Wattamolla

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Winter at Wattamolla beach.

Wattamolla ([34°07′S 151°07′E][Wattamolla Beach page] at Geoscience Australia) is a cove and lagoon on the New South Wales coast south of Sydney, within the Royal National Park.

Wattamolla is the local aboriginal name, meaning "place near running water".[Sutherland Shire place names], fact sheet by the Sutherland Shire Council, August 2003 That name was recorded as Watta-Mowlee by Matthew Flinders, but is today spelt Wattamolla. Flinders and George Bass (and a boy Martin their crew) stopped there in their boat the Tom Thumb on the evening of 29 March 1796. They'd been pushed northwards in the boat along the high cliffs there by a gale and wanted to find a cove of some sort for shelter. At about 10pm they came upon breaking waves and Flinders thought the dark outline of cliffs ended and so turned the boat towards shore. They'd found Wattamolla and in just moments were in the calm sheltered water of the lagoon. Such was their relief that they were going to call it Providential Cove until learning later of its aboriginal name.[Free eBook: A Voyage to Terra Australis by Matthew Flinders] at Project Gutenberg[Free eBook: The Life of Captain Matthew Flinders, by Ernest Scott] at Project Gutenberg

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