Bittangabee Bay is a tiny, picturesque

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a Gulf (geography), gulf, sea, sound (geography), sound, or bight (geogra ...

on the rugged and remote stretch of coastline south of Eden in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The bay is located in Beowa National Park, and there is a campground nearby. The facilities are maintained by National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), Merimbula office. It can be reached by an unsealed road from the Princes Highway. The bay is the only haven between Twofold Bay and

Mallacoota Mallacoota is a small town in the East Gippsland region in the state of Victoria, Australia. At the 2016 census, Mallacoota had a population of 1,063. At holiday times, particularly Easter and Christmas, the population increases by about 8,000 ...

Inlet, and passing yachts are seen anchored for the night there most evenings. It is fed by Bittangabee Creek.

History

Bittangabee Bay was significant for the indigenous people of the region, and early European settlement. Bittangabee Bay was known as 'Pertangerbee' by the original occupants of the area, the

Thaua The Thaua/Thawa, also spelt (also spelled Dhawa) and also called Yuin-Djuin, were an Aboriginal Australian people living around the Twofold Bay area of the South Coast of New South Wales. Language Thawa is an extinct member of the Yuin–Ku ...

/Thawa/Thauaira people of the Yuin ( Murring) nation, who have lived there for over 6,000 years.Lighthouses of Australia Inc Bulletin 4/2004 - July/August 2004
Naa-chi (now

Nadgee Nature Reserve The Nadgee Nature Reserve is a protected nature reserve that is located in the far south coast region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The reserve is situated to the immediate south of Beowa National Park. Its southern border is boun ...

), on the other side of

Green Cape Green Cape is a locality situated on the eponymous headland or cape on the far south coast of New South Wales. It is located at 37° 15' S 150° 03' E, within Beowa National Park, south of Eden, New South Wales. The headland forms the northern ...

to Bittangabee Bay, is the resting-place of their Rainbow Serpent, the most important totem of most Aboriginal people. Some stone ruins near the shore of the bay date from 1844. In 1977, in his book ''The Secret Discovery of Australia'',

Kenneth McIntyre Kenneth Gordon McIntyre OBE, ComIH (22 August 191020 May 2004) was an Australian lawyer and historian. Career McIntyre was born in Geelong in 1910 and graduated from Geelong College as Dux of the School in 1926. He went on to study Arts an ...

suggested the ruins were of Portuguese origin, and that romantic notion quickly gained credence before it was proven incorrect by historian Michael Pearson.

References

{{Bays of New South Wales , state=autocollapse Bays of New South Wales South Coast (New South Wales)