Christmas 2019 Trip: Lakes Entrance -> Mystery Bay

I had another rough night's sleep - and when I tried to get out of bed in the middle of the night, getting down and up the ladder was a bit tricky due to the sore, tight muscles in my lower legs, from walking on the soft sand during the day. Amelie and I were up early and took Luna for a walk. This time we turned left out of the caravan park, away from town, and walked along the edge of the lake as far the path stayed near the water. We saw a tree shaped like a pineapple - Liam had seen one on the day we came into town, we hadn't seen one yet and it was pretty cool. Luna liked to walk on top of the low wall next to the path, so she and Amelie did most of their walking up there.

Back at camp we had breakfast in the kitchen area and chatted a bit to the park managers. We packed up as quickly as we could, and Caitlin walked into town to buy a shirt that she'd seen the day before. We were ready to hitch up before 10am which is very rare for us. Daryl (the park manager) helped us hitch and Caitlin arrived back just before we were about to leave. We were out of the park around 10.20, dropped Caitlin back into town because the shop she'd gone to wasn't open when she went, grabbed a few supplies from Aldi then met Caitlin at the shop (and I bought a wrap to wear over my swimmers, or when hiking, which I was pretty excited about) and were out of town by 10.50.

I had been a bit concerned that if the wind changed in the wrong direction the fires near Nowa Nowa (a little north east of Lakes Entrance) could impact the road out of town. The fire didn't move significantly overnight though, so the road was clear and we didn't see much sign of the fires except for smoke - although the skies were pretty clear where we were. The drive through the rest of Victoria was beautiful - some green river plains, lots of rivers with a fair bit of water in them, some lush forests as we went over hills/mountains, glimpses of the old rail line on some cool trestle bridges.

We passed into NSW which is always exciting, and drove on to Eden. The views of the bay as we came in were pretty impressive. I directed us through town to the lookout at the end of the peninsula. We'd known it was a hot day but getting out of the car was a bit of a shock - 34 degrees with a hot wind. We walked out to the lookout and could see a large part of Twofold bay and lots of the mountains around. It was the wrong season for whale watching, but still a very enjoyable view. I wandered around the fence line a bit to look down into a little rocky cove that I always like to see when I'm in Eden. The wind coming off the water there was much cooler. We sat at a picnic table in the shade and had wraps for lunch - the heat was fairly intense but not quite as bad in the shade. After lunch we walked around a bit more and Tony found a path to the side of the cove which gave quite a good view (although it was at the top of a cliff with no fence so I was a little scared...)

We kept driving north, through Bega and back around to the coast. I love driving through the hills around that part of Australia - although it looked so dry and parched, not green like I've seen it in the past. We headed for a bush camp at Mystery Bay, a little north of Bermagui. When we arrived the kids and Luna headed down to the beach, while Tony and I found a place to set up camp. We decided not to camp in the area closest to the beach, it seemed quite crowded, and instead found a place a couple of hundred metres walk from the beach - we could see the sand from our spot, and it was a bit more secluded and set amongst lovely tall gum trees (different to what we're used to - there were no leaves or branches down low, just tall bare trunks and lots of leaves higher up). There were plenty of other campers around but it didn't feel crowded. We had a quick walk around on the beach, which had great rocks to climb on and explore at the northern end, and sheltered water to swim in due to rocks off shore. It was so gorgeous and I immediately fell in love with the place and never wanted to leave. We set the tent up then headed down to the beach again for a swim. The water was pretty cold, but the waves very gentle and it was deep enough to swim around a bit at times. 

We had pasta carbonara for dinner, then took Luna down to the beach for another walk. She loved being near the water and exploring the rocks, chasing crabs, playing with other dogs etc. We didn't let her off lead because she was likely to run, but she still had a great time. Back to the tent and it was getting dark so we settled in to go to bed.

Christmas Trip 2019: Lakes Entrance

I slept quite badly (quite common for first night in the tent) and got up early to take Luna for a walk. The sun was probably just up and there was also a thick layer of smoke around the entire horizon. We walked down to the footbridge and over onto the beach and watched the red, smoke affected sun rise a bit higher, and played in the edge of the waves a bit. Back at the caravan park Amelie was awake so we had some breakfast and hung out in the bbq area. I started chatting to another mum who had been travelling with her husband and 3 young girls, and we shared stories about her trip and our travel experiences. Amelie played with the girls, and when Caitlin got up she played with the baby. Over the next couple of hours as we all gradually ate breakfast and relaxed, and the other family packed up their tent, Caitlin took care of the baby which they were extremely grateful for. 

The day was warming up and was forecast to be mid-30s, so we decided to for our walk mid-morning rather than waiting. We'd heard that there were often dolphins and seals at the actual entrance to the lakes (that gives the town it's name) so we sunscreened up and headed off. Once over the footbridge we turned to the right and walked along a sandy trail that snaked up and down the long piece of land between the lake and ocean. There were lots of birds and the occasional skink. The path was sandy and the air was pretty warm so some bits were hard going, especially up hills, but the view of the lake and plenty of shade helped it stay enjoyable. Tony and Amelie and I veered off at one point to see some historical buildings - they were being renovated and not really worth the trek up and down over a sand dune. We debated whether to try to meet up with the main track by walking along the lake shore, but worried that we'd miss the others if they came back looking for us, so went back up and over the hill. After 5 minutes or so we caught up with the others, waiting for us where the main path joined back up to the shore - a couple of hundred metres from where we had just been, so we definitely went the long way!

