When we were newly married and living in the Northern Rivers of NSW, holidays were simple by necessity. We didn’t have much money and were a long way from family, so our usual approach was to throw a tent in the car and see where we ended up. One January, we decided to head north, driving for about six hours until we reached Bundaberg — known for its sugar, rum, and warm inland air.
Wanting to be closer to the water, we kept going until we reached the coast and found a small caravan park at Bargara. It was quiet, a bit out of the way, and cheap — just what we were after. We set up camp without any real expectations, happy to be near the ocean and away from regular life for a bit.
What we didn’t realise was that the caravan park sat right next to Mon Repos National Park. We hadn’t heard of it before. But that week, we discovered we were camping beside one of the most important nesting grounds for endangered loggerhead turtles in the South Pacific. From November to March, adult turtles come ashore at Mon Repos to lay eggs, and about eight weeks later, the hatchlings begin to emerge.
We were there in late January, just after the school holidays had ended. Most families had packed up and gone home, which meant the campground was nearly empty. Each night, we joined a small group of visitors and national park rangers on the beach. We watched mother turtles slowly make their way up the sand to lay eggs, and we saw tiny hatchlings push themselves free and head for the sea. The rangers ensured it all happened safely, with as little disruption as possible.
We hadn’t planned any of it. We didn’t even know it was possible to see turtles like that in Australia. But we ended up spending two weeks there, falling into a gentle rhythm of beach walks, simple meals, and quiet nights spent watching something rare and remarkable.
“Mon Repos” is French for “My Rest,” and that’s exactly what it became for us. In that early stage of marriage, with very little money and no real agenda, it gave us a sense of calm, wonder, and connection — at a place we’d found by accident.
The Afterword 
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