wharf to wharf walk - a community project

Lions Club of Tathra 

The Lions Club of Tathra has served the communities of Tathra, Kalaru and the Bega Valley since 1974, initiating and implementing a wide range of community projects.

These include the Lions Park, Tathra Lions Memorial Garden, the ANZAC War Memorial, an outdoor gymnasium, a Nursing Scholarship, assistance to local schools and support for the community following the 2018 Tathra Fire.

Tathra Lions Club fundraising helps support a wide range of local community groups as well as statewide and national health and medical research foundations and disaster relief situations. Tathra Lions raises funds each year through catering at Sapphire Coast race meetings, Melbourne Cup Calcutta, Tathra Bike Enduro and other community events, as well as running the Tathra Pig Races around New Year.

In the 1980s Tathra Lions established and now runs a 20-unit low-income seniors accommodation facility, Haven Place, in Tathra.

Our members bring a diverse range of professional, trade and management experience to these projects as volunteers. To become involved or obtain further information, please contact us at PO Box 7069, Tathra NSW 2550. 

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Lions Club of Pambula-Merimbula

The Lions Club of Pambula-Merimbula Inc is a not for profit community service club that was charted in 1965. Since then, we have been assisting our local people and the community, through:

• Community infrastructure development.
• Activities and funding raising to support charities, the vulnerable and our youth.
• Assisting individuals in the wake of disasters such as bushfires floods and COVID-19.

We strive to empower volunteers to serve their communities, meet humanitarian needs, encourage peace and promote international understanding through all Lions Clubs.  

Our Club aims to create and foster a spirit of understanding among the peoples of the world, and to take an active interest in the civic, cultural, social and moral welfare of our immediate and wider community. The Club while autonomous, is part of Lions Australia which is Australia’s largest service club with more than 1200 clubs in Australia and Papua New Guinea.

We welcome new members who want to make a difference in their community.

Join our club. Contact us at pambulamerimbula.nsw@lions.org.au

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You can contribute to the local environment while on the Wharf to Wharf Walk. Help record your experiences and contribute to local environmental knowledge.

The Atlas of Life in the Coastal Wilderness is an ongoing citizen science project.  Initiated and operated by local volunteers, the project recognises the biological importance of the far south coastal region of NSW and aims to help document the areas biodiversity.

Through the Atlas of Life project, walkers can take photographic nature observations that are then shared through a collective website iNaturalist and add to the collective knowledge of the region. Get involved and ensure your walk makes a difference and contributes to local environmental knowledge and planning.  

How to get started 

Simply register on iNaturalist and ‘report a sighting’. You can add sightings on your computer, or record them in the field using the iNaturalist App on your smartphone, or tablet.

The Atlas of Life iNaturalist platform includes local species lists to help you identify your sightings, and fellow contributors are also able to comment and provide assistance. If you have no idea what it is that you have found, post your sighting anyway - chances are, someone will know! 

The sightings records can be viewed by species, by group of organisms, or by location. You can even use iNaturalist as a personal record of all your own sightings. Walkers can also support a special Fire Recovery Project in the region. 

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Life Under The Wharf: Tathra

Ever wondered what life under the Tathra Wharf looks like? Follow regular updates here.

The Far South Coast Landcare Association (FSCLA) is a volunteer organisation that supports groups and individuals who strive to improve the way in which land and water resources are managed on the Far South Coast.

For almost 20 years, the FSCLA has been focused on projects that build community capacity and address issues such as; weed control, soil health, sustainable grazing, feral animal control, re-establishing native vegetation, water quality, gully & riverbank erosion, protecting wetlands and estuary and dune management.

Our Association works in close collaboration with South East Local Land Services (SELLS), Bega Valley Shire Council, National Parks, Dairy industry groups, farmer groups and Aboriginal Land Councils.  Annual financial turnover for the FSCLA now exceeds $250,000 with significant funding from the Federal Government’s Environmental Trust and the South East Local Land Services.  

We currently employ a Landcare Coordinator, Farmers’ Network Coordinator and a Seedbank Project Officer.  Our staff’s experience and knowledge covers a wide range of landcare issues, so we are available for advice and support on grant access, conducting on-ground works, native revegetation and propagation, weed control, group governance and more.

