Victoria

Posted by efloow on January 12, 2016 in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Dec 30 to Jan 13

 

We have spent the last two weeks travelling through Victoria, working our way back towards Sydney. The combination of school holidays, arriving back to the more densely populated east coast, and our relative isolation of the past six months has made the masses of people stand out to us. We have also encountered the partying holiday campers, rather than the early to bed travelling variety to which we have aligned ourselves! This reintroduction to the real world has heavily influenced our plans and we now understand why all the grey nomads disappear at this time of year!

 

 

Our decision to spend New Year in an apartment in Warrnambool rather than the campervan proved sage, as every inch of ground in the massive camp site was covered with a heaving mass of caravans and holiday revellers. We had a great couple of days with the hours spent surfing on very forgiving waves, or at the skate park and BMX track. The adrenaline linked activities extended to zip lining in the Otways National Park where we got to see the massive mountain ashes (between the clouds).

 

 

We managed to drive some of the Great Ocean Road (GOR), despite the large Christmas Day Bushfires that had closed a significant length of it. And saw, albeit between the rain showers, another of the 'Are We There Yet?' icons, The Twelve Apostles. We passed thorough Lorne for lunch and marvelled at how so many people could fit in such a small place.

 

 

Our next stop was at Breamlea, a beautiful hidden hamlet along the western side of Melbourne's Port Philip Bay. Here we spent a few days with Dave and Ellie. It was great to catch up with old friends and we all had a very relaxing and fun time away from the chaos of the road.

 

 

We then took the Queenscliff to Sorrento Ferry over to the Mornington Peninsula on the east side of Port Philip Bay, and joined Malcolm and Dillon at Cape Schanck where we have been wined, dined, entertained, and spoilt rotten. It is proving very hard to get back on the road again!

 

 

Buchan was a random detour inland to the foot of the Snowy Mountains National Park. We camped at the Buchan Caves National Park and enjoyed getting back into exploring mode. It was interesting to get a taste of the Victoria High Country and enjoy the spectacular scenery.

 

 

Our final Victorian experience was at Mallacoota on the south east corner of the continent, almost exactly half way (530km) between Sydney and Melbourne. It is a small coastal town with a regular population of about 1000 that increases by 8000 in the holidays (the foreshore campsite alone has 650 sites, the biggest we've seen)! The area has amazing beaches, a massive estuary inlet divided into Top and Bottom Lakes and the Croajingolong National Park. It is a stunning place for fishing, surfing, boating, and wilderness walks and seemed to have enough space to absorb the crowds… it must be fabulous off peak, especially if you had a boat. We really felt like we were on holidays there with the usual fishing and surfing in incredible sunshine. Holly, very calmly, caught her biggest fish yet, a 35 cm dusky flathead!

 

 

Next back into NSW and a final week of spoiling ourselves in a house in Tathra before returning to the real world…….