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Published: March 24th 2008
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Rhyll Inlet
quiet spot on Philip Island Well here we are in Tasmania, and I have finally sat down to update our travelblog! After our first stay in Melbourne, we headed down to Gippsland for 9 days, then returned to meet Alister on March 9th. He came over for the Grand Prix car racing, more on this later! Anyway, Gippsland is really south east Victoria, and probably best known is Lakes Entrance, but there’s lots more!
First stop was Philip Island, well known for its famous fairy penguin parade, which we skipped, but we did see penguins nesting at The Nobbies, a wild coastal headland with lots of sea birds and a very good interpretive centre, plus a bitterly cold southerly wind!. We stayed at a quiet backwater coastal village called Rhyll, unfortunately the caravan park there closed the day after we left as it has been bought by developers. A shame as it is much nicer than Cowes which is the main seaside town on Philip Island. We did a “short” walk along the coast and through the mangrove boardwalk which ended up being a 3 hour walk around Rhyll! NOt sure what happened here! We also visited the National Vietnam Veteran’s museum on the island,
it is a very impressive display and although I had thought I would find it pretty boring, it was actually a very moving experience.
Next stop was a place called Bearpaw, a free camping spot along the coast, where we discovered how difficult it can be fitting our 17.5 foot caravan into an awkward spot, managed it with some help from a fellow camper (thanks Bas!). From here we went on down to Wilson’s Promontory - this is a magic place. We stayed at Tidal River, the only campsite on the Prom which is in the National Park itself. The wildlife here is amazing, with wombats wandering around the camp at night, echidnas, kangaroos, and lots of native birds including very tame Eastern Rosella parrots. The walks in the park take in diverse coastal and native bush scenery with spectacular vistas out to the beaches, sea and offshore islands.
From here we headed up to Ninety Mile Beach where we found a friendly free camping spot and joined some of the other campers for our first “campfire”. Needed it too as it was quite a cool night! In Victoria (and other parts of Australia I guess) one day
it can be 38 degrees and so hot, the next day it can drop to a cool 17! Next we had 3 days at Bairnsdale, a nice caravan park about 300 metres from the city centre and on the Mitchell River. This was the camp that got flooded out badly during big floods last year. Just near Bairnsdale is a place called Raymond Island, it’s a small island only a 5 minute ferry ride from the mainland, but it has a large koala colony! We spotted 14 koalas on our walk around the island, just living in the gum trees around the houses and streets. We also did a day trip down to Lakes Entrance and the Cape Conran Coastal Park, yet more spectacular coastal scenery (and nice fish and chips at Lakes Entrance).
Time to head back to Melbourne to meet Alister - via a 2 night stop in Traralgon. This was a good base to visit Walhalla, an old gold mining town in the foothills of Mt Baw Baw, a once thriving town with only 22 residents now. It’s an interesting town as it is positioned in a remote area, in a deep narrow valley with steep
hills on each side - and the buildings are pretty well preserved. The hillside cemetery is most unusual, with the graves spilling down the side of a steep hill, as there is no flat land available! The next day we went Tarra Bulga National Park, which is one of the few temperate rainforests left in Australia - the flora was very much like New Zealand native bush with masses of tree ferns, and huge mountain ash instead of rimu and kauri! Narrow winding roads like the Coromandel Peninsula too. A nice way to end our Gippsland visit.
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Alison and Andy
non-member comment
You look like you are having a great time. How are you getting along in each others company 24/7?? Wouldn't it be nice to go and have a coffee with your girlfriends Kath? No I bet you are getting on well and there are plenty of animals to keep you amused by the looks of the photos. I bet it was nice catching up with Alistair. Did you enjoy the show in Melbourne? Keep up the blog.