Having sat down yesterday to put a few plans on paper for our next trip, I realised I had not added our last couple of jaunts to this blog. I will try to combine them and apologise in advance if the post appears a bit jumbled.
First of the trips was our regular wander to Victoria and back to spend Christmas with Zoë, Shaun and the boys. This year they would be moving house while we we there, leaving the outer suburbs of Melbourne to live at the beach in Inverloch.
We made our usual first stop in Gunning and woke to 37°C in the morning. This made our minds up to put in a big driving day for two reasons, a) the car was going to be the coolest place, b) we would be able to listen to the cricket on the journey. We take it in turns to drive so the 6 hours to Lake Eildon was doable and we would be able to stay there for two nights instead of rushing on. The huge lake had always appealed to us but, for one reason or another, we had never stopped there, Little free camping areas are dotted around the lake with drop toilets every so often and we selected Newton's Campground which only had one other caravan parked there, unfortunately the owners had a generator which they ran all night..
It was 41°C when we arrived and there were a lot of flies around. Having dragged a big, heavy bug tent around with us for the past 10 years almost never using it, we decided to leave it at home this trip - sod's law. Harvey got covered in prickles when he set off after a kangaroo, after we got them all out of his fur we went for a walk and found another entrance to a different bit of Newton's Campground, no toilet but only a couple of minutes walk back to the one where we were camped, no prickles, far fewer flies and no generator man! We packed up quick smart and were settled in our new spot within the half hour.
The house move went smoothly and Christmas was fun. It was still very hot and dry and a few fires were burning out of control in Victoria as we began our slow journey home. Wandering from one spot to another does not suit everyone for a holiday, we love it and try to find different places to stop every time but we did fancy returning to our spot at Newton's Campground for a couple more days. The lady in the visitor centre in Mansfield advised us it was now packed and suggested a spot on the Goulburn River between Jamieson and Kevington, which turned out to also be packed. We found another place further along the river called Doctor's Creek which was still pretty crowded but we needed to stop somewhere so set up for the night.
There were still fires raging around and it was perfect fire weather, 40°C and windy so we stayed hooked up in case we needed to make a quick getaway. The police drove through every so often to make sure everyone was ok, apparently some groups had been lighting camp fires, idiots. The campsite is in the shadow of Mount Terrible and surrounded by trees, it would be great outside of the holiday season.
It was surprisingly quiet over night but more bush fires were popping up all around so we decided to get out of there. The total fire ban had been lifted overnight and we were appalled to see several campers assuming that meant it was now ok to light camp fires, unbelievable.
Stopped for a quick coffee and a cheese scone in Jamieson. What a gorgeous town, all the old buildings have been preserved and none knocked down to build ugly new ones. Pretty gardens, loads of trees, nice gift shops and cafes.
We pressed on to Culcairn, where we have stayed before at the excellent council caravan park on the banks of the river $22 unpowered, spotless amenities and a short walk into town. The man next to us seemed to be preparing for guests, he had a huge set up with tent, caravan, gazebo, hammock. He spent ours tinkering and setting up fairy lights then lit a huge fire, just for him it transpired.
The caravan park filled up in the afternoon but, as usual, everyone had left (except fairy lights guy) by the time we got up in the morning. We were thinking of heading to Oura Beach but decided it might be too busy so went to Ariah Park instead. We should have checked Rabbitts on the Road because we had forgotten we didn't like it much. The historic little town is really just a tourist attraction with nothing open and the rave reviews we had read for the Ariah Park Camping Ground were over egging the pudding rather as it was very ordinary. $8 unpowered and the key to the showers had to be collected from the hardware store or the hotel, neither of which were open. The caretaker turned up late in the afternoon and gave us a key, they were jolly nice hot showers.
After coffee in Temora we pressed on to Koorawatha where we spent New Years Eve just like last year. Showground was good again and the same group of detectorists from our previous stay were there again. Good food and entertainment at the pub again and another trip to Koorawatha Falls made for a pleasant visit.
We spent our last night in Rylstone at the council caravan park. The reviews were great but we thought it was disappointing, $33 unpowered and tiny pitches. It is unmanned and had to book online then receive an email with a code for the amenities block. The town is very pleasant with nice shops and cafes and it was a convenient stop for us as it is right on our route and easy striking distance to home.
After a couple of months at home it was time to set off again, this time to look after the boys while Zoë and Shaun went away for a couple of days. It was the middle of March and we left at 11am. After the usual return for something we had forgotten (tool kit this time) we made good time to Gunning. The showground now has new toilets and showers and has become pretty popular. We had dinner at the pub where the bistro has become more of a burger bar instead of selling traditional pub food, not quite as nice but ok for a quick feed. Had our usual coffee in the Merino Cafe before heading off.
Now that Zoë and Shaun had moved to the coast we were trying a new route. We had arranged to meet our dear friends Tim and Virginia at Buckenderra in the Snowy Mountains for a couple of days. We stopped at a wonderful little town called Gunderoo by Lake George for a break. It was delightful and had won a Tiny Tourist Town Award, really lovely old buildings and an easy commute into Canberra.
Got to Buckenderra in good time and took the advice of a fellow camper who was keen for us to camp on the spot she recommended (I think she just didn't want us near her). It was a good site but really awkward to get onto, nestled among huge rocks looking down over Lake Eucumbene. The Lake is part of the Snowy Hydro scheme and great for trout fishing so a really popular spot for fishing folk. Buckenderra is a huge property, now a G'Day Park, $30 unpowered with old but clean amenities. Tim and Virginia had a cabin just behind us.
