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Published: March 3rd 2011
So we passed out of New South Wales and into Victoria, a sign on the road told us that was the case and also that we should not bring any fruit into the State because of the spread of the fruit fly, apart from that you would not have noticed the interstate change. We continued on to Mallacoota a picturesque lakeside village with calm waterways surrounded by bush located at Victoria’s eastern edge. It was a lovely spot but too near to where we had been and we needed to move a little further along the coast before we stopped. We brought some lunch at the local bakers and picked up a leaflet for a walk at the colourful information shed by the side of the waterway, watching the numerous huge pelicans flying by. We headed for Double Creek Nature Walk a return loop walk about 8km from Mallacoota which passes through an ancient warm, temperate rainforest before climbing through the drier forest of tall eucalypts where we were hoping to see koalas resting in the tree tops. The scent of the eucalypts as we walked was wonderful but even though we scanned the tree tops we never saw one koala
and we finally arrived back at the car park quite disappointed. Rather than continue along the Pacific Highway we turned off (we were getting fed up with just seeing forests on the sides of the road) and took a detour to Cape Conran a 19km road which looped around and through Marlo a sleepy holiday town at the mouth of the Snowy River before rejoining the highway and continuing on towards Obost. After a while we were aware of a strong burning smell and then noticed that the forest on both sides of the road was blackened. We had entered the area where the road was closed a couple of days before because of the bush fires. Workmen were busy trying to make it safe, struggling with the removal of hundreds of fallen trees from the sides of the road. Small fires were still burning and you could see smoke still coming out of the stumps of burnt out trees. We had never seen anything like it before and this went on for mile after mile, whole areas of trees, shrubs and grasslands were completely scorched. A speed limit was in force with numerous signs informing drivers that smoke was
still on the roads and to drive with extra caution. Since we have arrived in Australia there has been disaster after disaster, how do these Ozzies cope with all these natural disasters………. We continued on to Orbost, where the visitor information centre is housed in the historic Slab Hunt, a ‘living museum’ highlighting the region’s pioneer lifestyle. There was not a lot of choice of accommodation in the area apart from Motels so we decided to continue on and whilst Paul was driving I telephoned a couple of areas and managed to get a good deal at a place called Metung in the Gippsland Lakes area. The satnav decided to take us off the highway and into the uplands and around which seemed odd and then the rains started quite heavily so we continued on through forested areas finally coming back on to the highway and then arrived at Metung located on a crescent peninsular reaching into Lake King. Metung is a small peaceful village right on the water’s edge curling around Bancroft Bay in one of the prettiest spots on the Gippsland Lakes it’s shore line dotted with jetties and small wooden craft. Our accommodation was classed as a
‘villa’ but was basically a modern wooden unit. It was extremely clean with a large living room, kitchen, dining area and each side of this were two queen-size en-suite bedrooms (one each hoorah!). Outside was a large verandah, gardens with mature trees and a long gravel drive and within the complex there was a heated pool and barbecue area. Although the accommodation had no views the grounds were alive with the sound of birds chirping away and within minutes the local parrots arrived. It continued to rain throughout the evening and night and we heard that there was heavy flooding in East Gippsland so we kept up to date with the news to ensure that we knew where the problem areas were and what to avoid. The next day it was still raining so we decided to drive into Bairnsdale to stock up on supplies. The largest town in the area it was established in 1842 and developed rapidly after the discovery of gold nearby in the 1860s. Its place in gold rush history is evident in its historic landscape; the main street had lovely gardens and the unique architecture of the court house and the hand-painted ceilings of Saint
Mary’s Catholic Church were stunning. We visited the information centre next to the church and picked up a leaflet on Raymond Island and headed to Paynesville where we could pick up a ferry to the small island. It was hard to believe but the ferry trip for foot passengers was free and cars were only $8 dollars, although it did only take 5 minutes to cross to the island. In Victoria in the 1920s, the koala population was almost wiped out and some were then relocated to Raymond Island as part of an early conservation program. The decision makers did not anticipate the strain this would place on Raymond Island’s limited food supply as the koala population increased. The male lives from 10 to 15 years and growls like a pig and the female is smaller and can breed from the age of two. Young joeys are born after 34 – 36 days gestation and stay in their mother’s pouch for 6 months before climbing out and riding on her back for another 6 months, before becoming independent. In 1953 the island received 16 males and 26 females from Phillip Island and by 2003 the population had grew to over
