Cann River sits at the southern end of the Monaro highway where it meets the Princess highway which runs from the East Gippsland area back into Melbourne. Once in the town we set ourselves up in the only van park in town. It is large with very basic style amenities but within easy walking distance to the pub where you pay your fees. Very convenient. While there we managed to sample the local nectar and it passed with flying colours!

We saw a lot of people come and go from this park, as this was the Easter long weekend, so being able to pull up at a low cost park and not be on the road during such a crazy time on the roads suited us down to the ground! You see some funny things in van parks but the bloke with the brand new 200 series cruiser towing a 24" Whittley cruiser who managed to wipe out a fire hydrant early one night nearly takes the cake on this trip so far!!

The local area has many attractions along its coast and into the surrounding forest and we managed to be able to see a few. Mallacoota is an easy drive east and as we found out is a very, very popular and well patronised holiday destination by the Mexicans. The place is like Inskip point, on steroids! It was chockers! You could not squeeze a fart into the place! We found a park and managed to make our way to the beach. The day was perfect and the area caters to it all. Boat ramps and playgrounds as well as beach fishing and surfing and any other water sport were all on the go. If you don't mind a crowd then it is the place to be.

Point Hicks is only 47km's out from Cann River although the track out is nearly all dirt. This does not stop everyone and the drive is definitely worth it. Point Hicks was named by Captain Cook after his lieutenant who made the first sighting of mainland Australia at this point. The Thurra river mouth makes a nice quiet swimming hole for families and the surf looked pretty good and was being tested out by a few hardy surfers on the day we were there. Point Hicks is also home to Australia's tallest mainland lighthouse. We were able to do a tour inside the lighthouse and it was well worth the 3km walk out to the point. The view from the top was spectacular and was helped out by the clear sunny day we had. The kids saw seals playing just off shore and were a bit upset we could not get very close to them.

On our drive back from Point Hicks we made a couple of stops to collect some better bits of fire wood as our camp ground allowed us to have a campfire. This day we managed to get a pretty good fire going early enough and we were able to get a bit of use out of our camp oven that we have been carting around the country side. Having a fire going makes a real difference to the cold weather and the girls really enjoy helping (is that what you call it!) get it all going. Being able to pull over on the road and light a fire is something we all enjoy and hopefully, if we all do it responsibly, is a right we Australians will never lose.

Next stop Orbost as we make our way to Lakes Entrance and try to avoid the holiday madness.