Virginia knew the area quite well as she once lived in Nimmitabel so she was able to show us around. We went into Adaminaby and saw the Big Trout then went to old Adaminaby which was the original site of the town. It was moved to its new location and the old town flooded to make another lake for Snowy Hydro. There is a fascinating museum about creating the original Snowy Hydro in Adaminaby, then another in Cooma dedicated to the new Snowy Hydro 2.0. We tried to visit the Cooma Museum but ironically it was closed because of a power cut!
After a great couple of days with our friends we went our separate ways and drove through misty conditions to Nimmatabel. The enormous Nimmity Bell struck while we were looking at it and frightened the life out of us then we set of to drive down through Bombala and on to Orbost. The road got very winding with really tight bends and the fog descended until there was almost nil visibility. I was very glad to be driving behind a car which was driving very sensibly and able to lead the rest of the traffic along. Somehow between us and Google we managed to miss a turning in the fog and we ended up taking a very circuitous route which added about two hours to our journey.
We finally screeched into Orbost Caravan Park 15 minutes before it was due to close $30 a night unpowered, spotless amenities, right in town. However, the unpowered sites were right by the road and we were also by a culvert, because Orbost is in a flood plain, so it was very buggy. It was Ian's birthday the next day so we had breakfast in town then checked out the art gallery. The featured exhibition was "Reigning Goats", the artist was incredibly prolific, there were hundreds of paintings of goats up to various antics, hilarious I'm sure if you like that sort of thing. Later we had dinner at the Bottom Pub as recommended by the caravan park and it was very good, half portions, live music and decent wine.
Next stop was Inverloch with the family then on the road a week later to try and get a few stops in before the Victoria school holidays began. As we left Inverloch we popped into Venus Bay nearby to have a look. It was very much our kind of town, quieter than Inverloch with nice cafes and a community feel. There was a fantastic little travelling art exhibition in place called Art Cubes. A group of small shipping containers are moved around and become exhibition spaces for local artists in small towns for a few weeks, what a great initiative! There were heaps of birds as Venus Bay is part of the sanctuary that leads into Wilson's Promontory, unfotunately there were also signs saying 1080 bait was used in the area.
We carried on along the coast road through Yarram to Reeves Beach free camping area. It was nice, a few pit toilets and a couple of camps that looked rather permanent. Everyone was very pleasant but sadly did not keep their dogs on the lead which meant they were yelling at them all day to come back, a problem which could have been resolved by employing a lead I suspect. There was a path through the sand dunes straight onto the expansive beach where Harvey was in his element. If I stayed there again I would camp further from the permanent people partly because it felt like we were intruding a bit but mainly because the toilet near them is in constant use, there were other spots but we couldn't be bothered to move.
We were planning to drive to Mallacoota next but decided nearly 5 hours was beyond what we wanted to do so stopped at Lakes Entrance Rec Reserve $25 unpowered, great showers. The price goes up to $80 in the season and I imagine Lakes Entrance can be a bit unbearable when full, all crazy golf and arcades, but it was nice for one night out of season. The Bowling Club was right beside the rec ground so we had a really good dinner there, half portions available again. Good coffee on the waterfront then a wander around the little artesian collective before we set off for Mallacoota.
For some reason I have always wanted to visit Mallacoota and it did not disappoint. The road in was long and winding and it was easy to see how the residents and holidaymakers got trapped by the fires in 2019/20, 130 homes were lost but no lives. Mallacoota Foreshore Caravan Park, $30 unpowered, old but clean amenities, sprawled along the water front with no real entrance, I'm not sure how great that would be for residents over the school holidays. The staff told us where a koala had been sighted and we actually found 5 near our caravan, just like it used to be at home when we first lived in Australia. It was a gorgeous spot, one side of the point had raging surf while the other was protected by a series of islands and a bit of a bay, so beautifully calm.
The town was fabulous too, great coffee and toasties at the cafe and decent dinner in the pub garden. There are all kinds of activities advertised on the town noticeboards and it would be a great place to live if you wanted to really immerse yourself in a community.
Set off again and had a quick look at Pambula Beach (fabulous) and Cobargo which was badly damaged in the fires and famous as being the town where a firefighter refused to shake the Prime Minister's hand after he had flown to Hawaii for a holiday while the fires were raging. Cobargo was a delightful place and we were interested to see the display of fireproof materials being used in the rebuilding. I don't know how the little wooden post office survived when all around it burned to the ground but I am very glad it did.
Mystery Bay looked interesting in the atlas so we kept going until we reached it. How incredible! $20 for pensioners, very quiet and peaceful with the cleanest drop toilets I have ever seen. We camped among the trees with the sensational beach just behind us, it was very special. Dogs were allowed off lead on the beach before 9am and after 5pm so Harvey had a whale of a time.
It was now the day before the school holidays and we phoned several caravan parks for our last stop but they were all full so we decided to keep going up to the Hume Highway and maybe stop as usual in Gunning. A couple of towns along but still on the Hume we discovered Marulan. Well look out Gunning, I think we may have found your replacement! Free flat area behind the pub in return for buying a drink or a meal, we bought both. No all night toilets but great food and really friendly staff.
