Yarram, VIC

19-23 January 2017

Suspension Bridge

Mountain Ash

Tree Hugger

Cyathea Falls

Tree ferns

Tarra River

The Yarram Caravan Park is on the outskirts of town so was only a short stroll into town and the great bakery which had a huge choice of tasty treats. Not far from town is Tarra-Bulga National Park, we did some of the walks from the Visitor Centre first to the suspension bridge which stretches through the rainforest canopy with spectacular views of the lush fern gully on the forest floor below.  The Mountain Ash that managed to escape logging are so impressive with the bases covered in thick blankets of moss.  The Fern Gully walk was beautiful with so many tree ferns and a small creek gently flowing through, we stopped regularly to take photos. Lunch was had at a small cafe before heading to the Tarra Valley Rainforest walk which meanders through a rainforest gully and across trickling mountain streams to Cyathea Falls. The ancient Myrtle Beech along he trail creates a protective canopy above a delicate understory of tree ferns, lichens and moss. On the way back there were a few more stops along the narrow winding road to see Tarra Falls and the Tarra River as it meanders along next to the road.
Just down the road from Yarram is the coastal village of Port Albert where we walked along the foreshore path watching all the boats queuing to use the boat ramp then we had fish and chips overlooking the water.

Seaspray, VIC

16-19 January 2017

Seaspray Caravan Park

Seaspray Beach

Surf Club view

Swing Bridge

Seaspray is a small beachside village with just a general store and surf club.  We had some good walks along the beach and to the surf club where we had a good meal overlooking the ocean.  One day we went for a drive along the coast to the nearby town of Loch Sport then on to Sale.  After having lunch in town we went for a walk along the boardwalk over the wetlands and visited the historic swing bridge.

Echo Bend, VIC

12-16 January 2017

Echo Bend Bark Hut and Camping

Echo Bend

Mitchell River

Mitchell River

Den of Nargun

Den of Nargun

Iguana

Deadcock Den

Deadcock Den

Amphitheatre

It was good to get away from the crowds and head out to peaceful Echo Bend Camping Park next to the Mitchell River National Park.  There is a path from the campground through to the National Park where we spotted an echidna wandering along near the path then trying to hide by sticking its nose under a stick.  On our first walk down to the river we disturbed a couple who were about to go for a skinny dip until they saw us walk around the corner!

We walked to the Den of Nargun, there were some steep drops as we walked down into the gorge where Woolshed Creek trickles along the bottom.  A small scramble over some rocks led us to the low, wide cave known as the Den of Nargun.  The water at the base of the small waterfall was almost black and added to the feeling that something sinister was living in the cave.  Walking back along the base of the gorge we headed towards the Mitchell River disturbing countless lizards along the way.  We also walked into Deadcock Den which had another small waterfall and a massive rock overhang to one side.  Reaching the river we sat on a couple of rocks watching the cascading water and the many blue dragonflies trying to find the perfect spot to land.  We saw a big lizard and also a small red bellied black snake.

Driving the short distance to Billy Goat Bend we took in the majestic view from Amphitheatre Lookout on the cliffs at the top of the gorge and went for a short walk.

Most evenings we had a camp fire and had some of the best toasted marshmallows we have ever had.  We also had plenty of walks around the campground trying to spot the resident wombats, finally having success when we left it a bit later until it was fully dark.  First all we saw was a large black bum as a wombat went crashing into the undergrowth but then not far away we spotted another wombat sauntering along in front of us before disappearing into its burrow.  These were the first wild wombats that we have ever seen (alive).

 

Lakes Entrance, VIC

8-12 January 2017

Lakes Entrance Foreshore

Lakes Entrance

Lakes Entrance

The Entrance

Sunset

Our spot in Koonwarra Holiday Park was right opposite the pool, playground and camp kitchen so was very noisy.  The park was full of families with young kids who were riding their bikes around a lot of the time, just to make it even better they discovered that if they put a plastic bottle in the frame touching the tyre it made a very loud noise, awesome.

