Gillards Beach - Mimosa National Park

This place was an unplanned stay but I am glad we took a sticky-beak to check it out. It was on our way to Wilton Park near Bermegui when we took the detour. While it was quite busy due to a large school group, we found a nice little nook with an area overlooking the sea, which TJ called the observation deck, and decided to camp here. 

Our observatory deck

From here, we could drive to Tathra and Bermegui. With the long weekend in ACT and Victoria, we stayed put for 5 days. Over the weekend, we visited Bermegui, which had their version of sculpture by the sea and the seaside festival. The weather for the days we were here was perfect. 

My first salmon

Gillards Beach

Sculpture by the sea

Sculpture by the sea in Bermegui

We met some campers next to us who were knowledgeable in fishing and after a couple of days trying, got my first salmon. It was reasonable in size and I am happy the rod and line did not snap. While I was excited with the catch and would loved to get a few more, I am not a morning person. Our neighbour has been urging me to get up by about 7am as this is usually a good time. He has been consistently getting a few each morning. Sleep vs Fish....Sleep wins!

NSW Sapphire Coast

The  NSW South Coast is popularly known as the Sapphire Coast due to the blue sea water. This will be our planned route back to Sydney for Easter. This part of NSW is a seafood paradise, especially oysters.

Beach in front of our campground

Our first stop is Boydtown where we camped at Boydtown Caravan Park. Before long, we saw a mobile van selling seafood. Dinner decided for the night. Prawns, Oysters and salmon, which we sliced and ate raw, sashimi-style by the fire. TJ commented that the salmon was the best sashimi he had, ever.

Dinner by the fire

From this base, we ventured to Eden and Merimbula. Eden has a working wharf where fishing boats unload their catch. We saw a boat unloading seafood straight into a truck bound for Sydney Fish Market. Its ironic that to get fresh seafood that we saw today, we have to go to Sydney!

After lunching on Eden mussels and fish & chips, we drove to Merimbula. It is a much bigger town than Eden. I read that this town is popular with many baby boomers seeking a sea change from Sydney. I could see evidence of Sydney money pouring into Merimbula.

On our way back, we stopped by an oyster shed, bagging ourselves 2 dozen Sydney Rock farmed from Merimbula Lake. We paid $14/dozen for large ones and $10 for the medium-sized. These were live unshucked oysters and TJ had to re-learn his shucking skill from 3 years ago. They were yummy.

Illegal Transportation of Animal

I was woken up at 3am this morning by something crawling up my leg. Initially I brushed it away thinking that its a bug or insect. Next thing I felt was small feet walking. Luckily I had a torch next to me and saw a tail scuttering into our blanket. By this time, I have woken up TJ and we saw a little mouse. Looks like it has been living in our van for the past few days from our last camp at Croajingalong. 

It has decided to hitch a hike across the border!

Sh*t Storm

Pardon the French above but I meant it literally. We camped at a free camp in the town of Genoa, Victoria and was happy we found a nice spot right at the end. It is private and grassy. Come night time, we could hear rustling up above the trees. We realised they were bats. The sound of bats flapping and splattering on our canvas awnings and roof kept us awake. In the morning, we found bat guano all over the top!

Instead of moving, which was a hassle, TJ placed tarps over the top of the awnings and we parked our  car away from the "fly-zone". Unfortunately, the bats were mainly around our area between some trees next to us. Others further to the entrance were spared or had minimal impact.

Croajingalong National Park

Bridge across Thurra River to our campground

Thurra River

After spending 2 nights in a motel in Orbost(our 17th anniversary), we proceeded to Croajingalong NP. This national park follows the wild and unspoiled coastline of East Gippsland from border of NSW to Bemm River. There are a few campgrounds in the park and we chose Thurra River. 

Kayaking in Muellers River

With the river and the sea, there is plenty to do. We took our kayaks for a spin at Muellers River, went over to Honeymoon Bay for snorkeling and fishing and on our last day, visited the Point Hicks Lighthouse. 

While Honeymoon Bay was a disappointment, very much unlike its name, the visit to the lighthouse was a pleasant surprise. Our timing couldn't be more perfect. The caretaker was driving up and gave us a lift at the back of his ute, thus saving us a 2km walk. Then he opened the lighthouse and allowed us in. It was my first time in a lighthouse, walking all the way up to the top. The only downside was that we were not allowed out at the top due to the gale-force wind at the time.

Hitching a ride

Spiral stairs in the lighthouse

We officially finish the summer in Croajingalong National Park, Victoria!

