Purposeful Meandering Around Victoria - Week 3

Week 3: Our final week on the road and we’ve decided to take a leisurely pace up the east coast as we head for home. Monday morning and we checked out of our inner city apartment, we commented how much fun we’d had living in the heart of a capital city (for a brief change). Our first stop was the caravan manufactures who base themselves predominantly in the one area of Melbourne, but getting there meant we had to negotiate the streets of Melbourne. Trams, right turns from the left lane, weird lines painted on the road, fences in the middle of the road and rules I’d never heard of…….. how hard can it be?

We spent almost 3hrs trolling various makers getting ideas for what our next van will look like. Anyway by early afternoon we were heading east with no fixed plan of where we were staying the night. We had stops in Warragul and Moe before finally pulling up in Sale for the night. We often say “your travelling experiences are made up of the places you stay”. We opted for a motel for the night which could have doubled as a retirement village based on its vintage. Nonetheless it was a bed for the night and we were grateful.

Tuesday and google said it was only 3.5hr drive to Mallacoota so the kids were super happy, but we packed so much into the day that we didn’t arrive in Mallacoota till almost dinner time. Along the way we detoured out to Paynesville (part of the Gippsland Lake system) where we stumbled across the Mitchell Silt Jetties…… wow, wow, wow! Back in Bairnsdale we found a sneaky pie shop to indulge our hunger. I’m sure we could write a book on pie shops of Australia. Pushing further north finally made it to Lakes Entrance where we made the obligatory stop overlooking the lakes and the entrance. Leonie and I had been here almost 20 years ago so a lot but nothing had changed (if that makes sense). With our day slipping away we kept going, the next 2+ hours seemed to take forever, the rest of the car were all catching flies at one point or another, only to all wake up as we drove into Cann River where the Police blocked the whole highway to do RBT. Finally, we arrived in Mallacoota, it’s a place none of us had ever been to but I’d heard so much about it, especially when the 19/20 bushfires isolated the town forcing residents to be evacuated by the Navy off the beaches.

Note: internet photo

With a 2-night stay planned for Mallacoota we all felt like we’d earned a sleep-in, however the relentless southerly winds kept everything rattling but we did manage a lazy morning in the van park before heading out to do a bit of exploring in the car. It was quickly evident by its beauty why the town swells to 8 times its population over the festive period. Beach swimming, coastal walks and a labyrinth of estuaries that must have boaties and fishermen super excited. By late afternoon we’d changed modes of transport as we strolled up and down the shops and through the campgrounds before capping off our walk with ice-creams.

Thursday was moving day. It was only 20 or so km’s back to the highway and then a short drive north before you see the signs welcoming you to NSW and you instantly feel like you’re home, or a local at least. We stopped in Eden to check out the local tourist attractions, the views of Twofold Bay from Eden lookout and a picturesque Quarantine Bay before moving up the coast to Pambula where we caught up with a long-term friend for coffee and a chat. Pushing northwards along the coast to Tathra we were surprised by the growth in the coastal towns. Reflecting we had to remind ourselves it’d been many years since we’d been on the far south-coast. The winds of the past few days hadn’t abated so most towns didn’t feel warm or inviting simple because of the strong winds. By mid-afternoon we found ourselves in Moruya and we decided this was as good a place as any for an overnight stay, but for the 2nd time in a week our accommodation choices let us down. Without saying anymore, it was a bad choice.

Friday morning and we were all excited as we’d be home today. The overnight rains had persisted but by mid-morning the clouds had burnt off leaving a sunny and still windy day. We had stops in Mogo and Bateman’s Bay before stopping in Ulladulla to check out a few sites. The last 90min from Ulladulla seemed to drag over with so much roadworks happening on the south coast, but by mid-afternoon we were “Home Sweet Home”.

In 3-weeks we’d travelled over 4200km across much of Victoria, a small part of South Australia and the south coast of NSW. As we pulled in the driveway we all commented how nice it was to get away and for us, it completed our last part of exploring mainland Australia as a family.