We didn’t really do too much while we were there, we walked along the foreshore into town each day.  One evening we went to see Rogue One (again) in 3D at the Cinema/Squash Courts, there were squash courts on one side of the building and the cinema on the other which was a novelty. 

To get a better view of the area we went for a drive up to a couple of lookouts which showed the extent of the lakes.  We also drove around to Metung a small village almost surrounded by lakes.

A walk to the Entrance where the lakes meet the ocean was worth doing, seeing the standing waves created by the amount of water flowing out.  There were a few seals in the waves at the entrance making it look like there was no current at all.

 

Marlo, VIC

5-8 January 2017

Snowy River

Jetty seal

Mouth of the Snowy

Bollard Hats

Point Ricardo

Point Ricardo

Our first night in Victoria was in the small seaside village of Marlo where the Snowy River meets Bass Strait.  We were just a short walk to the jetty where we regularly spotted seals hanging around waiting for fish scraps from the people fishing. Along the foreshore each of the wooden bollards had a different hat atop it, a very strange sight.
We had a walk along the Snowy River Estuary Walk which provided elevated views of the estuary, river mouth and the sweep of coastline to Point Ricardo in the east. There were numerous boardwalk sections across the backwaters and wetlands.  We were lucky to spot a Superb Lyrebird as it scuttled away behind a tree.
On an extremely foggy day we drove into the nearby town of Orbost where we went to the visitor information centre which is housed in a historic slab hut built in 1872.  On the way back we stopped at Point Ricardo for a walk along the beach which still had a little fog on it close to lunch time.

Bombala, NSW

3-5 January 2017

Bombala Caravan Park

Bombala

Bombala River

Platypus Reserve

Cunningham Skink

Platypus

It was a very picturesque drive to Bombala along the Snowy River Way. We had another nice spot on the riverside with a short walk across a bridge into the small town in an area known as Platypus Country. We had lots of walks along the river and even drove to the Platypus Reserve just outside town but didn’t spot any platypus until we returned to the reserve at dusk. We must have been scanning the water for almost an hour and were just about to leave when Shane finally spotted a platypus. It was quite hard to see though as we would just catch a glimpse of its head or tail as it surfaced then dived back under.  There was no wind when we woke on the day we were leaving so the river was very smooth and then we easily spotted a couple of platypus close to the caravan park.

Jindabyne, NSW

31 December-3 January 2017

Lake Jindabyne

Charlotte Pass Lookout

Charlotte Pass Lookout

Main Range Track

Snowy River Crossing

Chair lift

Kosciuszko Track

Lake Cootapatamba

Ice/Snow crossing

Kosciuszko Summit

Kosciuszko Summit

Towong Lookout

Bob’s Ridge Walk

Brumbies

It was an interesting drive to Jindabyne especially as we climbed Mt Darragh we were in the clouds with visibility just 20m in some parts. On reaching Jindabyne Holiday Park we squeezed on to our site which was only just big enough to fit the van on with the awning out, there wasn’t even room to park the car.  The park is right on the shore of Lake Jindabyne and was packed with families.
We headed to Charlotte Pass in Kosciuszko National Park and were surprised that there was still a little snow/ice on some of the peaks.  After checking out a couple of lookouts we decided to do some of the Main Range Track which starts with a steep descent to a couple of crossings over the Snowy River and Club Lake Creek so we had to take off our shoes and socks and wade across the foot numbing water.  The walk was lovely with lots of small streams running over and under the path and we could hear frogs croaking in some of the pools. The walk back up to the car was very steep but worth it. We discovered some huge flies that make even March flies look tiny, Shane was unlucky enough to find out that they also bite as one took advantage of him being distracted whilst taking a photo.
We couldn’t miss the opportunity to walk to the top of Australia by climbing Mt Kosciuszko.  We took the slightly shorter option,  we drove to Thredbo spotting a deer and an echidna on the way and then took the chair lift part way.  A return trip was $35 each but it was a great ride with fantastic views across Thredbo and the surrounding hills with mountain bikers passing below.  It was very windy on Kosciuszko and we were warned that with the wind chill the temperature was just 2°.  There was a metal walkway for most of the 13km round trip.  We walked past Lake Cootapatamba, the highest lake in Australia and one of only 5 glacial lakes on the mainland. There were lots of patches of ice along the way and one large one right across the path which we managed to cross without slipping over. It was so windy at the summit that at times it was a struggle to stay upright.  We had a break, eating our lunch and taking in the view from the top of Australia before heading back to the chairlift. We felt like a drink and something to eat when we got back to Thredbo and had visions of sitting in a lovely ski lodge sipping a hot drink only to have our fantasies dashed as we couldn’t find anything remotely resembling a ski lodge.
Our last day we drove to the small town of Khancoban then crossed the border into Victoria stopping for a look at the Murray River and discovering an impressive lookout at Towong. Back in NSW we joined a tour of the Snowyhydro Murray 2 Power station, it was an interesting tour although it wasn’t generating any power at the time. As we passed back through Kosciuszko National Park we went for a walk along Bob’s Ridge Walk which followed the Thredbo River.  After crossing the water on a small walk bridge we fortunately decided to go a little further.  As we started climbing a low hill to the side of a grass flat we saw 2 brumbies out on the grass.  They stood watching us as we walked along, Shane noticed at least 3 others on the hill on the other side of the flat. It was a lovely sight.