The Legendary Snowy River

Who hasn't heard of the Snowy River in Australia? It runs from NSW to Victoria and in our last remaining time in Victoria, we drove to Marlo to bear witness to the end of the line of the river. We saw the estuary where the river meets the sea. Unfortunately the weather was not great for us to walk closer or take better pictures.

The river meets the sea

We could say that we have now been to the start(in NSW) and the end(Victoria) of the infamous Snowy River.

At Cape Conran Coastal Park

The legendary Snowy River

Goodbye Summer

Summer will be officially over in another 3 days. We spent almost the entire summer in Victoria, the smallest state in our country(excluding the territories & Tassie). While majority of the times spent here were in Melbourne, Lake Eildon and the Alpine, it is very much a large state to cover in just one season. We have yet to venture further inland to Mildura, Shepparton, Ballarat, Bendigo and so forth. 

After our 17th anniversary on 24/2, to be celebrated in Orbost at the Snowy Mountain Lodge Motel, we will head to Croajingalong National Park to see out the end of summer. From then on, it will be onwards to NSW south coast, back in Sydney a week before Easter. It would be just a few weeks into 6 months since we left the Big Smoke.

Victoria has been great, giving me the chance to catch up with friends and family and a big plus, made new friends. 

Highlights from our summer in Victoria.

Falls Creek

Falls Creek

Leongatha Rail Trail with new friends

Kilcunda Sunset

Lake Eildon

Cathedral Ranges

Wilsons Prom - Refuge Cove

Wilsons Prom

Bluff Lookout - Barwon Heads/Ocean Grove

Melbourne City

Queuing for Michelin Star Hawker Chan

Favourite Playground

The high country alpine area is without a doubt one of our favourites. In November 2017, we spent couple of weeks at Hotham and Falls Creek, helping out with Runningwild.net alpine runs and camping at Raspberry Hill campground.

After Wilsons Prom, we decided to head up to the alpine area again. The weather is much colder than by the coast. Average temperature is in mid-teens with overnight temp in single digits. We like Raspberry Hill campground as it has a relatively pleasant drop toilet, fire pit and 4G service. While its about 20 minutes drive to Falls Creek, it is less popular than Pretty Valley. We have been here 3 days and have had no other campers. On the first night, we even had shower in the open as we decided to set up the bathroom walls the next day.

There are so many trails to do, ranging from short walks to hard core running. On the first day, we did a short walk to Ropers Lookout. Someone told me that its a short walk. When we got to the start, the signage had 4km one-way. We went ahead anyway and found that the walk was in fact 4km return! Unless we missed a turn, we were at the lookout 2km out! Time for Parks Victoria to correct their sign. We think the incorrect signage might have put a lot of people off as many will not attempt to do 8km.

Looking out to Falls Creek village from Ropers Lookout

Having loosen our legs with the 4km walk, we ventured to do a run from Pretty Valley. Since TJ is much faster and fitter, we would often plan a route where we start from opposite end and when we meet up, I turn around. TJ went anti clock-wise from Pretty Valley - Pole 333 - SEC Hut - Pretty Valley. For me, it was clock-wise Pretty Valley - SEC Hut - Pretty Valley. Met TJ at the 6km mark. Felt ok doing about 11km as I ran most of the time, albeit very very slow.

6km point where we crossed path

Overnight Hiking

Now first..oriented the map

After the first visit to Wilsons Promontory couple of weeks back, we decided to head back there to do the overnight hike. We went on the popular hike from the southern side, a loop that is approximately 36km, which we decided to do in 3 days.

The first day was from the car park to Little Waterloo Bay, followed by Refuge Cove and the final day was spent at Sealers Cove. We did not get much sleep the last 2 nights due to the mice and possums that are quite aggressive trying to get your food. We had all our food in the tent but that did not prevent them from trying to get it. In the morning at Sealers Cove, we found a few holes on our tent, probably a possum trying to get in.

TJ snorkelling at Refuge Cove

It has been 9 months since we last did overnight remote camping. It was a real relieve having a long hot shower after 3 days with fresh clothes. Don't think we smelled too pleasant after wearing the same clothes for the entire time.

The Big Short

Today was the day I did what I have been saying to people...cut my hair short. I mean, shave it.

This is a no.12, the longest from TJ's shaver. The decision came just before we went on our 3 day hike at Wilsons Promontory. The thought of 3 days without washing my hair sealed the decision.

Let's see how quickly it grows back come Easter when we are back in Sydney.