CHEAP FISH 'N CHIPS PLUS AT ULLADULLA!
By: John Westbury - November 2011

Like all travellers I like to save money enabling me to see and do more while I'm caravanning. I'm also a big supporter of farmers who sell their produce at the farm gate at very reasonable prices rather than the supermarkets who have big profit margins, and, I always support organisations such as surf life saving clubs, marine rescue organisations, bowls clubs and the RSL's who provide meals at a very good price.

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Travelling along the NSW coast towards the end of September, we stopped over at Ulladulla for a few days and quite enjoyed the surrounds and places of interest. One night we were a bit weary and didn't feel like cooking, so we decided we would have fish 'n chips, so off we set to the fish shop where we were astounded! A piece of fish, without chips was $8-50! We checked out another fish shop only to find the same. Here in Victoria a piece of fish is around $4 to $4-80! We went back to our caravan and had soup and eggs on toast!

The following day I had the pleasure of playing lawn bowls at the Ulladulla Bowls Club and I was teamed up with a chap who is a volunteer at the local Marine Rescue group, and was telling him of my dismay at the price charged at local fish shops. That's when he gave me a great tip which I promised I would pass on to all of you who need food on the go!

Like all volunteer organisations the Marine Rescue group at Ulladulla need money to keep afloat even though they do receive some financial help from their state government. Apart from their many fundraisers they have a kiosk at their headquarters at Harbour Drive where they sell fish 'n chips, hamburgers, and a whole range of other mouth watering goodies at very low cost.

Next day I decided to check out this kiosk so I took my wife who is a retired home economics teacher down to check it out, and we were amazed! Firstly we met the three lovely lady volunteers (June, Elaine and another Elaine) on duty, all in uniform, who greeted us with a very friendly smile.

Here we found freshly home style cooked fish 'n chips for only $7. Yes, that's right; only $7. But, that's not all folks! The seafood basket (which we enjoyed for lunch) was only $9, and yes, it included fish and a large range of goodies such as prawns, scallops, calamari and of course chips! We took some back to the van as there was that much we couldn't eat it all. But, it's not just fish 'n chips they sell. They also have beautiful home made pies (made by the ladies) for just $3, as well as hamburgers, bacon and egg rolls, and the biggest and best steak sandwich I've seen in a long time, all at very low cost prices. But wait, there's more! They had huge home made lamingtons and milk shakes made the old fashioned way. OK, I own up, I purchased a lamington for afternoon tea for each of us, and I must say the milk shakes were delightful.

I even managed a tour of their control room where I met Sam who was on duty that day and learned about their day to day operation. The youngest of their 100 members is 16-years old and their oldest is 87. They average a rescue a week and they are a 24 / 7 operation and have been operating since 1974. They are fortunate in that all their uniforms are provided free, but it's still a costly operation to run such a volunteer rescue centre otherwise.

So, next time you are either staying at Ulladulla or just passing through and you feel peckish drop into the kiosk which you will see located at the bottom of their control tower in Harbour Drive. You will be saving a lot of money, be greeted with a warm friendly smile and be supporting a very worthwhile cause as well as having a most enjoyable meal on the go!

By: John Westbury - November - 2011