600. This put the food supply under stress as they only feed on a few species of eucalypts trees. To solve the problem the government initiated a control program which is still on going today to keep the population healthy. We arrived on the ferry and followed a trail across the island constantly looking upwards to see the koalas and were just about to give up when we started to spot them high up in the trees sheltering from the rain with most of them asleep but gripping on to the tree trunks. Some awoke and looked down as you passed underneath them and then went quickly back to sleep. They were lovely animals a lot smaller than we had imagined but very cuddly and it was so lovely to be able to see them in the wild. We spent a long time wandering around the colony before catching the ferry back to the mainland for a very welcome coffee and cake in a little café by the harbour side. We chatted to a couple of the girls in the café and got around to talking about the weather as you do, they said that the area did frequently have
floods but this year there were more than ‘normal’. We made our way back to Metung and the rain continued all through the night, we were at this time getting a little fed up, after so many warm sunny days we were really missing the sun – perhaps it will come out tomorrow but in the morning it was still raining………. We walked around Metung and still it rained but finally in the afternoon the sun came out and Paul went for a swim in the pool whilst I typed up the blog to get us up to date. The next day we awoke to a bright sunny morning thank goodness and decided that we would return to Raymond Island where we had a much better day walking around the island viewing the koalas in the sunshine. However the change in the weather had also brought out some horrid mosquitoes and after getting a couple of nasty bites decided it was time to head back to the mainland. The next day it was still sunny and we took a trip to Lakes Entrance where the shallow Cunningham Arm waterway separates the town from the crashing ocean beaches. We decided to
do a two hour walk to see where the ocean met the lake, starting across the footbridge spanning the Gippsland Lakes which then takes you to 90 mile beach. We set off and immediately spotted dolphins in the bay, this huge beach was quite empty and the sand stretched for miles although not 90 miles as it was called. The going was extremely tough as the sand was soft and every step you sank into the soft sand but we continued for about an hour to get to the lakes entrance. We then turned inland around the lake entrance and as we were walking along we were alarmed when we nearly stood on a black/brown snake on the sand dunes which slid off quickly. We did not know what it was but were so glad that we had avoided any confrontation (Elaine you need to avoid this area if you ever come to Oz). We walked on and were rewarded with a group of black swans and their young swimming on the waters edge – much nicer than snakes! We returned along the lakeside but the track disappeared and we had to scramble through the bush to find an inland
track which finally took us back to the footbridge, no more snake though, thank goodness. The next day we continued on our journey and travelled to Foster the main shopping centre for visitors to Wilsons Promontory National Park and the beaches of Sandy Point and Waratah Bay. We called into the information centre and met a couple of ladies who were extremely helpful and knowledgeable. They researched some self contained accommodation in the area and said that Waratah Bay was a good location and that they had cabins located close to the beach. They called and although they did not have any ocean view cabins they had one that had a side view of the ocean they also agreed to supply linen for free which was not normally supplied. After having lunch in a small café in Foster we made our way to the bay and the owner reduced the agreed fee more as we were taking it for four days and it did not have an ocean view. The cabin was adequate although did not compare to the lovely one at Metung but we did have a side view of the ocean and once settled in we wandered down
to the beach where we walked along the shoreline which was edged with the bush and forest before returning for a barbecue supper on our verandah. Later at dusk we decided we would walk into the bush surrounding the campsite as the managers had said that kangaroos and wallabies were often seen at this time of day but told us to ensure that we kept to the tracks to avoid getting lost in the dark! As soon as we started off we heard and saw a kangaroo or wallaby, we were not sure which but it had also seen us and disappeared quickly into the bush. We continued up a track through the thick bush and out in to a fire clearing and were lucky enough to spot another one and managed to get a couple of photos from a distance but as we crept nearer it too scampered into the bush but all the same it was amazing to see these animals in the wild. We are still not sure though whether they were kangaroos or wallabies. The next day we decided that we would travel to Wilsons Promotory or ‘the Prom’ as it is affectionately known located on
the southern most tip of the Australia mainland. Surrounded on sea on three sides it includes some of Victoria’s best beaches, cool shaded rainforest gullies, cloud soaked mountain peaks and rugged offshore islands. It covers a large area which is a haven for wildlife including, kangaroos, wallabies, emus and wombats. There is only one road into the park which travels for 30km from the park entrance at Yanakie to the Tidal River Visitor Centre in the park. We were really impressed with the park the scenery was awesome and although it had been ravaged by a huge forest fire in 2009 the park was well on the road to recovery. There are more than 30 walks covering 130 kilometres of interlinking tracks of varying grades within the national park. We decided to undertake a few of them and stopped first at Derby River where we walked along the river bank until it met the sea and a secluded beach. We continued on and took a short trek through the bush to Squeaky Beach which was really pretty. If you took your shoes off and listened to the quartz sand squeak as you stroll beside a backdrop of rolling surf and
