Day 42 – An easy drive to Lakes Entrance from Thredbo. It was interesting to see the changing terrain during the drive – from very very dry ranch land to lush forests in Victoria. As soon as we got to Lakes Entrance we popped over the foot bridge to 90 Mile Beach.
There’s a hike along the sand dune to the namesake ‘Entrance’. Bron deemed this hike ‘alright’ (and she LOVES hiking) until some dolphins made an appearance in the bay at which point it achieved a score of ‘pretty good’.
The many bushflies in our eyes, ears, hair, etc. were a contributing factor to the hike score (and they aren’t even remotely bad here compared to other parts of Australia).
Day 43 – We started out morning with a leisurely coffee, and pancake breakfast before setting out from Lakes Entrance. The servings were huge and clearly enough to share. Our stack of pancakes was topped with two scoops of vanilla ice cream and maple syrup. Brent was ready for a mapley treat, since we have not had many opportunities since departing Canada.
As we drove out of town, we climbed up above the harbour. We stopped at a lookout. There were dredges in the harbour. Information displays explained that yearly dredging is needed to maintain the opening in the sand spit to keep the harbour accessible for the fishing fleet. Sand is vacuumed and transported out to sea with by pipeline. 250,000 cubic metres of sand is dredged every year.
Our drive was short today, paralleling the coast of the Tasman Sea and Bass Strait from East Gippsland to the Wilson’s Promontory. We left the main highway and drove along the dunes of 90-Mile Beach then had a picnic lunch near the Town of Paradise Beach.
Driving along the country roads was a nice change to driving Highway 1, which tends to have heavy traffic volumes.
Day 44 – We visited Wilson’s Promontory as we continued our journey around the south end of Australia. The land was aptly named, as this morning the peaks of this large piece of land disappeared into the clouds.
We went on a few walks during our visit. Our first walk was to view wildlife. The herd of Eastern Grey Kangaroos in the park are the focus of some research being conducted in partnership with the Université de Sherbrooke. Many of the kangaroos were sporting radio tracking collars and tags in their ears. We didn’t need any radio gear to find the kangaroos. Two of them were hanging out on the side of the road as we parked the car, and dozens of them popped up to have a look at us as we walked by.
The star of the show did not show up – we have been hoping to see a wombat. There were none running about (but they are nocturnal). Evidence that they are here was frequent – cubic poop and many borrows under trees. The holes are about 30cm in diameter.
The bush flies were terribly annoying. The flies do not bite but are in your ears, on your face, behind your sunglasses, in your hair, and otherwise generally bothersome. A gentle breeze carries them away, however this was not happening today.
A lunch spot was selected on Squeaky Beach. We set out on a 5 kilometer (return) walk from the Visitor’s Centre to get there. We walked over the ridge from Tidal River to Squeaky Beach with a stop at a lookout, passing through a flock of Sulphur-crested Cockatoos.
The view from the lookout revealed a vista of turquoise seas, crashing waves, rounded rocky shorelines and brilliant white sand.
And there were many pictures taken of ‘us-on-rocks-with-water’
After a few hours visiting we continued on to Melbourne (pronounced Mel-bun – because we are trying not to sound too much like tourists.) Arriving in the city later in the afternoon, we didn’t feel much like cooking dinner so Crisp Pizza takeout was selected. Brent set off to order the pizza. After a quick stop at Woolworth’s (Woolie’s) to get some fruit and a quart of milk for breakfast, the pizzas were collected. Spinach and halloumi, garnished with black olives, and lemon wedges – for Bronwen and Peri-peri chicken, with grilled capsicum and red onion for Brent. Halfway home a gust of wind grabbed the boxes and flipped them on the street. Bronwen’s pizza fell out of the box and splayed out on the side of Flemington Road. Brent’s pizza faired slightly better, and was only vigorously tossed inside box – edible, but not pretty. Dinner plans were adjusted on the fly and we had falafel. Thankfully, street food is really good here in Melbourne.
Brent And Bron Abroad 