The path cut back inland and up a steep board walk to a large flagpole, which used to be used to signal water conditions to incoming ships. From there we walked down to the edge of the entrance channel, had a bit of a look at the old buildings there, and watched the fast flowing water for a while. Caitlin and Liam saw a dolphin as soon as they arrived at the water, it was gone by the time the rest of us arrived. Amelie and I found a boardwalk leading back towards the lake, Caitlin found one heading towards the ocean and could see seals just across the channel. We all went and joined her and watched the seals playing in the choppy water near the opposite headland, and then watched one that swam back and forth in front of us for a while. There were also a couple of dolphin pairs that we saw swimming through the channel. 

The entrance kept us entertained for a while, and we had a bit of a snack, then decided to walk back along the beach (it was 2.5km each way) and take advantage of the coastal breeze and being able to have our feet in the water. It would have been hot going back along the path, but on the beach side it was quite pleasant. The kids jumped off the edge of the sand dunes for a while then we started back. Walking on the beach sand was surprisingly difficult, even the wet sand was quite soft so we sank into it with each step - hard work on the calves and shins and achilles tendons. Along the way the kids found a small shark that had been beached and was trying to get back into the water. Liam kept Luna away and Caitlin ran back to tell me - I found a long stick that had broken off the sand dune foliage, and was able to gradually push him back into water that was deep enough for him to swim away. 

Once we reached the main beach, we all went for a swim in the ocean. Tony had a quick dip then walked back home with Luna, the rest of us swam for a bit longer. Amelie did really well in the waves that were a bit rougher than she's used to and the rest of us really loved being in the ocean again. We played for a while in the small puddles of water made by the waves on the flatter sand, then walked back over to the lake. Caitlin and I rinsed off in the lake although the sandy bottom was a bit slimy, covered in swan poo. As we headed back over the footbridge we saw there was a cleaner area we could have swum in - maybe next time.

Back to camp and we all had a shower in our little ensuite and relaxed for a while. The kids and I played cards (Kaboom) and Tony had a nap then read his book. Later in the afternoon Caitlin and I walked into town to go to an op shop - I needed a shirt with sleeves that I could wear over my swimmers, and Caitlin needed a new bikini top. We walked a long way and found the op shop closed early when we arrived. We popped into Target instead and I got a shirt, and then some food for dinner from Woolworths. The others met us back at the playground near the footbridge, we played for a while then went and got some ice cream. We sat outside the shop and enjoyed our ice cream then wandered back to camp.

Tony cooked sausages on the bbq for an early dinner. We were all pretty tired after our long walk. Caitlin took Luna for another walk along the lake edge, and we all had an earlyish night.

Christmas 2019 Trip: Home -> Lakes Entrance

After a busy morning at home packing the car (I'd finished the trailer packing the night before)  and making sure the house was ok to leave, we were on the road around 12.45pm. Pretty impressive since we hadn't really done any preparation until the day before and we were also out half of that day. Luna was very excited to be coming with us - although it will take a bit of time for us to adjust to having her as I had to pack the car really differently. She was happily set up between the girls and can see out the front window and get lots of pats.

We drove through the hills down towards Pakenham, stopping at a rest stop (near Gumbuyah World) to retie the shovel which had worked it's way loose from the side of the trailer. I was feeling very excited and relaxed (a nice combination) - great to finally be on the road and loving being somewhere new even if it was just a roadside rest stop. Luna had a bit of a walk and then we kept going, this time listening to Superpowereds rather than music.

We'd looked at some free camping options close to Lakes Entrance - the one we liked was almost another hour past the town, and didn't have toilets, so we decided to stay in a caravan park in town instead. I found a basic park with good rates and booked in as we drove.

Everyone was excited as we started to glimpse the ocean, and even more so when we had a good view of the entrance to the lakes as we drove down the hill. Tony and I stopped here for lunch on our honeymoon 17 years ago, otherwise none of us have ever been here.

At the caravan park the guy helped us get the trailer in the best position - he opened gates behind our site so that we could drive through without having to reverse. All the sites have their own ensuite shower and toilet which is a nice touch. As Tony and I set up the kids took Luna for a walk down to the beach. Set up was quick and fairly easy, although when we put the annex up I realised I'd left a bunch of the poles at home (some of them were damaged at our last camp when the annex got hit by a big wind gust and I'd put them aside to fix them and then forgotten about them). I was missing a couple of poles that I needed but I managed to make do with what I had.

Once set up we went and joined the kids - a lovely walk along one arm of the lake then across the footbridge to the ocean beach. There were lots of swans in the lake. Luna was a bit scared of the waves but happy to sit on the sand and watch the kids play. Caitlin buried her paws in the sand which confused her at first then she figured she could just stand up and get out of the sand. Tony went and ordered fish and chips and the kids built tunnels and dug holes and did handstands, then we joined him back near the lake to eat. We watched the sunset over the lake and Tony walked back to the beach to watch it set over the ocean. We had a bit of a play on the exercise equipment near the lake then wandered back to the tent, set up the beds and went to bed as soon as we could.