As an ‘umbrella organisation’ the FSCLA provides assistance to its’ members in the form of project management, grant development and group governance, as well as offering training forums, safety inductions and field days.

FSCLA manages a large and diverse native seedbank, employing a part-time coordinator to collect, process, store and dispatch local native plant seed.  Our predominant customers are wholesale nursery growers wanting to produce tube stock for local re-vegetation projects. Funding for the seedbank comes from a range of bodies including South East Local Land Services, Bega Valley Shire Council and occasionally State Government Grants.

Membership is free. You will receive invitations about upcoming events and information on grant opportunities.

Landcare groups active in the area of the Wharf-to-Wharf Walk include Tura / Mirador, Wallagoot Lake and Tathra.

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The Far South Coast Conservation Management Network (CMN) supports private landholders in the Bega Valley Shire to recover and manage native vegetation on their properties. The CMN aims to inspire and motivate landholders, increase knowledge about native vegetation management and develop the skills to do this work. It offers practical workshops, field days, an online newsletter with information on best practice land management, future events and funding opportunities. 

CMN members range from those with small but important patches of vegetation to large tracts of bushland. They may be managing the vegetation to reduce erosion on the banks of creeks or rivers, provide habitat for native fauna or look after an endangered ecological community. 

The network is coordinated by Alison Rodway, local resident, former Landcare Coordinator for the Far South Coast and founding member of the Bega River and Wetlands Landcare Group. The CMN is supported by South East Local Land Services through funding from the Australian Government, NSW Government and Bega Valley Shire Council.

Membership is free.

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Panboola is a community conservation, restoration, educational and passive recreational and tourism project, embracing the history and diversity of the wetlands within an 82-hectare floodplain. Adjacent to the township of Pambula and managed by the Pambula Wetlands and Heritage Project Inc., Panboola is maintained by a team of dedicated volunteers.

It is a favourite local place for bird watching, walking, bike riding and relaxation. Panboola is being rehabilitated with community assistance as a wetland for the purposes of nature conservation, protection and restoration of habitat for birds and other indigenous flora and fauna, and for community education and passive enjoyment.

Fresh water billabongs lead to saline areas within and around the former racecourse, then through saltmarsh and mangroves to the tidal Pambula River beyond. Ben Boyd National Park and SEPP 14 wetlands adjoin the southwestern boundaries.

A system of walking tracks has been developed leading visitors to destinations such as saltmarsh, historic points, information panels and bird watching areas. 

Volunteers are always welcome.

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An enthusiastic, bird watching group with an area of interest across the Bega Valley Shire extending from Bermagui to the Victorian border and westwards to the mountain range to include Bemboka. 

Regular field trips are held on the second Saturday and fourth Sunday of each month plus a social evening meeting held in Merimbula on the second Thursday of Feb, Apr, June, Aug, Oct and Dec with a guest speaker, photos on screen, discussion from members and supper. 

We are a friendly welcoming group and we’d love to meet you.

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The Australian Plants Society South East region aims to promote an awareness of Australian native plants in our community, inform its members about native plants and act as a social group for people with an interest in these plants.

We generally meet on the first Saturday of each month except December and January.  As our group covers the coastal area from Batemans Bay to the Victorian border and inland to the Monaro, we meet at varying locations.

We currently have over 80 members making the group an active and friendly one.  Our members mainly live in the Eurobodalla and Bega Valley Shires but anyone can join. Our newsletter contains details of meetings and trips as well as information on plants and habitats and tips on propagation.  

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Our Science Hub & Regional Sustainability Education Network works to raise community engagement with science, sustainability and environmental education. 

Keep track of community events and activities.

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The Tathra Wharf Museum, located on the famous Tathra Wharf, showcases our maritime history. Run by dedicated volunteers the Museum is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 3pm.  The price of entry is $2.00 per person, or $5.00 per family.

