Wednesday 29 May to Saturday 22 June

Left Mallacoota around 9 ish on Wednesday and crossed the border into NSW at around 10 ish.  No fruit fly inspections which wouldn’t of mattered if there had been as all my fruit and flies were in perfect order!!!  The drive on the Princess Highway continued through misty rain forest and pleasant farm land.

Eden from the air(borrowed from the Net)

Unsure of where I might finish up at the end of the day I used Wikicamps to suss out various accommodation options.

  Arrived at Eden around lunch time and phoned a couple of parks but all wanting standard rates they would charge a couple.  Got the map out and had a look how far things were further up the coast and being such a lovely day decided to keep going.  I had arrived on the Sapphire Coast!  No gems as such but plenty of blue sapphire seascapes.

Arrived at Pambula, a quaint little town with some lovely old shop fronts on the main street.  Decided to go onto Merimbula and, as luck would have it, found a caravan park for $20 per night including 240v power, hot showers, coin laundry and free internet access and to top it all off, landed myself two weeks paid work renovating some of the on-site cabins!!!!

Merimbula from the air(borrowed from the Net)

Merimbula is another coastal holiday town with very up market apartments, motels, hotels and shopping precinct.  However, the people are very friendly and welcoming.  It is halfway between Eden and Bega right on the coast with a lovely inlet and extensive waterway where oyster farms abound.

 

During the June long weekend the town hosted it’s 33^rd jazz festival and being a partaker of jazz music I had a very enjoyable weekend watching the opening street parade, free jazz by the water and spent all day Sunday at the RSL club enjoying various big band type jazz and more traditional renditions.  We have some very talented young musicians in this country!!  Great weekend.

 

 

When not partaking of the local sights and sounds I have been working 5 days a week renovating three of the on-site cabins in the park.  Mark, the park owner, is a very affable character and together with his on-site handyman we had a great time getting the work done.  Needless to say it was also pleasant to add some funds to the bank balance.

 

 

Lots of nice walks around the area.  Particularly along the beach and back around the point although with the big east coast low we have been experiencing over the last week or so the beach has taken a pounding. 

 

Another good walk is up through the town and along the cliff tops to the main surf beach.  About 2 hours or so of pleasant and dramatic seascapes.

 

The boardwalk on the western side of the main lake is also worth the effort.

 

Did a rainy afternoon trip back to Boydtown which is about 20ks south of Eden heading back toward Victoria.  The town was the dream of one Benjamin Boyd who came to the area in 1842 with the intention of creating a port town to allow him to ship out agricultural produce from his extensive land holdings and to set up a fishing port.  All that is left is a hotel and out on the coast, a tower which he built with the intention of using it as a light house which never happened.  It was used as a whale spotting tower for the Davidson whaling station.

 

 

 

 

 

 

June 18 to June 22

Finished work this week and spent the last few days catching up on domestic stuff before heading up the coast to Bawley Point where I have some more paid work on some holiday cottages.  Did a last walk around Merimbula and found this interesting sign.

 

Image having your eyeballs shaved!!!!!!!!

Lovely drive along the Sapphire Coast Road through Tathra and Bermagui arriving at Bawley Point where another east coast low bought more heavy rain and the prospect of a wet week.

Talk to you again when the trailer and I have dried out !!!!!

Wednesday 22 May to Tuesday 28 May

Ok, so why do I reckon Mallacoota is a “special” place.  I preface my remarks by saying “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”.  In brief – stunning location, magnificent coastal scenery, great facilities for visitors, friendly and very helpful locals, wonderful place for walking and, from what I saw and heard, a terrific fishing spot.

Yep, it is a coastal holiday town and you may get a different impression if you came here in peak season but it wouldn’t change the setting and scenery or, I think, the friendliness of the people.

The town itself is similar to other coastal holiday spots I have visited although certainly not as commercial as Lakes Entrance or Bairnsdale.  There are lots of holiday houses, accommodation options and retirees.

It is the setting of the town smack in the middle of the Croajingolong National Park that makes it special and totally different to other towns along the coast.  The photos below show aerial views which I hope sort of gives you an idea of how it fits in the landscape.

 

While the main industry is tourism there is a substantial abalone processing plant supported by numerous divers.  The opulence of some of the houses in the town reflects their presence and that of wealthy retirees.  However, the town’s wealth does not make it pretentious.  It still has a bit of a frontier town feel about it which reflects its colourful history from the 1970s.

Talking of history, Mallacoota and Gabo Island just off shore, played a significant role in the protection of shipping along the south east coast and through Bass Strait during World War II.  Did you know…………….

More detailed information can be found in the local museum in a restored WW II bunker located near the airport.

