Mogo

A devastating bushfire ripped through the tiny historic goldmining village of Mogo, just south of Batemans Bay in the Eurobodalla region, at the end of 2019. Luckily, the town’s biggest attraction, Mogo Wildlife Park, survived along with many of the eclectic collection of cafes, galleries and shops that made Mogo a popular stop on the drive up or down the Princes Highway.

Go wild in Mogo

Mogo Wildlife Park supports the largest collection of endangered and exotic animal species in Australia, including the largest collection of primates. There are over 250 animals in the park, including snow endangered snow leopards, Rothschild’s giraffe, southern white rhinos and western lowland gorillas. It is one of only two places in Australia where you can see white lions.

Visitors can choose from numerous Up Close and Personal animal encounters including lovable meerkats, and the chance to feed a red panda is hard to resist. The Park also conducts Zoom Through the Lens photography tours with a professional nature photographer.

Eat, drink and shop

Take a leisurely morning drive or ride out to Mogo Brew Crew in their retro aqua-coloured van. Pick up a coffee, a soft serve ice cream and maybe a tempting sweet treat or two. Sit down for breakfast or lunch in the leafy courtyard of Grumpy and Sweethearts Café. Mogo Pies serves up homemade pies, sandwiches, bagels, cakes and more – don’t miss the indulgent vanilla slice. Sweet tooths will want to pay a visit to Mogo Fudge & Ice Cream/Lots of Lollies and The Mogo Lolly Shop.

After all that snacking, walk off some of the sugar on the Mogo Bushwalk. Other shops to visit include Mogo Nursery, the In and Out kitchen shop, the Middle of Mogo gift shop, Hidden Treasures with its range of Balinese handicrafts and pick up some beautiful jewellery at Juela Mogo. Mogo Collective is another to add to the list, with local and regional art, food, fashion, homewares and furniture.

Getting there and where to stay

Mogo is a four-hour drive from Sydney and just over two hours from Canberra. It’s a 10min drive from Batemans Bay. You can also fly to Moruya Airport and hire a car for the 15min drive north. There are plenty of places to stay in the surrounding Eurobodalla region including hotels, resorts, houses and holiday parks.