Destinations: Green Cape, Ben Boyd National Park, NSW

The bushfire black eventually becomes all green until suddenly, as you round a corner, the 29-metre-tall Cape Green Lightstation bursts into view, the road ahead tracking across the narrow peninsula arrow-straight towards it.

The peninsula narrows as you drive along it until it comes to a point where the lighthouse clings to the rock. To the north, and hidden behind high cliffs is Twofold Bay and the fishing haven of Eden, while to the south is Disaster Bay – its name is the reason why this lighthouse has stood here since 1883.

At the foot of the lighthouse is a collection of cottages and outbuildings made of stone hewn by hand out of the nearby cliffs, once housing the lightkeeper and his family but now our accommodation for the next few days.

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Parks NSW promotes the Green Cape Lighthouse as one of the state’s premier fishing destinations and encourages the state’s anglers to book and stay at the facility. 

If you’re a land-based fisher, you can cast directly off the rocks at the lighthouse where PVC pipe rod holders embedded into the platforms show where others have often come before you.

If you need more space, City Rock to the south and Pulpit Rock to the north offer spectacular locations to cast a line. Use a weighted float, as there are snags everywhere in the rocks and crevices below the water.

As always, be extra careful around rock fishing platforms.

If you bring a boat the opportunities to hit the waters around Green Cape abound.

About an hour to the south is the sleepy hamlet of Wonboyne, nestled on an arm of the lake that also bears the same name as the town that sits on its shore, and the river that feeds it.

Wonboyne is accessed via a tight, windy road that makes its way down to the lake, so if you’re towing a boat take it very easy, particularly on the steep descent into town.

Womboyne’s boat ramp is idyllic, although on a busy day you can see it becoming very crowded. Located on the western shoreline, to the east the relatively shallow Womboyne Lake opens up before it spurs south via a shallow channel  to the mouth of the river, and the sea.

Wide and long flat-nosed punts rest on the shoreline, while the oyster leases they service lie just visible in the distance. You can hear the slap of the boats on the water as they work the rows of baskets.

Womboyne Lake is not big, but there are plenty of places to go to chase trophy-sized flathead, bream, tailor, whiting, silver trevally and Australian salmon.

Expansive sand flats also provide plenty of places to go and pump your own bait.

If you have children, you can drive almost right up to the beach at Womboyne, travelling along well-formed bush tracks fringed in native flora and wildlife.

Another good spot for the young ones is the Bittangabee Bay campground, which fronts a tiny,  idyllic beach framed on one side by a deeply tannin-stained creek. The beach fronts the fully enclosed bay that’s protected from almost all weather.

About 45 minutes north of Green Cape and at the southern end of the Sapphire Coast is the former whaling hamlet of Eden. This is also the closest place where you can get fuel, so be sure to top up all your tanks before making the return trip.

The township of Eden – from some points it looks as though it is clinging to the hilly escarpment on which it is built – faces onto Twofold Bay. Beyond is some of the best fishing, diving and whale-watching waters in Australia.

Of note, Eden is also an important hub for catching and processing the bait that most people along Australia’s eastern shoreline need, and made even more important since the closure of significant commercial fisheries in Victoria, including the nearby Gippsland Lakes region.

Eden’s busy four-lane boat ramp is at Quarantine Bay, just to the town’s south. Facilities are basic, and if you’re launching it pays to have someone behind the wheel, as the floating pontoon-based jetty is separate from the ramp. A long groyne protects the ramp from incoming swell and surges.

A row of concrete fish-cleaning tables is waiting for your return.

Once on the water, everything from estuaries to open water is available, even for smaller boats that can take advantage of calm conditions. Bigger boats heading offshore about 20 nautical miles across the big swells to the continental shelf will target everything from marlin to bluefin tuna – on a busy day you’ll see boats lined up along the dropoff.

Closer to shore, local reefs provide an opportunity to target anything from morwong to snapper, and even kingfish.

Green Cape is a big trip from either Sydney or Melbourne. 

From Sydney, you’re going to be driving south for about seven hours via either Canberra and the Monaro Highway, or along the coast and all its distractions via the Princes Freeway. If you’re taking the scenic route the last fuel stop is at Eden, 40km away, so ensure you’re topped up before ducking down to the cape. If you’re on the inland route, stop and take on a splash of fuel at Bombala, 120km away.

From Melbourne, it’s also a seven-hour trip. The last chance to refuel on the Victorian side before hitting Green Cape is at Cann River, 120km away, although you could make a side trip into the picturesque summer holiday destination of Mallacoota and save 30km – and have a fish while you’re there.

Even from Canberra, the nation’s capital, it’s more than four hours of wheel time.

No food is available at Green Cape, so bring everything you need for the time you’re staying there. The lighthouse cottages, comprising the main house split into two and an outlying building are available to book via the Parks NSW website.

Sections of the roads into both Green Cape and Womboyn are steep and twisty, so ensure your trailer is in top shape before you head down.

If you’re visiting Green Cape, there is a $8 fee per vehicle to enter the Ben Boyd National Park that you’ll need to pay before entering. It's an honour system, and no change is given.

There is adequate mobile phone reception in some parts of Green Cape, but not everywhere.