Eden, NSW

22-31 December 2016

Nullica Beach

Nullica River

Xmas

Xmas day walk

Eden Killer Whale Museum

Eden lookout

Twofold Bay

Boyd Tower

Boyd Tower

Boyd Tower lookout

City Rock

Skink

Green Cape Lighstation

The Pinnacles

This was a long stay as we didn’t want to move around too much over the busy school holiday period, we would have stayed longer but they were fully booked from the 31st. We were pleasantly surprised that it didn’t start filling up until a few days after Christmas so it was actually much quieter than we were expecting.  We were opposite a path to Nullica Beach so we had a walk everyday.  On Christmas Eve we walked along the beach to the historic Seahorse Inn where we had dinner overlooking the bay, it was awesome walking home after dinner along the beach.
Christmas in the van away from both of our families was a first for us, it was nice but just not the same with just the two of us.  We still had a big roast lunch with most of it cooked on our barbecue and far too much food so that definitely felt like Christmas!  It was a novelty going for a walk on the beach and having a swim in the pool on Christmas Day.
Eden has a unique example of cooperative hunting where of a pod of killer whales would help the whalers catch baleen whales, sometimes herding a whale into Twofold Bay then alerting the whalers who would kill the whale before leaving it to the killer whales.  Once the killer whales had eaten the tongue and lips the whalers would then take it back for processing.  We visited the Eden Killer Whale museum which has the skeleton of Old Tom one of the whales that would visit the whalers to lead them to the baleen whales (his body washed up near to the whaling station).  It is an incredible story, you can read more here http://www.killersofeden.com/
We saw a couple of the Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race yachts, one of them came into Eden to fix their engine and we saw it coming into the bay then Wild Oats XI unfortunately had to retire from the race and also came into Eden.  We went down to the wharf for a closer look, a very impressive boat so sleek.
The Ben Boyd National Park is split into 2 sections, one to the north of Eden and the other to the South.  Our first trip was to the southern section where we visited the remains of the Davidson Whaling Station on the Kiah Inlet, there isn’t much left of the station but the quaint little cottage is still there and was lived in until 1987. Not far away was Boyd Tower that Ben Boyd had built to be a lighthouse but he wasn’t granted a licence so it was used as a lookout tower for the whalers. A nearby lookout had a great view over the ocean and the anticlinal folds in the dark red rocks. From there we drove to Green Cape Lightstation stopping at the impressive lookout over Disaster Bay and walking to City Rock with more dark red rocks and some bright yellow and orange lichen. The lighthouse was on a very rocky headland although is no longer used and has been replaced with a light mounted on a boring steel structure.
In the northern section of the park we visited the Pinnacles which was nothing like the ones near Cervantes but a cliff graduating in colour from red to white, it reminded us more of Rainbow Valley in the Northern Territory.