Cullendulla Creek

Mrs Dominie had business in North Batemans Bay today, giving me a chance to revisit Cullendulla Nature Reserve and enjoy the quiet of the boardwalk pushing through the mangroves by the creek.

There's more to this patch of country than first meets the eye, and it has attracted international scientific interest. About 7000 years of past shoreline events are preserved here in an unusual chenier dune complex. Cheniers are ridges formed by low-energy waves that over time deposit sand and shell material onto mud flats.

There are seven ridges here, two of which are cheniers and the others beach ridges - similar to cheniers but deposited on top of sand flats in higher-wave-energy areas and containing much less historical information. Cheniers preserve a record of long-term environmental shifts and could help with predictions of the impact of greenhouse-induced changes such as rises in sea level.

Cullendulla Creek is significant to Aborigines, and there are many ancient burial grounds and middens in the area. The local Yuin people traditionally speak the Dharawal or Dhurga languages, and the word Cullendulla may derive from gurundul (place of mussels). Aborigines retain the right to fish and harvest shellfish here.

The creek flows into Batemans Bay not far from where I took this shot.