 

 

Unfortunately my budget would not stretch to a trip to Gabo Island (you may recognised this name from Sydney to Hobart yacht race commentaries).  I have cheated and taken a photo of photos.

 

 

Walking

Heaps.  All lengths and grades.  Just fantastic.  The walk around the lake side from the main town wharf to Karbeethong jetty (this is where the cruise departed) is very easy and gives excellent vistas of the lower lake, inlet entrance, expensive homes and bird life (the feathered kind).

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Mallacoota Coastal Walk is just simply stunning.  Starting in the town it takes in coastal landscapes of unusual rock formations, lovely beaches, varying vegetation, bird life and vistas to Gabo Island.  The day I did it was showery which added to the “atmosphere”.

Mallacoota Lookout

Drive back out to the Princess Highway at Geno and turn right and head into New South Wales to Maxwell’s Road where a very pleasant drive, on dirt roads, through temperate rainforest takes you to the Mallacoota lookout.

When you come back to Geno have a look at the free camp ground I previously mentioned.  Quite pleasant.

Inlet Cruise

I spent a pleasant 2 hours on a sunny but slightly breezy Sunday morning cruising the two lakes that make up the inlet on board the Porgy Bess, a wooden lake boat built in Paynesville in 1946 of Kauri timber.  A pleasant little craft that could use some TLC but sturdy enough for the purpose (sorry Ainslie I forgot to take a photo so you’ll just have to go there!!!).

The skipper, Simon, is a bit of a character and had tales to tell of skullduggery, gold mining, yuppie foolishness and some interesting facts and figures eg. the shoreline of the inlet is greater than that of Sydney Harbour!  Well worth the $30 (May 2013) for the 2hours.  He also does fishing

I stayed at the A’Wangralea Caravan Park.  $22 per night for a powered site because I was solo (May 2013).  Very pleasant and a great camp kitchen.

Summing Up……

You had to be there!!  Just great, stunning, fantastic, welcoming………a “special” place!!!!

 

 

Tuesday 21 May

Metung to Cann River

Called round to say goodbye to my hosts and make an entry in the visitor’s book.  On the road by 9.30am.  The Princess Highway from Bairnsdale to Orbost passes through some lovely cool temperate rain forest and a national park.  Very pleasant driving.

Arrived at Orbost about 11 and filled up the fuel tank.  Petrol still at $1.47/ltr even this far from the big smoke.  Orbost is a picturesque country town on the shores of the Snowy River.  Turned off the main highway and followed the river down to Marlo on the coast and where the Snowy enters Bass Strait.  Marlo is another coastal holiday town.  Very quiet at this time of year.  Had a pleasant chat with a couple from Canberra who were heading the other way toward Melbourne.

The mouth of the Snowy River

 A really good sealed road follows the coast from Marlo to Cape Conran in the Cape Conran Coastal Park.  The cape is the eastern end of the Ninety Mile Beach.  Interestingly, a fisherman and his family lived here before it became a park.  The day I visited it was cool and windy with threatening rain although the photos may not convince you of this!

Cape Conran & Eastern End of 90 Mile Beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The road then heads back inland and picks up the Princess Highway just west of Cann River.  This town is predominantly a timber town and the main highway junction for the Princess and Monaro Highways.  From here I decided to drive to Pt. Hicks.  That name may ring some bells with you as being the first point on the Australian mainland that Captain Cook saw when he discovered Oz.

Pt Hicks is the headland on the right in the above photo

The road to the coast is sealed for approximately 17ks then is white and red gravel for the last 25 odd ks.  It was badly corrugated in places and I was regretting taking the trailer rather than leaving it at the caravan park at Cann River.  The Deli handled it well especially when I slipped her into high range 4wd which substantially improved road holding.
Pt. Hicks is within the beautiful Croajingolong National Park which starts just east of Cape Conran and extends all the way to VIC/NSW border north of Mallacoota.  There is a nice little camp ground at Thurra River which enters Bass Strait near Pt. Hicks.  I was intending to do the 3k walk to the light house on the point but, remember the threatening rain I mentioned earlier well, it bucketed down!  Pt. Hicks light house is on the revisit list!!

Funny how the drive back over a road you have traversed in one direction is always shorter when you are going back in the other direction.  I was back at Cann River before I knew it.  Lovely little camp ground with hot showers and toilets that needed some tender loving cleaning.  Nice little laundry and at $10 per night “I no complain”  You pay at the lovely old pub across the road.

As I was staying only one night I did not set up the annex and left the trailer connected.  I decided I would face the mess that was sure to await me when I opened the doors given the corrugated road I had just dragged it over.  The Smiff’s (friends who recently toured NZ in a motor home) stories of fish sauce, eggs and flour being addled together due to vehicle movement were upper most in my mind as I gingerly opened the door on the kitchen side.  But hey, no worries!!!  Everything was still in place and still in one piece.  Congratulations to the designer (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).  Similar story on the tool side – all still in one piece.  Both the Deli and the trailer had, however, changed colour!!

