Water, water...
by prudence on 15-Jun-2011
Towards the end of last year we did a weekend trip to coastal Gippsland, which turned out to be a great visual and auditory experience. This whole area is a labyrinth of rivers, lakes, islands, peninsulas, and ribbons of land separating big chunks of water. Last time we just got as far peering over at Loch Sport, and admiring banksias in the Lakes National Park. The Queen's Birthday long weekend has just provided the chance to explore the lakes a bit further east.
Highlights in chronological order:
1. Apple cake at the art gallery cafe in Sale (the brekkie wraps last time were good, too).
2. The best fish and chips I've had in a really long time from Paynesville Seafoods right on the waterfront.
3. Raymond Island. This started off as a slight disappointment. Once off the ferry, you're into a world of no revictualling possibilities, tiny dirt roads, and minimal signage. But we finally stopped somewhere over on the east side, and went for a walk along the beach, and that's where it became magical. It was so quiet, for one. Just us and the seabirds. Turning inland, you rapidly reaquaint yourself with the bizarreness of banksias, and clock up the 3 Ks (kookaburras, koalas, and kangaroos). Wonderful.
4. Staying at the ultra-cosy, bird-surrounded Lake Gallery, looking over the water to Newlands Arm.
5. Hiring a boat for the day from Riviera Nautic in Metung, and cruising a tiny part of this huge water-system. The morning sun created super-photogenic reflections in Boxes Creek, and as we chugged along between Flannagan Island and the mainland, listening to the birds, and finally appreciating the sheer amount of water there is out here, boating came into its own. The weather wasn't really with us, and spasmodic showers gradually drove our boatman deeper into his layers, but having manoeuvred ourselves between Fraser Island and Rigby Island, and moored at our first jetty, we had good weather for a little walk along the awesome Ninety Mile Beach. Lunch on the boat, and then back towards Metung, putting in at a little island where there are loads of kangaroos, and just popping our noses into the vast expanse of Lake King.
6. A hot bath...
7. Walking along the lake-side in the early morning.
8. Watching the crimson rosellas come and go while having breakfast.
9. The Eagle Point silt jetties. These are quite bizarre (their oddity is perhaps best appreciated from Google maps). Not wanting to just become an anonymous part of Lake King, the Mitchell River has preserved its unique identity for as long as is riverly possible by building banks that extend way into the lake. So you have a river (with banks) in a lake... Why not?
10. Calling in at the Nicholson River Winery to sample their tasty whites.
11. A nice lunch at the Wa-de-lock Cellar Door in Stratford on Avon.
12. A brief stop at picturesque Port Albert, which also boasts a fine expanse of boatable water.
13. Driving home through a beautiful pink dusk, with the sound of Freddie Mercury pouring through the speakers of the hire car...
Highlights in chronological order:
1. Apple cake at the art gallery cafe in Sale (the brekkie wraps last time were good, too).
2. The best fish and chips I've had in a really long time from Paynesville Seafoods right on the waterfront.
3. Raymond Island. This started off as a slight disappointment. Once off the ferry, you're into a world of no revictualling possibilities, tiny dirt roads, and minimal signage. But we finally stopped somewhere over on the east side, and went for a walk along the beach, and that's where it became magical. It was so quiet, for one. Just us and the seabirds. Turning inland, you rapidly reaquaint yourself with the bizarreness of banksias, and clock up the 3 Ks (kookaburras, koalas, and kangaroos). Wonderful.
4. Staying at the ultra-cosy, bird-surrounded Lake Gallery, looking over the water to Newlands Arm.
5. Hiring a boat for the day from Riviera Nautic in Metung, and cruising a tiny part of this huge water-system. The morning sun created super-photogenic reflections in Boxes Creek, and as we chugged along between Flannagan Island and the mainland, listening to the birds, and finally appreciating the sheer amount of water there is out here, boating came into its own. The weather wasn't really with us, and spasmodic showers gradually drove our boatman deeper into his layers, but having manoeuvred ourselves between Fraser Island and Rigby Island, and moored at our first jetty, we had good weather for a little walk along the awesome Ninety Mile Beach. Lunch on the boat, and then back towards Metung, putting in at a little island where there are loads of kangaroos, and just popping our noses into the vast expanse of Lake King.
6. A hot bath...
7. Walking along the lake-side in the early morning.
8. Watching the crimson rosellas come and go while having breakfast.
9. The Eagle Point silt jetties. These are quite bizarre (their oddity is perhaps best appreciated from Google maps). Not wanting to just become an anonymous part of Lake King, the Mitchell River has preserved its unique identity for as long as is riverly possible by building banks that extend way into the lake. So you have a river (with banks) in a lake... Why not?
10. Calling in at the Nicholson River Winery to sample their tasty whites.
11. A nice lunch at the Wa-de-lock Cellar Door in Stratford on Avon.
12. A brief stop at picturesque Port Albert, which also boasts a fine expanse of boatable water.
13. Driving home through a beautiful pink dusk, with the sound of Freddie Mercury pouring through the speakers of the hire car...