wind-swept vegetation you knew why the beach got its name. We continued to the end of the beach and ascended the headland toward Tidal River with dramatic views of the coast. We spotted several spiders on the edge of the bush which we avoided but it reminded us of the Red Centre where one of the girls on our tour had gone into the loo and came running out as there were five redbacks on the loo seat – believe it or not everyone else decided that they did not need the loo after all including myself!!!! Anyway back to Tidal River where we saw several surfers enjoying the surf and we stood on the rocks at the edge of the ocean to watch them as waves crashed against the rocks below. We then continued on to Tidal River the only place where you can stay overnight on the Prom where there are campsites, a few very costly cabins, a visitor centre, and small shop. We parked the car and walked along Norman Beach which was lovely but not as good as Squeaky Beach. We noticed that the river here was red because of the tannin in the leaves which
we had seen at Jervis Bay in NSW. We had a picnic lunch before continuing back out of the park stopping on the way to visit Whisky Bay, another glorious stretch of golden sand quite deserted. Granite boulders at either end of the beach provide a stunning setting and reminder us of the beaches in the Seychelles this truly was a lovely beach. We returned to our cabin and in the evening decided to go on another bush walk to see kangaroos and again managed to spot one on the edge of the bush but it spotted us also and disappeared. The next day we drove to Walkerville which although was the next village along the coast you had to travel inland some distance by small roads to get there and then we realised that no sealed road links South Walkerville to North Walkerville. We did notice that some locals were driving onto the beach around the scattered rocks to get to the other side instead of going on the long detour inland but this could only be done at very low tide – quite a risk! The two townships are now only linked via a track up the cliff
edge which also leads to the old lime kilns that used to provide quick lime for Melbourne’s building industry until its closure in 1954. At one time six giant lime kilns were located on the edge of the beach but all but one has disappeared. Most of the houses in the original village have also disappeared as the sea has gradually reclaimed the land, what was once a thriving community has long gone. We walked to the old historic cemetery perched on the edge of the cliff, there were only about 35 burials and most of these were gradually being taken over by the ever advancing bush. Whilst we were walking we met a park ranger and stopped to chat about walks in the area. He was originally a park ranger in Devon and came out to Oz on a year’s exchange but liked it so much he returned and settled here. He gave us some useful tips on walks in the area and recommended that we do the ‘Sealers Cove’ walk on the Wilson’ promontory which we planned to do later even though it was quite a long day walk of about 20km! In the morning we visited the
town of Foster so that we could get internet access as we had no mobile broadband at all in our campsite or nearby. We need to look at changing our provider as Vodaphone is pretty useless in lots of areas. Later we travelled to Sandy Point which had a majestic sweeping surf beach that stretched as far as the eye could see. The shallow inlet here is renowned as one of the best windsurfing spots in Victoria but there were only a few surfers out today. The next day we were hoping to undertake the ‘Sealers Cove’ walk on the Prom but when we awoke the rain which had been heavy all night continued to fall. We heard on the news that this area had more rainfall this year than since 1910, must have realised there were a couple of ‘Brits visiting’! Because of the weather we decided to walk along the beach to Walkerville instead of travelling out to the Prom, the walk was shorter at only about 10km. Despite the weather it was a very pleasant walk and the rain did ease later in the day. It was very quiet and we only saw one other person all
the way to Walkerville and luckily made it back to the campsite just before the tide came in which was just as well as there was no way to penetrate the thick bush on the edge of the beach! Just before we got back we were attacked by some horrid Marsh flies which have a nasty bite, so we were quickly spraying ourselves and trying at the same time to out run them – some hope! This blog is becoming extremely long so we have split it into two blogs so you will have to wait for the next instalment………….. However we would like to wish our dear sister Franny a very happy 60th birthday for the 5th March – have a lovely day.
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Sean Mason
non-member comment
AMazing
Hi both, you are clearly having a fantastic time, watch out for those snakes though.........we had a lovely lunch with Sharon,Kerry, Geoff, cliff, maisie it was so nice to have us all back together it was a really nice day and mum loved it, especially all her presses. We have another surprise for her tomorrow as well...but mums the word at the moment. Can't wait to see you, take care Sean