Hyams Beach, NSW Australia

After admiring the sheer size of ‘Old Botchy’ and feeling somewhat small-sized in comparison, I made a beeline for Booderee National Park in Jervis Bay, which has a unique status as a territory on its own. 

Jervis Bay has a governance structure separate from New South Wales and is strategically important as a deep-water port and naval base. The Australian Navy's HMAS Creswell, located near Jervis Bay Village, serves as a training facility and plays a vital role in the country's defense capabilities.

Within its territory and at the heart of Booderee lies its botanical jewel, the Booderee Botanic Gardens, the only Aboriginal-owned botanic garden in Australia. The site was originally a farm owned by piano manufacturer Octavius Beale, aimed at growing timber for piano frames, but the plantation failed. In the mid-20th century, the Australian National Botanic Gardens developed it as a botanic garden until 1995, when it became independent, and the local Koori community became its owners. The gardens are spread over 80 hectares and focused on the Aboriginal use of plants for bush food and medicine.

The park's name means 'bay of plenty' in the Dhurga language, and it is home to more than 450 species of native plants, including beauties like Eucalyptus summer red, a flowering gum tree with gorgeous pinkish-red flowers that are rich in nectar, thereby attracting bees and nectar-loving birds like New Holland honeyeater. Another interesting-looking plant is the Kangaroo tail, a grass tree with a tall, dark, spear-like central trunk covered in tiny, densely packed white flowers that produce sweet nectar. Indigenous Australians soaked the flower in water to make a sweet drink, and the resin exuded from the flower’s spide was used as an adhesive to make tools and as lacquer for furniture. 

Aside from the village and the territory’s defence role, Jervis Bay is also an oceanic bay that is incredibly beautiful with its white sands and turquoise waters. Just a stone's throw away from Booderee, back in NSW, lies Hyams Beach, a spot of paradise renowned for its pristine white sand. 

I took a short walk behind the beach, on a trail through coastal forest and sand dunes, to do a little more birdwatching. I kept my eyes peeled for the colourful crimson rosellas and the eastern spinebills, which were a little harder to find since they were only 6in (15cm) long. Once finished, I returned to the village via the beach and enjoyed listening to the squeakiness of the sand beneath my feet.