Good morning from the shores of the beautifully tranquil Curalo Lagoon in the very pretty coastal town of Eden! Managed to get a mass blog catchup done last night so all the pictures up until this blog should be done and I hope you enjoyed them (if anything the amount there was would have sent you into a slumber, the perfect cure for oncoming....maybe I should look at that angle.....)
So, we started our day in The Entrance with two discoveries, namely that there was a little pull out cup holder tray in the dashboard which would have made our lives so much easier for the past 19 days and in the glove box there was a driving map of Australia....bit like going on holiday to Greece and finding the blinding cheap booze pub and fry up joint on the last day and wishing you'd found it at the beginning....
Anyhoo, after filling up with fuel and marvelling at the little dog perched on the back of the old mans pushbike as he rode past us (photo to follow) we headed out on a day with a lot of miles to cover and no real plan, we would just see what took out fancy. We picked up the Princes Highway (which it seems just runs all the way around Australia as every place I've ever been to has one) and travelled through changing landscapes and farming towns, through a little place called Now Nowa with a fabulously named Hotel Motel which looked even more likely to house a serial killer than Tarra Valley. Some towns were larger than others, some just having a pub come shop come roadhouse come motel come bottleshop with the owner sitting outside with his dog. Farming was the mainstay here, cows mainly with a spattering of sheep. Talking of spattering, we saw our first wombat sign and gleefully took a picture, then actually seeing 3 of the cute but rather large furry craters in the flesh. More flesh than we;'d like actually as there were unfortunately now road kill.
We made a turnoff at Orbost to follow the Snowy River to its end at Marlo (I keep forgetting there are snow in them there mountains.....The Snowy Mountains funnily enough) and made a detour to see a replica of an 1880's Paddle Steamer the Cirlip that used to make trips up and down the river. Well it had made its last trip and was now moored up, ironically enough, at Lakes Entrance. Thank you to the lady in the car park who informed us of this fact. Then we came across the place where the river meet the ocean and we carried onto Cape Conran and stumbled across some very very weird rocks!!
They were called Salmon Rocks and we can only imagine they were so called as they resembled salmon rising from the sea (or the fact some were slightly pink) but the place certainly had an eery feel and the rocks were other worldly. It was apparently an old Aboriginal meeting place where they fished and ate and just generally had a good time. A Shell Mittal to give it's correct title and one 6,000 years old no less.
After a stroll and a bit of a rock climb and a paddle we carried on the highway which wound its way through forests and farms with tantalising glimpses of mountains and oceans at every turn. The section between Cabbage Creek and the Alfred NP was breathtaking and V was in his element. Now there is clearly a lot of driving involved getting round this big old beast of a country, but that is half the fun. We may not have stopped much but we were enjoying the ride, the sunshine, Bon Jovi pumping out of the stereo and singing along (badly). We did however make a brief stop at the NSW and Victoria border where we added our mark to the already graffitied sign and before long we seeing signs for our next stop, Eden.
This place was meant to be beautiful and it did not disappoint. The original campsite I had reserved was no where near the town and on driving in we drove straight out again, stunning spot on the beach but it looked more like a detention facility than a holiday destination. So we carried on to the town and were not disappointed as we found a beautiful park nestled between the lagoon and the stunning Aislings Beach. Spot found we headed back into town to explore and find the lookout points as this was once a thriving whaling town and although this obviously no longer takes place, the whales come by to say Hi on their way to their breeding grounds. And say Hi a couple did, in the distance of course but the shoot of water from the blow hole was clearly visible in the distance as we looked out over the beautiful calm blue sea.
The sun was still shining and we grabbed fish and chip and ate them with the sound of the sea and the birds and the Range Rover full of Chinese tourists who had just descended on the lookout. Bless them, someone needs to invent a mute button.
This place was so pretty, the town beach had turquoise water and we just took in the sun and meandered back to camp where the aforementioned sun had decided to make a spectacular exit from Down Under to Up Over and we watched as it spread its rays upwards like a volcano. Stunning.
An early night came next after an hour or so in the TV lounge to facilitate the blog upload (wifi only worked in there) and plans for an early start in the morning as we had another fairly long drive with lots to see, we finally turned in for our penultimate night in M&M. Yes folks, the time is coming closer that we will have to say goodbye to her but before then you know there will be more insomnia curing antics to tell you and it is not the end of our adventure. So, hopefully I will upload this before we leave and until our last stop on this road trip it is, as ever, TTFN xxxx
Stunning sunset pics
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