Blog 11: Victoria & New South Wales - Shallow Inlet to Pambula Beach

Beach hopping ain't a bad lifestyle.

On a grey and drizzly morning we drove out to Wilsons Promontory for a look. The peninsula is the last remnant of a land bridge to Tasmania that only disappeared a few thousand years ago. Certainly a beautiful slice of National Park, but the weather and our need to get to Sydney reasonably quickly left things a little underwhelming (plus the landscape is very reminiscent of southwest WA, something we are quite familiar with... and Tasmania set the bar for 'stunning natural vista' pretty high). I am sure if we stayed a few days, did some of the well regarded bushwalking tracks and enjoyed some sun there it would be awesome. Maybe next time.

From Wilsons Promontory we headed east towards 90 Mile Beach, cruised through the subdued (no long school holidays!) Lakes Entrance and ended up at a spot called Lake Tyers Beach. Great pub there with an excellent soundtrack. We decided to stay a couple of nights to slow down and recuperate a bit. The next day we hiked up to Red Bluff lookout, found a couple of geocaches (Numbers 17 and 18) and spent the afternoon hanging out in the pub, enjoying the view. Before leaving we woke up before dawn and watched the sun rise over the ocean. Glorious.

This is when we arrived at Lake Tyers Beach

It's alright. Even though the waterwheel has been taken down.

The best thing about 90 Mile Beach is that the sound of the waves breaking all meshes together into one dull roar of white noise. You can't hear individual waves like on the West Coast. Soothing and relaxing.

From Lake Tyers it was eastwards again to a spot recommended by Grandma Daphne Davies (Thanks Grandma!) - Mallacoota. To get there we left the highway and drove some of the gravel tracks between Cape Conran and Cann River. Eucalypt forests reminiscent of Nannup in South West WA.

Mallacoota is indeed, beautiful. We only stayed two nights, but most of the nomads we spoke to stay 6 or 8 weeks, some of them every single year.

The day we spent in town we wandered through the bushland out to where the estuary/inlet meets the ocean. Apparently there are many Koalas in residence, but we didn't see any. We did get to meet a few Lyrebirds though - very cool.

Wandering along the edge of the estuary.

In the morning before departing Mallacoota we wandered up to a spot to watch the sun rise over another ocean and estuarine inlet. We have been neglecting the exercise a bit lately so did some morning yoga to energise ourselves then hit the highway again.

Good Morning Mallacoota (and Mosquitoes)

Sometime mid morning we crossed the border into New South Wales. Didn't even see a sign! Maybe drivers in this state know how to use their indicators when overtaking or changing lanes (sorry Victorians, but many of you suck!).

Our first stop in New South Whales (Named for the Southern Right Whales right?) was Eden, a clifftop coastal town with a very excellent Killer Whale Museum, that has been running entirely on community effort since the 1930's. We learned about the history of Orcas in the area, how they would hunt Baleen Whales and established a kind of partnership with local whalers who would let the Orcas eat the tongue and lips of the Baleen Whales they killed before harvesting the rest of their bodies. The museum was great in that it presented the information and displayed the artefacts of whaling in the region without making a moral or ethical judgement on the practice. You can guess where we stand... a great place to visit and watch whales in springtime.

From Eden we rolled a little further north and have just spend two nights camped between Ben Boyd National Park and Pambula Beach. This place is pretty great. Kangaroos everywhere around the Caravan Park, super friendly animals. Our first night we watched the Lego Batman Movie that was playing for the kids (and young at heart). Great film. Yesterday we went for our first swim in the Pacific Ocean (for this trip anyway) - despite the sun it was a bit of a washing machine so we didn't stay in the water long. The waves washed Ruth's bikini a bit south, resulting in a bunch of kids doing their swimming lessons getting a potential flash. Needless to say a one piece is now on the shopping list.