It is named the Wharf to Wharf Walk. The Lions Club of Tathra (210N2) and the Lions Club of Pambula Merimbula (201N2) have jointly constructed a 27 kilometre coastal walk along what is known as the Sapphire Coast on the eastern seaboard of New South Wales, Australia.
The walk crosses the ancient land of First Nations people, the Yuin people, follows the rugged cliffs, headlands, secluded bays, lakes, freshwater la- goons and long isolated beaches. The areas that the walk traverses have been environmentally protected bearing in mind the requirements of the State National Parks authority. The project is a partnership between the two Lions Clubs in cooperation with the State National Parks and Wildlife Service as well as the local government authority, the Bega Valley Shire Council.
The project took over 18 months to complete with the support to two local communities of Tathra and Merimbula. During the time of construction the two clubs have been well supported by their local communities that have been through difficult times because of bush fires, floods as well as the challenges of COVID. The work will also be very popular with tourists visiting the local area.
The walk was officially opened in June 2021 with ceremonies including the First Nations people describing the walk as being “all about journeys” – the journey of the walk along with the life journey of the individual and that of the land. Official acknowledgement came from the local Council Mayor and the Federal Member of Parliament.
The project was jointly funded by the local Lions Clubs, the Australian Lions Foundation, the Vinnies Community Bushfire Grant (St Vincent de Paul) along with funding from a Bushfire Community Recovery and Resilience Fund through a joint Commonwealth/State Disaster Recovery Funding. President of the Tathra Lions Club, Paul Falvey, noted that this project was very much a community project establishing a community walk. The walk pro-motes and celebrates the many terrific community groups in the region that care for our environment and local history.
During the official opening of the project local Federal Member of Parliament, Kristy McBain, acknowledged the many hours of volunteer work carried out by the local Lions Clubs as well as other community members. “Its very easy to talk about a project but it takes great dedication and commitment to make the ideas happen”.
The project is a generous gift to the local communities.
