Melbourne to Sydney

After our detour to the YarraValley and the Chandon Winery, we had a long drive to our next overnight stop at a place called Foster - Gateway to Wilsons Promontory.Unfortunately, by the time we arrived it was raining - quite heavily.Our home tonight was a delightful little B&B run by Meg Rogers and her husband "Buck"!!(his name is really Graeme).

The weather was slightly better the next morning but still overcast. After a lovely breakfast of fresh fruit salad and hot croissants provided by Meg, we set off to explore the "Prom".Wilsons Promontory is known for its untouched beauty, bushwalking, camping and abundant wildlife - we had our first sighting of Australian wildlife since leaving KangarooIsland when we spotted an emu foraging along the roadside.The weather was brighter but still cloudy as we explored Squeaky Beach where the sand "squeaks" as you walk along (this is due to the sand being 100% "cilica" which is one of the purest types of sand available) and Tidal River - Tidal River is 30 kilometres from the park entrance and is as far as you can go in the park with a car.There were several walking trails but unfortunately our schedule didn't allow time for this (we would have had time if we hadn't gone to Chandon the day before!!!)As we drove along the Gippsland coast, we passed through many towns and villages with familiar names such as Welshpool and Stratford (on the River Avon).Just outside of Sale, we stopped to take a picture of a boat passing under the recently restored historic swing bridge and evidence of the recent floods.

Our destination today is Lakes Entrance - as the name suggests, Lakes Entrance is the entrance from the ocean (the Tasman Sea) to the lakes.The GippslandLakes are Australia's largest and most beautiful inland waterways.A network of lakes, marshes and lagoons cover 400 sq. km, separated from the ocean with coastal dunes known as NinetyMileBeach.Once again Ant had come up trumps with the accommodation.The Esplanade Resort and Spa is a 4.5 star resort located between two pristine stretches of water forming the eastern end of the GippslandLakes.We had our own 1 bedroom apartment here with a proper kitchen so we were able to cook proper food for the first time since leaving KangarooIsland instead of living on takeaways.

We had planned to spend 2 days here so we could go kayaking so when Tuesday dawned bright and sunny we set off to find kayak rentals.Unfortunately, for an area that has approximately 400 sq. km of water, we couldn't find any!!We did, however, find a family run cruise boat that ran 3 hour cruises of the lake with complimentary tea/coffee and home made scones!!The weather and the scenery were gorgeous and we had a very pleasant afternoon cruising through the little lakeside villages and houses.We had hoped to see seals and dolphins along the way but once again (other than the echidna and emu), we failed to see any native Australian wildlife!!

The next morning, after another home cooked breakfast we hit the road again and headed for our next overnight stop, Merimbula.The stretch of coast from Gippsland to Sydney is made up of several "regions" and the area we are currently travelling through is called the SapphireCoast, known for its clean beaches and clear water.

When we arrived at our hotel in Merimbula for the night, we were met by a flock of very noisy but quite tame Rainbow Lorikeets - I still can't get over the exotic birds that fly around here and are as common as sparrows back home!!!The next morning it was back on the road again where we followed the coastal tourist road rather than the faster main road.Once again we stopped at various viewpoints along the way to take photographs of the coastline and rock formations such as Camel Rock.At Tuross Head (which is in the Eurobodalla region), we took a stroll along the beach and watched crabs scurrying through the rock pools left behind by the receding tide.

Our destination this evening was Vincentia in JervisBay on the ShoalhavenCoast.Shoalhaven has magnificent beaches and waterways and is home to the famous and beautiful area of JervisBay.When we arrived at the hotel, the owner spent half an hour telling us all about the area, the best places to fish, eat, take photos and see wildlife and the best beaches.After quickly dropping our cases in the room we set off to explore.At 4.30 pm we should have had about 3 hours of daylight left but it started to rain…………. again!!We did manage to get to HymansBeach which is reputed to have the whitest sand in the world.We were lucky enough to see dolphins feeding in the bay.We quickly drove into BoodereeNational Park where we saw wild kangaroos for the first time since leaving KangarooIsland!!!By now the skies had darkened and the rain had so we headed back to our hotel and an Indian takeaway.

This is a beautiful area of New South Wales and definitely worth another visit in the future.At 150km south of Sydney it is relatively easy to get to.It was still raining the next morning but as we had already paid $10 to get into the National Park for 48 hours, we headed back there.'Booderee' is an Aboriginal word from the Dhurga language meaning 'bay of plenty' or 'plenty of fish' - today we headed for Murray's Beach where we hiked through the rain to take pictures of what I am sure is an absolutely stunning beach in the sunshine!! On the way out of the park, we saw some very wet, sorry looking, bedraggled kangaroos.

Our destination today is our final stop in Australia - Sydney.