Left Yanakie heading SE to Lakes Entrance (220km). We are in what is known as the Gippsland region of Victoria and it sure is pretty. Fairly green, lots of trees and some really nice towns that we travel through. The Gippsland is very popular for holidaymakers and easy to see why, it is quite lovely. The towns are generally close and always a choice if cafes for a well earnt coffee break. Our plan is to find a park in Lakes Entrance that we like where we can stay for a week or so. Done a lot of short stops recently and looking forward to slowing down a bit. Lakes Entrance has a population of 5,600 and really caters for the tourists, 22 caravan parks, numerous motels, B&Bs etc. During summer and school holidays the population multiplies and you would be paying up to and over $50 for a caravan site and they are very tight, not enough room for us to get our annexe up. Luckily we are here in the off peak season, a lot of tourists around but not so busy that we can’t escape the crowds. Wouldn’t want to be here in peak season, would be far too crowded. We have been lucky since we have been here that the weather is just perfect, reaching mid to high 20s in the day and the nights fairly mild. The Lakes Entrance is interesting in that it sits at a man-made channel that links Bass Strait and the Tasman Sea with a 400 square kilometre network of inland waterways known as the Gippsland Lakes. All the lakes are intertwined. At its edge is the beautiful ‘90 mile beach’, this is a real beach with a drop off and waves! The first real beach we have seen since WA I think. There is a footbridge over on a lake known at Cunninghame Arm that takes you to the beach. Obviously the emphasis here is on water activities. Many marinas, jetties and small touristy towns encroach on the lakes. It it a very nice area to visit and live I am sure. One of the few places so far that I could consider living (at a push). We went for 5km return (yes John did it too) to the Lakes Entrance along the beach one way and along an inland track on the return. It took three hours and hard walking in very soft sand. It was a good walk. Lots of dolphins at the entrance which we watched for a while. Went for a drive to a lovely town called Metung (about 20kms west), sits on the lakes edge and is aimed at the ‘discerning traveller’ which means it has upmarket accommodation. Small town with a lovely boardwalk along the marina and lake edge. They make great coffee here. John threw a line in at the end of a jetty and got chatting to a couple called Jim and Barb (not to be confused with Kim and Barb) who lived across the way on the lakes and just cruised around in their yacht as the fancy took them. They were a nice couple and we chatted with them for a while, they gave us a bag of freshly caught mussels which we had for dinner. They were very nice. One of the eastern staters we have met who prefer WA to the east coast – howzat! Went to Lake Tyers (10kms east) which is yet again a lovely town sitting on the edge of yet another lake. John went out on a fishing charter with a local guy (didn’t catch anything except an undersize flathead) for a couple of hours and Coco and I went for some nice walks along the lakes and sat on 90 mile beach – yes it goes on 90 miles. A very pleasant way to spend the morning. We are going back tomorrow to do some kayaking on yet another lake we have found.
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