Two years ago, back in 2022, Karen Davis (pronounced Car-en) was contemplating a swim. She lives in NSW’s Shoalhaven district—two-and-a-half hours south of Sydney, and roughly the same east of Canberra—a 4,567km² area of coast and hinterland with some of the finest beaches in the world. Hyams Beach, in particular, is famed for its squeaky, white sand; the beach is now in danger of being loved to death.
As a result of Hyams Beach’s popularity, Shoalhaven City Council initiated a “100 Beaches Challenge”, aimed at spreading the tourist load along the region’s 125km of coastline. But the Shoalhaven also has much to offer the bushwalking fraternity: Coastal walks along fantastic sea cliffs and beaches, and through forests of old man banksia and bangalay and stately spotted gums; inland hikes along the escarpment cliffs of Morton and Jerrawangala National Parks, or up into
