Blogs from Lakes Entrance, Victoria, Australia, Oceania

It was finally time to put on our Mexican Sombreros (not to be confused with Eastern Suburbs and their salary cap) and head south of the border into Victoria. Lakes Entrance was our chosen destination, located near an artificial dredged channel that connects the Gippsland Lakes to Bass Strait. We were surprised that Bass Strait lies offshore, as we were under the impression that it lies between Melbourne and Tasmania. With the Gippsland Lakes having the largest number of inland waterways in the southern hemisphere, it is no wonder that this area is the summer playground for Victorians. On our first morning we drove to Nyerimilang Heritage Park, to visit the historic homestead and walk around the property perched on acreage high above Lakes Entrance. Our walk of 5.25 kms took in stunning views of wetlands ... read more

Geo: -37.8815, 147.983We're travelling up to Lakes Entrance as the midpoint between Phillip Island and tomorrows' destination Canberra. After dropping all our stuff of at the hotel we drove down to the footbridge connected to 90 mile beach and took the opportunity to stretch our legs and walk over the bridge with its lovely views and then along the beach itself, boy was it windy the surf was being blown up into what looks like giant snowdrifts in places, before being blown away to land somewhere else. On the way back over the bridge we stopped to admire the Pelicans & Black Swans before walking back along the Avenue of Honour stopping to view and take photos of the Avenue of Honour Memorial Statues. The trunks of six of the trees that originally formed the avenue ... read more

We left our campsite near Golden Beach fairly early knowing that we wanted to cover a fair bit of territory that day. It would be a particularly difficult day of driving as the winds were particularly strong and gusty. Because the Gippsland Lakes is Australia's largest inland waterway (measuring approximately 600 square kilometres), it was important for Georgi to see the various parts of the Lakes and to gain a full understanding of the geography of the lakes and rivers, particularly as I had spent my earlier life here. The Gippsland Lakes (in order of size) are: * Lake Wellington * Lake Victoria * Lake King * Lake Reeve * Lake Tyers * Lake Coleman The rivers that flow in to the Gippsland Lakes are: * Latrobe * Thomson * Avon * Perry * Mitchell * ... read more

I woke with a really bad headache so we had a quiet morning. Then, after making sandwiches, we drove to Lakes Entrance to have our lunch next to the beach, there. It was rather gusty and cool but the view was pleasant. Then we walked along the front to Griffiths Sea Shell Museum and Marine Display. I remembered it from 20 years ago as having some interesting things in it and was keen to see it again. Along the way I photographed the six clever wooden sculptures, made by John Brady using a chainsaw, which were spaced along the promenade. An Avenue of Honour of Monterey Cypress trees, for twenty six World War I soldiers, had became dangerous and they had to be cut down. The stumps were used to create the sculptures, each one commemorating ... read more

Monday 23rd We heard it rain all night and woke to grey skies and more rain. We drive to Stratford on River Avon and it stops as we get there. It’s a small township and there’s not as much there to see as our guide book suggests. Well nothing really. So we continue onto Sale as it’s a much larger town and call in at tourist info. They suggest a river cruise at 2pm. We’re very early so we call in at a small gallery and see some wonderful bird paintings. Around 1.50 we pop along to the boat for our cruise and are told by the guy on the boat that he’s decided not to run it today. I say we’ve been waiting over an hour to which he tells us to “go away” or ... read more