Passengers were catching steamships from Tathra Wharf to Sydney up until 1952 and the last cargo steamer to leave the wharf in 1954. Up to 1954 the real working wharf was the lifeblood of the district, providing work for the locals, an outlet for produce and a port for incoming goods desperately needed by the growing communities. Management of NSW wharves was delegated to local shire councils. The financial burden was huge; mass deterioration resulted and invariably each fell into disrepair, a number meeting their end by fire. The now historical Tathra Wharf was the only such structure saved, all due to a concerted community effort. 

In 2006 piers, bearers and the platform were replaced using spotted gum and turpentine timbers as originally built. The cargo shed roof was renovated. Further remedial work was undertaken following a severe storm in 2016.

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The Merimbula Old School Museum occupies the sandstone building in Main Street that was the former teacher’s residence and classroom, all under the same roof. It is a rare example in NSW of this type of building still in public ownership and was first occupied in 1875 with an enrolment of 39 pupils. 

The school moved to new premises at the end of 1945 and the old building was used as a residence and for community activities for a number of years. In 1967 the Imlay Historical Society was formed and requested permission to use the building as a museum which opened in 1973 after extensive repairs had been carried out. This NSW National Trust classified building is leased from the BVSC and managed by the Merimbula-Imlay Historical Society. 

Historical information on Merimbula Wharf and the local region is on display.

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The Bega Pioneers' Museum is a “time capsule” managed by the Bega Valley Historical Society, focused on the collection, preservation and celebration of the history of Bega and surrounding districts.

The Pioneers’ Museum features collections themed around the history of pre-settlement, settlement & development of the Bega District. The Museum’s collections and exhibitions feature material from pre-settlement of the district until the present and consists of documents, imagery, oral and aural histories, objects and records of community organisations.

The Bega Historical Association was formed in 1952 and finally established the Bega Family (Pioneer) Museum at it current site (at what was the Family Hotel) in 1977.

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Bournda EEC (BEEC) is a Department of Education (DoE) facility located within Bournda National Park, a superb natural setting ideally suited for the delivery of environmental education, sustainability and wellbeing programs across a range of key learning areas.

BEEC services a large catchment of K-12 public schools across rural south-east NSW, providing high quality teaching and learning programs and engaging learning opportunities for students, consistent with the Department's Environmental Education Policy for Schools and Rural and Remote Strategy.

Programs are offered at schools and at other off-site locations as required. Popular overnight programs for students are offered, with camping available at the NPWS Hobart Beach Camping Ground and the Field Studies Hut.

BEEC also delivers professional learning opportunities for teachers, assists schools with environmental audits and provides teaching resources to support student fieldwork activities and has developed many partnerships to enhance curriculum opportunities for students in our rural communities. 

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Bega Valley Bushwalkers

Bega Valley Bushwalkers Inc. is an outdoors based group that engages in activities ranging from day bush walks, longer pack walks, car based camps, canoeing, bike rides, snow-shoe walks and social activities.

Although we are based in the Far South Coast of NSW, members range far and wide in their pursuit of rewarding outdoor experiences. The leaders of club walks and other activities are all volunteers from among the membership. We encourage any member who feels confident to lead walks, with support from more experienced members.

There is an elected committee responsible for the management of club affairs. We have Public Liability and Personal Accident Insurance for members and our group is affiliated with Bushwalking NSW. 

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U3A (University of the Third Age) - Adventure Walking Group 

U3A is a not for profit, world wide movement for retired people which fosters shared learning in a friendly, non-political, non-sectarian atmosphere. No educational qualifications are required to join U3A - your ‘school of life’ experience is all that is required. 

U3A Sapphire Coast is a great way to meet other retired people and make new friends across the entire Shire.  

Adventure Walking provides a variety of monthly interesting walks in the local area for fitter members looking for a challenge. 

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National Parks Association of NSW (NPA) has been established as a conservation organisation for 60 years. We also run one of Australia’s largest bushwalking clubs with a network of regional branches, hundreds of active volunteers and over 40,000 supporters. 

NPA has played a role in the establishment of many of NSW’s national parks and nature reserves. Today there are 877 protected areas covering 7 million hectares on the land (9% of the State) and 66,000 ha of marine waters (6.5% of the coast), far exceeding the goals of our founders. NSW is one of the most environmentally diverse areas on earth and we work hard to ensure it remains this way. Become a member. 

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