Day 1 Melbourne to Lakes Entrance:
We left home about 4pm after lots of hugs and kisses from family and made our way to the Spirit of Tasmania. We are finally on our way!!!! Kent caught up with a deer hunting mate who was also on his way to Victoria to go sambar hunting. We had a rough night on the boat, not because the sea was bad but because Callen had a fever and was very ill. Arrived in Melbourne on time but to very wet weather. After filling up with fuel, we started heading east to our goal of Lakes Entrance, stopping briefly at Traralgon then lunch at Sale where we met Rob, a very friendly and helpful retired Forester who worked at the Visitor Information Centre. We visited the National Trust classified Swing Bridge at the Latrobe River near Sale which was pretty cool, and saw lots of birds on the wetlands and flood plain there. There is a lot of bridge and road works happening in the Gippsland area as flood prevention for the region. We reached Lakes Entrance late in the afternoon and went for a walk along the Esplanade, footbridge and beach and saw 3 dolphins! The whole Lakes area is very pretty and would be lovely to spend time here in summer, with lots of fishing spots. We had fish and chips for tea from the Awesome Fish & Chip shop and then headed out of town to find the camp spot where we would spend our first night.