South of the border

Kosciusko was great fun and we looked forward to more mountain action over of the border in the Victorian High Country. Driving south past Thredbo we spent the better part of the day winding through the steep mountain roads over the border. There was no wall. We eventually stopped for the night at the pub in Dederang, aka the ‘Ranga’, pitching our tent on the grassy plots offered up by the publican to punters who were happy to part with their hard earned at his pub. We were happy to oblige and spent our first night in Victoria drinking pots of the local ale.

Free camping for patrons of the "Ranga"

Our "Campground" for one night

We’d deliberately delayed our arrival in Bright as the drove of cyclists in town for the Audax Alpine Classic departed. This allowed us the pick of the park and we pitched ourselves a stones throw from the playground and pool allowing for child supervision without being too close to the action.

The Victorian high country is far more spectacular than the NSW equivalent. A greater number of mountains and steeper peaks through treacherous, winding mountain roads make for incredible views from many vantage points across the region.

One of many lookouts on our way through the mountains.

Bright is a pretty, laid back little foody town with a northern hemisphere vibe, on account of the giant deciduous trees planted by early settlers. It must be spectacular in autumn. We loved it, especially the riverside water park, perfect during the heatwave through which we endured.

Happy Handleys in Mt. Buffalo NP near Bright

No shortage of mountains...

... happy faces...

... and pretty flowers in and around Bright!

When you have a caravan park to yourself...

Free...

...fun...

... and refreshing!
Bright's Water Park

We were sad to leave beautiful Bright, but onwards to Lakes Entrance we drove. After a number of weeks inland, it was surprisingly nostalgic to see the ocean come into view as we entered East Gippsland.

Goodbye Bright! - Just a few mountains between us and the sea now...

A glimpse of the ocean after hours of driving
a seemingly endless winding road

90 miles of beach stretching north and south off Lakes Entrance makes for rubbish sand banks, so no surfing to speak of, but warm(ish) water and good fishing filled the void. We stayed at a spacious park, and flat terrain made for great cycling in and around town.  Mini golf was a massive hit with the kids, and we decided on a 3 hour river cruise one afternoon. Lets just say 30 minutes would have been sufficient. Rated #1 trip adviser ‘Things to do’ in Lakes, we learned a valuable lesson on the sorts of people who spend time reviewing (generally those a little older than us J)… 2.5 hours in it was  “on your right you will see the aspaditis arongopangutis, part of the Australian eucalypt family”  - nod/yawn!!

Out fishing at the crack of dawn in Lakes Entrance...

The early bird catches the tasty fish ;-)

Three pictures taken on a 3 hr cruise...

... that should have taken 30 mins.

After just under 3 hrs of boredom
we were almost prepared to jump off a cliff ourselves!

            

The mercury tipped 42c as we arrived at our friends place in Melbourne for our next stop. We managed an awesome trip to ArtVo in the new Docklands complex during our quick stop in Melbs.

                   

 

                   

 


We were all looking forward to a long weekend together in an AirBnb we’d rented in Anglesea on the Great Ocean Road. Just down from Bells Beach on the ‘surf coast’, I’d looked forward to some waves during our stay. Unfortunately the weather didn’t play ball and it was windy without swell so I’ll have to wait to tick that one off the bucket list. We had a great catch up with mates so a memorable stop nevertheless.

Having a lovely day...

... at the beach in Anglesea!

An uninspiring Bells Beach

People actually they surf here sometimes Lewis..

Great Catch Up with these guys!

Further along the Great Ocean road we stopped in Apollo Bay, where we endured 50-knot wind gusts (reminiscent of Fraser if you’ve read that one) and generally aweful weather. A picturesque location nevertheless, we pottered around, sampled the local brews and visited Cape Otway National park, where many Koalas can be found on the roads in. Someone’s doing a great job marketing this region to the Chinese as they were everywhere in their hire cars, motorhomes and minivans. Signs even exist to remind people to drive on the left in Australia?!@#$!

Great Ocean Road - Here we go! -the Good Ocean Road till this point :)

This one for the foreign visitors

Apollo Bay

From Apollo Bay we drove to Johanna, a spot that has played host to professional surfing events over the years. Unfortunately the calm and placid conditions on the east side of Cape Otway gave way to wild 5 metre swells, and with an empty line up I wasn’t keen to test the paddle strength, so we drove onward to Port Fairy.