Bingie Bingie Point

Latitude -36.01278, Longitude 150.163689

Located in the Eurobodalla National Park, nearest town Moruya

Source: Geological Survey of NSW

Link to Detailed Map

Geology

Bingie Bingie Point which lies at the northern end of Bingie Beach comprises a spectacular display of intrusive igneous rocks. It is where two igneous rock types outcrop. The lighter grey rock often containing magmatic fabric is tonalite and the darker grey rock is gabbroic diorite known as the Bingie Bingie suite. The clear exposure of two differing igneous rock types and their relationship to each other in such a confined area is regarded as outstanding among exposures of igneous intrusive rocks in the state (Percival, 1985).

Intrusive rock bodies are masses of magma which have cooled and crystallized below the earth's surface as opposed to having been formed from a volcanic eruption and cooled on the surface. The Bingie Bingie Point rocks are part of the early Devonian granites of the Moruya batholith and are 415 to 370 million years old. A batholith is a body of rock that has formed in the earth's crust and is usually granite. Note the darker grey mafic enclaves formed when the rock was still molten, their long axes resulted from the flow orientation of the total mass of magma.

As you walk around the headland look out for numerous dykes which have intruded the rock mostly trending towards the north east. A dyke is an intrusion of magma into a fissure, shouldering aside other pre-existing bodies of rock; a dyke is always younger than the rocks that contain it.

At the north eastern side of the headland is an excellent example of 3 dykes intruding the tonalite. The biggest dyke is oriented from west north west to east south east. It is an aplite dyke which is easily identified as it has a yellowish hue.

On the southern side of the headland you can see 3 more dykes. The central one pictured here is a porphyritic basalt dyke. Porphyritic describes a rock that has a distinct difference in the size of the crystals, with at least one group of crystals obviously larger than another group.

On the south eastern side of the headland is another contact clearly visible in the rock. This is the boundary between the Bingie Bingie Suite gabbro and the Bingie Bingie Suite diorite gabbro. Note the white intrusions into the gabbro.

On the rock platform are the remains of the boiler of the SS Monaro which was wrecked on Kelly's Point, Bingie Bingie on 29 May 1879. It was an iron screw steamship, 521 tons, rigged as a two-masted schooner and all passengers and crew survived.

Bingie Bingie Point is also on the Bingi Dreaming Track, which is a coastal path used by the Brinja-Yuin people prior to European settlement. The track is a total of 13.5 km and runs from Congo south to Tuross Heads.

Getting There

Follow the Princes Highway south out of Moruya for about 9km. Take the turn off at Bingi Road to Bingi and Congo. Follow Bingi Road for about seven kilometres until the T-junction and a sign pointing to Bingie Point and Eurobodalla National Park. Turn right (this is still Bingi Road) follow the road for a few kilometres and then turn left (again this is still Bingi Road) and follow the road to Bingie Bingie Point. There are no amenities.