A day trip from Sydney to Merimbula

With Zen being a massive plane enthusiast, and I being the keen traveler, we were both thrilled to discover that a dear friend's hubby flew his very own plane. Not as the pilot of a commercial airline of any sort, but a sleek private plane that only those in the high life could afford.

If I had lacked the drive or motivation before this day trip, my entrepreneurial spirit is now fueled with even more passion and aspiration. The freedom to frequently travel and eat like this and the ability to share it with family and friends is pretty amazing.

We've been trying to schedule this trip for a while now but it had always been postponed due to bad weather and predicted turbulence. Then finally, we woke up last weekend to a SMS, stating that it was on!

An hour or so later, we arrived at Camden Airport, were given a safety briefing and hopped onboard.

I'm terribly prone to motion sickness and was glad the flight went smoothly. Well, that's apart from my initial outburst of sweaty palms upon take off.

Surprisingly enough, Zen was allowed to take control of the plane for a brief period, giving him the chance to put his Flight Simulator gaming experience to good use!

Merimbula is located on the far south coast of NSW and is about 500km (a six hour drive) from Sydney. It is also a popular short break destination for Canberra residents which sits almost half way between Sydney and Merimbula.

By plane, it was only an hour away.

Merimbula has some great spots for fishing, lagoons and lakes for swimming, unspoilt bushes for exploring and beaches for surfing. We even had the rare opportunity of spotting a wild seal jumping back into the water near a bridge.

It was the perfect place to spend a warm Sunday.

Lunch was at Waterfront Cafe which sits on the waters edge and offers modern Australian cuisine with a focus on local seafood.They appeared to be popular with locals who were buzzing in and out with takeaway coffees.

I ordered from the daily specials menu and had Local Eden mussels with chorizo and chat potatoes in a tomato and basil broth ($20). The mussels were large, juicy and sweet. It was a rustic style dish with a hearty soup which was mopped up with some crusty garlic bread.

Vas chose a lighter option, opting for the crispy pork belly, rocket, pear and parmesan salad with balsamic reduction ($16) while Chris had the Tasmanian salmon, prawn and pesto linguine ($24) and Zen went for his usual favourite, the seafood risotto ($24).

We finished off with freshly baked scones which had a lovely crisp crust with a rich buttery flavour and were light and fluffy in texture.

Overall, it was a delightful lunch and a wonderful day trip.

Thank you Vas & Chris for inviting us on this flight and for giving me a taste of what to look forward to! xx

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The Waterfront Cafe
Shop 1 - 2, The Promenade
Merimbula NSW
Phone: (02) 6495 2211