through them".

"They were so squashed together it looked like you could have walked on them, so Mum used to tell me."

That led to a fish factory being built where Mr Bettini worked as a school boy for 50 cents an hour.

After the salmon "disappeared" the factory canned tuna.

Seals, previously not seen, have also moved in.

New Zealand seals in particular have become a great tourist attraction, Mr Bettini said.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: