Stage 13 - Mallacoota to Lakes Entrance

Friday 8 February:               Adobe Mudbrick Flats, Mallacoota

The expansive balcony in Adobe

After an early rise we set off separately in two cars from Sydney – destination Mallacoota.  A welcome stop was enjoyed at a cafe in Nimmitabel.

We arrived at the Adobe holiday flats early in the afternoon and were greeted by the eccentric owner of this unusual mud-brick place – Peter Kurtz.  Coincidentally, John C bumped into a fellow traveller, Jean from a recent trip in Europe who was just leaving, we then enjoyed a drink with Jean and husband Phil.  Our accommodation was ... different.  A multi-story mud-brick dwelling featuring many quirky and interesting features including multiple beer and wine bottles embedded in artistic patterns in the walls which glowed inside from the sunlight, beautiful tiled mosaics of doves in the bathrooms, heaps of raw timber finishes including a tree holding up the kitchen roof and a massive timber deck with a view of the Inlet. Taking pride of place was a bird feeding tray which attracted many beautiful birds.  We came to identify about 20 different species feeding mostly peacefully, except for a number of rainbow lorikeets behaving badly. The place was like a treehouse with magnificent views!                        

Saturday 9 February:                           Mallacoota

We set off on our first walk to the Mallacoota township along the beautiful Mallacoota estuary through the bush and then along the Mallacoota Inlet via Captains Creek Jetty and Bucklands Jetty, approx 12 kms.  Then had a look around the town and enjoyed a shorter walk along the estuary on the other side.  Had lunch at the local Vietnamese restaurant which  was recommended to us.  In the afternoon we swam at the beach where the lake meets the sea to a highly tidal creek. We lay down in the fast moving current and were furiously washed town towards the sea, great fun.

                                               

Sunday 10 February:                            Mallacoota

Dawn broke overcast and rainy.  Undeterred we headed into the Croajingolong National Park along the Mallacoota Coastal Walk.  This walk taking in Betka Lookout, Fishermans Point, Quarry Beach, Pebbly Beach and Shipwreck Creek is undergoing serious refurbishment with a very high standard of track, drainage works, steps, walkways and lookouts; about 12 kms in all. Pity the weather was not brighter.  John then grabbed his rod and went off fishing, John and Di had a stroll around the area near Adobe, and Rose and Geri gathered some delicious plums from the orchard on the property.  A noticeable feature of Mallacoota is the lengths gone to by the locals to protect their gardens from hungry possums and lorikeets, every plant of significance is covered by netting or metal screens. At night we danced the night away and played cards.

Monday 11 February:              Ward St Holiday House, Marlo

Today, with finer weather, we drove to Cape Conran to park one of the cars and returned to Bemm river to start our walk.  We re-entered the National Park and progressed generally along the beach to Cape Conran, a hike of about 20 kms.  As a diversion from slogging through the sand, we took the inland route for part of the way along a track called the Powerline Track.  Sure there was an electricity line we followed up hill and down dale for ever but there were also many black snakes, possibly attracted by the electrical radiation, who knows.  We were very happy to reach the gate and leave the serpents well behind.  John and Di pressed on the last few kilometres to collect the car from Cape Conran, and pick up the weary others. We walked around the small township of Marlo and had a delicious dinner at the Marlo Pub with great views of the Snowy River.

Start of the Powerline Track

Tuesday 12 February:                                         Marlo
Marlo is famous as the township where the mighty Snowy River reaches the sea after flowing 352 kms from Mt Kosciusko.  It does this through a huge sandy estuary and alongside was our hike for the day.  The area is pristine and enhanced by many timber walkways and bridges, a very beautiful walk. Geri had a well earned day off and acted as our chauffeur. We drove back almost to Cape Conran and then had a blissful walk on the beach. There are beaches and beaches and this was a good one. The sand was hard and it was a beautiful day so it was a pleasure to walk. After the beach we entered the estuary area and walked on a very good track of duckboards and bridges. The birds were amazing. We walked past the mouth of the river and conveniently our hike finished at the aforementioned famous Marlo Pub where we enjoyed lunch on the balcony and then to be very spoiled, went to another cafe to have afternoon tea and cake. John and Di, who were still feeling energetic went on another walk around the Cape Conran area. That night the four of us sans John C went to Orbost and had Chinese dinner in the local pub.

Wednesday 13 February:                  Lakes Entrance

Statues along the Nowa Nowa Track

Today we headed off to Nowa Nowa. We were getting ready for the walk when Rose realised she left her phone back at the Marlo house so John C drove back to retrieve it while the rest of us walked around the river and along a disused railway track which was very interesting as there were statues all along the way. This is one of the great things about walking; you discover all these little hidden treasures that you normally wouldn't find if you just drove through. We like to support the local economies so we bought some jam and honey. Disappointingly, there was a creek that was not swimmable as the weather was hot and a dip would have been nice.  We then walked along the Wetlands Walk on the other side of town, an easy but beautiful stroll.  Afterwards we pressed on to our luxury accommodation on the hill overlooking Lakes Entrance.  A delicious lunch was had in a boat on the lake but we had to eat inside as it was blowing a gale and cold. The 2 Johns and Di went walking along the lake and the other bushbabes did some well earned retail therapy. Had dinner at home and had great fun playing cards. Geri was on a roll and was hard to beat. This was a huge place with very comfortable rooms and overlooking the town and an inland lake.

                              

Thursday 14 February:                     Lakes Entrance
Our walks and excursions in the Lakes Entrance area were a bit on the easy side, deservedly so after surviving the serpents of Cape Conran. First-up John C had organised a kayaking trip for us on nearby Lake Tyers and we enjoyed exercising our upper bodies and giving our feet a rest for a couple of hours. Geri decided to have a swim and lost her shoe in the mud, which wasn't to be found again! We paddled over to a beach on the other side of the lake near a small settlement and were surprised to see emus – none of us had ever seen them in the wild before. Heading back to town, we walked down the hill from our mansion and over the footbridge connecting the town of Lakes Entrance to the beach and proceeded along the lake's northern shore as far as the entrance itself – an engineering marvel of the 19^th century involving massive excavations to change the course of the river to the sea. This was the Flagstaff lookout and we stayed awhile to watch a pod of seals playing in the water.  Geri and Rose had a rest and the others went down to the beach for a swim as it was such a beautiful day and the two J’s enjoyed body surfing. Our first ever swim in Bass Strait!!! Dinner at home and more cards with Geri (the champ again) and plenty of laughter.

Friday 15 February:             Lakes Entrance

We hiked around historic Nyerimilang Homestead perched high on the cliffs above the Gippsland Lakes and then ventured up to Metung, a beautiful little residential port,very posh with a Thredbo/St Ives vibe. There is a boardwalk along the lake which we sauntered along. It was a perfect sunny day and life was good! We drove on to Bairnsdale where we had a look at the impressive visitor’s centre. Di likes to compare the centres as she volunteers in the Manly Visitor Centre. After a delicious lunch we then visited the Nicholson winery with an allegedly famous vigneron who insists that wine should be “chewed”.  The consensus was that we should keep drinking it as we have always done! The chardonnays in this area are particularly good and we again helped the local economy. Discovered a local orchard selling fruit and keeping to our 'help the local community' philosophy we naturally stocked up.

                                               

Saturday 16 February:         Drive Home

An early start was in order for the long drive home. We were all sad to be leaving as we are having so much fun!!