Bodalla, NSW
STARTING our morning in Bermagui, we cruised gently along the Prince’s Highway through rural New South Wales.
Chugging along in need of coffee we were both hoping for a nice place to stop and fill-up. We pulled into the Bodalla Dairy Shed around 10am. Located half way between Narooma and Moruya, the retro milkbar and café is the beating heart of a 150-year-old working village.
Also an operating cheese factory, the café serves traditional milkshakes thickened with rich ice-cream and burgers made from local grain-fed beef. A vintage pink Wurlitzer juke-box shines by the window. Red leather booths line the wall. An eastern brown snakeskin holds pride of place above the fireplace, stretching two metres long.
We slurp the creamiest milkshakes we have ever tasted and congratulate each other for making the stop.
Taking some time to walk around the outside of the shed, we find ourselves standing at the edge of a large paddock where two small calves greet us. They let us scratch their necks and push their noses into us demanding food.
A staff member from the shed hands me a large milk bottle and I am able to feed the little bull his breakfast.
This is a highlight for me. When I was younger I used to feed our baby goat ‘Bartholomew’ from a bottle.
The little bull’s name is Grant, which I think is a very grown up name for such a little bull.
Still, he was very strong, bunting and pushing against the bottle.
There was a small boy with his mother and he was able to feed the girl calf, Louise. I’m glad he feed her and not Grant, as he would have been knocked flat over.
When we left to continue our journey to Sydney, I was covered with cow slobber. It was a fantastic moment.