Merimbula Boardwalk Walking track
Posted by: 
Wilbert67
S 36° 53.661 E 149° 54.507
55H E 759171 N 5912896
A nice boardswalk along the shores of Merimbula Lake
Waymark Code: WM8ZGN
Location: New South Wales, Australia
Date Posted: 06/05/2010
Views: 18
The Merimbula boardwalk skirts the northern shores of the Top Lake section of Merimbula Lake – a complex estuarine embayment on the southern coast of NSW. The estuary is straddled by the coastal city of Merimbula providing a backdrop of low intensity urban and tourist development. The boardwalk is described as a delightful and utterly unique place in the centre of town. It offers a place to stroll along the edge of the lake, enjoy a cold icecream, or a meal in one of the cafes or restaurants.
The Merimbula boardwalk is one of a small selection of mangrove public boardwalks in New South Wales. It has the distinction of being the most southerly situated of any mangrove boardwalk in Australia, and the highest latitude mangrove boardwalk in the world. The site offers an excellent opportunity to identify the two local mangrove plant species. Each are found elsewhere but the local variants are well worth inspection for their unusual southern Australian characteristics of mostly diminutive size, sturdy structure and relatively small leaves.
In general, the walk offers a fine example of mangrove habitat in a temperate setting. The mangrove species and their associated animals are special to this region of Australia with the River Mangrove, Aegiceras corniculatum, at its highest latitude site in the world. This tidal wetland is special because of the unique circumstances in Australia where this climatic setting elsewhere would be occupied only by salt marsh species. Here the vigorous saltmarsh often compete unusually with the mangrove plants. The shoreline of the estuarine lake is sandy with occasional rocky outcrops. Mangroves and salt marsh plants are found scattered at times densely and reaching 3-4 m in height along the edge, and occasionally in stands to 10 m wide.
The boardwalk and walking track were constructed by the Bega Valley Shire Council and CALM (NSW Department of Conservation and Land Management) in a project called the Merimbula LEAP (Landcare and Environment Action Program) and Greencorps Project funded by the Commonwealth Department of Employment, Education and Training, Some signage information was supplied by the Australian Government Survey Office. All signage was produced and approved by the Sapphire Coast Nature Society, NSW Fisheries, Bega Valley Shire Council, and NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service.
Length: About 1.7 km, but it is not a loop so the complete return walk would be about 3.4 km
Physically Challenged Accessible?: no
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