 "This is so beautiful Daddy,” said my youngest daughter, 8, as we munched on pancakes I had made for breakfast on our pine-shaded verandah overlooking the beach.
“The pancakes or the view,” I inquired. “The view of course. Mum makes much better pancakes,” she blithely retorted, asking if she could feed the leftovers to the mob of kangaroos gathered around our cabin. Told it was not environmentally responsible, miss fussy pots decided to play chasey with the roos on the beach instead.
We had arrived at our beachside cabin at Eco Point’s Murramarang Resort, near Batemans Bay on the NSW South Coast, in the dark the night before so our pancake panorama was our first chance to feast our eyes upon the idyllic setting. And it’s a hard one to beat.
Graceful Norfolk pines line the golden sands of Mill Beach which is lapped by the shimmering, calm waters of Beagle Bay and backed by the verdant flanks of Mt Durras, which was known to local Aboriginals as Murramarang, or ‘big hill’.
And everywhere, in a seeming one-on-one ratio with guests, are eastern grey kangaroos and their cuter-than-cute joeys, grazing happily by the beach. You can even pat them – a wonderful treat for the kids and for overseas relatives and friends staying with you. And any first-time international visitor convinced that kangaroos hop down suburban streets in Australia every day will be delighted to see that actually happen in the streets of South Durras, the small village adjacent to Murramarang Resort. Pictures they take will no doubt spread that Skippy myth even further abroad.
 It’s all because, the resort is actually part of Murramarang National Park, which is a 3.5 hour drive south of Sydney and two hours east of Canberra.
The well-known resort itself has won countless national and state tourism awards and many environmental accolades for its work on sustainable tourism initiatives. In addition, Murramarang was voted by readers of Holidays with Kids magazine this year as one of the top 10 holiday parks in Australia.
Nestled in a jungle-like setting, the resort has everything needed for a fun, carefree family holiday – a safe beach, beach volleyball net, swimming pool, kids club, games area, playground, shop, café, bar and restaurant and there’s no need to cram your car with bikes, boogie boards, snorkelling gear and fishing lines because you can hire those at the resort as well.
Nearby, there are great bushwalks to deserted beaches in the national park and just five minutes away is Durras Lake for boating and other recreational opportunities.
Accommodation ranges from camping sites and garden cabins to luxury two-bedroom villas, many with spas, overlooking the ocean. The serviced villas boast well-equipped kitchens, air conditioning, flat screen TV, pay TV and DVDs and most have outdoor verandahs.
My family’s weekend stay there was all too brief but we filled our time with walks, cycling, rock-hopping, a swim, making bad pancakes and building one of the biggest sand castles there ever was (it’s probably still there!).
On our final morning, we were on our beachfront verandah again, tucking into toast this time, and a family of dolphins graced us with their presence just 40 metres away. My daughter’s face was filled with delight. “Oh wow Daddy,” she said. “I love this place. Can we come back every weekend?!”
• EcoPoint Murramarang Resort has a special school holiday package (October school holidays) starting at $179 per night for a family of four including luxury villa accommodation, free kids meals with every adult meal, entry to the kids club, free kids bike hire and free DVD rental*
  
*Conditions apply. Subject to availability. | 
