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Day 24 - Mallacoota is one of the best kept secrets of Victoria. What a fabulous place. We could spend alot longer than two days here and probably would still be getting told about things we should have done! We don't really understand why the place isn't constantly packed solid and can only assume it's because it's not 'just off the highway' like other places.
Because the Information Shed doesn't open until 10am we decide to go for a walk out to the 'entrance' and pack a picnic just in case it turns into a really long walk! The sun is already shining, the birds are singing and the ocean is ready for action! We walk out to the Bastion Point lookout where we meet 'lone walker man' from yesterday's pictures and a lovely lady walking her dog. Good job I only had the short lens on 'lone walker man' yesterday as he doesn't wear much whilst walking! We were advised to walk across to the entrance and later round to Tip Beach if we had time. We learning fast that there's more to Mallacoota than first meets the eye. The water network is glorious and immense. We're thinking of hiring
a boat or a couple of canoes to have a bit more fun and see things from a different level, underwater if my navigation skills are anything to go by!
The walk to the entrance was fabulous. Whales come here on a regular basis during March and April, the last time one showed up with a calf there was quite a furore in the town with everyone rushing to see the amazing sight. Hopefully we'll get to see whales at some point but they're long gone from Mallacoota's water at this time of year. What there is is an abundance of small, but rather new and spectacular, fishing boats. They really are rather posh which seems a bit odd.
We keep an eye on the crest of the waves, you never know, a seal or dolphin or maybe a whale could have decided to break with all tradition and spend time in the waters at this time of year ... but no luck! It's quite a good distance before we get to the entrance and then we have to make a decision, to cross or not to cross! Now we're in the early stages of this adventure and
yet to sink in are the simple but safety conscious rules of 1) Always carry a good amount of water 2) Sunny or not, always carry sun block 3) Always have a hat 4) Always wear sensible footwear 5) Never wade through water that shows signs of an obvious current when nobody knows where you're going!
The current looked quite strong at the entrance and the water reasonably deep although we could have waded across if we were feeling really brave and desperate enough to do it! We settled for wandering back along the inlet side of the sand bar which gives a completely different feel to the area. There is an abundance of plant life, a completely different set of birdlife and almost total silence in comparison to the crash of the ocean waves which is muffled across the sand.
We get back to the Tourist Information Shed in the hope of finding someone who can hire us a couple of canoes but the people are away on holiday this week. There is someone who might be able to take us on a boat trip tomorrow but we were planning to move on so instead find another
Coull's Inlet Boat Harbour
... next boat for hire = September! Ok, that's a lie. But there was a sign saying 'Next Cruise September'! walk to keep us occupied. It certainly does that and takes us through the Shady Gully Walk, a short forest walk with Mountain Grey Gum and Stringybark then onto the Casuarina Walk where we hear quite a few different bird calls high in the trees then up through the Heathland Walk and eventually out onto the ocean beach at Davis Beach. There's a lovely inlet here so we stop for some lunch and a well earned rest! Then it's back along the beach where we find a couple of ocean fishermen trying their best to land a good catch - but we didn't see them pull anything in - onto Tip Beach clambering over the rocks until we reached Bastion Point to chat to the Abalone Co-op boat men. Dar remarks on what a great job they're got, sitting in the sun waiting for the boats to return and then pulling them up the ramp on the back of the tractor. They agreed on days like this it's pretty easy going but not so nice when it's teeming with rain! They looked pretty tanned to us so maybe the rain doesn't come too often! We rounded the corner to watch
a couple trying out the surf, fair play to them, the sea was pretty rough and bloody cold to be perfectly honest so we hoped it was worth it! We took some pics and thought it was a bit sad that they'd never get to see them so from now on we'll take some of our calling cards with us when we're out and about, that way at least people would be able to check on the blog to see if they were on it!
Tonight's dinner was BBQ'd chicken. Darryl's finding the camp electric BBQ's tough going, it's too easy to burn the outside not having cooked the middle! Not long after we've used it our next-door neighbours are cooking their dinner on it and they too are struggling which makes us feel a whole lot better! The gents are 3 brothers and they've brought their practically brand new play/fishing/power boat down here for it's third voyage! They've been coming to this holiday park and to Mallacoota for 40 years and rock up during the summer with all the family and then again at this time of the year for a bit of boys time. They tell us
all about the Abalone divers whose boats we've seen get pulled back in to Bastion Point. There are Abalone shells on the mantle in the camp kitchen, we've seen them on the beach, now we know what they are! Apparently the Abalone divers earn a small fortune - no wonder their boats are so nice!
So it's decision time, do we stay another night and skip Merimbula or do we continue with our plan. We decide to continue onward. Mallacoota is gorgeous and we urge anyone visiting this part of the world to include it in your plans, our suggestion would be to plan at least 4 days! Check out www.visitmallacoota.com.
Merimbula here we come!
PS. Apologies for the overload of pics but we have free internet access here so we're making good use of it!!
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Jan Kettle
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Oystercatcher - too easy!!
You need to find birds that are harder to identify - this is an oystercatcher!! Love Mum K