As the showers were frequent I found a creative solution to the problem of cooking without the annex which was much admired by the locals.

 

 

Wednesday 22 May

Cann River to Mallacoota

Another lovely drive through rainforest country arriving at Genoa by about 10.00am.  There is a lovely council run free camp spot here but no 240v power and only cold showers.  As I forgot to change the fridge from battery to gas last night and, you guessed it, the battery in the trailer was dead flat this morning and the road journey was not sufficient to recharge it via the dual battery system, I decided to turn off the Princess Highway and head down to Mallacoota.  I was going to stay at this free camp and do day trips into Mallacoota but as fate would have it things conspired to result in a better solution.

I will be breaking my rule of not making posts in quick succession.  So hit me!!! Mallacoota deserves special attention because it is a “special” place.  Will be back soon!!

Sunday May 12 to Tuesday May 14

Yarram Area

I stayed at the Yarram Rosebank Tourist Park.  A lovely caravan park within easy walking distance to the town centre. 

It has numerous powered sites that are well grassed, flat and divided from each other with attractive hedges.  There are about half a dozen drive through sites which saves all that backing!!  The amenities are clean and well maintained and the new owners have added some nice “homely” touches.  Coin operated laundry, bbq area and fire pot area with wood supplied!!  $32.00 per night for a double and for me, $29.00.

Yarram is a farming town of around 2500 people.  It services a very flat area along the coast that incorporates dairy, beef, sheep farming and cropping.  There is also an active timber industry cutting from plantations.

Port Albert

This pretty little sea side town was the first port in Gippsland and was the main entry point to the area for people and goods.  Now, like most of the towns along the coast it is a summer holiday destination for Melburnians and the people from the Latrobe Valley.  There is a very interesting maritime museum located on the water front.

Further along the coast is Woodside Beach the beginning of the 90 Mile Beach that runs along the coast to the east and finishes at Marlo and the mouth of the Snowy River. I am heading in that direction.

 

 

 

 Tara Valley and Tara Bulga National Park

A beautiful remnant of how the Strzelecki Ranges must have looked before European settlement.  The national park is a very dense cool temperate rainforest and home to the Lyre Bird.  No photos of them unfortunately as they are very elusive although I did sight several but they were too quick for the camera.  There is also an interesting suspension bridge in the park and some very, very, very, very tall eucalyptus regnans.

 

Wednesday May 15 to Monday May 20

On the road by 10 am heading further along the coast toward Metung which is at the eastern end of the Gippsland Lakes.  Why Metung I hear you ask?  You may remember I mentioned in a previous post that I had found a web site that matches “hosts” with “helpers” the idea being you do a minimum of 4 hours work per day in exchange for accommodation and meals.  I stayed with a lovely young family who have 10 acres of sea side pasture and a very comfortable home located in Metung.

The drive into Metung follows the very pleasant Tambo River which is navigable by reasonably sized motor cruisers a fair way inland.

 

Metung is a very up market holiday seaside town with lots of retirees as permanent residents and younger families.  It was once the centre for boat building (the above units are on the site of the former boat building yards) on the lakes and was predominantly a fishing and farming village.  It is also provided a training ground for flying boat crews during WWII.

Cosy anchorages at Metung

   

Bairnsdale is the main commercial centre in the lakes area.  There are lovely spots at Paynesville, just south of Bairnsdale, and Lake Tyers, east of Lakes Entrance, which are also very up market holiday spots/retiree towns.  The hinterland around Bairnsdale is dominated by very large vegetable growing areas that occupy the flood plains of the Mitchell River.

Ninety Mile Beach at Lake Tyers

 

Lakes Entrance, as its name suggests, is the point where the lakes enter Bass Strait.  There was a natural opening here which was modified early last century.  “Lakes”, as it commonly known, is the base for fishing and pleasure craft and is a prime holiday spot with numerous hotels, motels, caravan parks and all manner of holiday cabins and apartments. 

There is a pleasant 5k return walk to be had along the arm of land that separates the Ninety Mile Beach from the lake in front of the main town area.  The walk will take you to the actual entrance and a shorter history walk which explains how the current structures at the entrance were constructed.

I was really impressed with the extent of the waterways that constitute the Gippsland Lakes.  Very nice sheltered waterways and some really nice anchorages exemplified by those around Metung.  If you lived here you would definitely need to own a boat!  A house boat would be very suitable.  Well worth spending some time here if you are heading this way.