South Gippsland

Our main reason for being in this part of the country is to attend the wedding of Cherryl's nephew.  The wedding was held on the beach near Inverloch, a beachside town about 2 hours drive south of Melbourne. We had booked into the Inverloch Foreshore Campground some months ago so we were assured of a large grassy site about 50m from the water's edge over the sand dune.








The wedding was held a few kms west on the sand overlooking the Eagles Nest rocky pinnacle.  The coastal scenery of the Bunorong Coastal Park is spectacular and the sun shone for this special occasion.  Dinosaur fossils have been found on the rocky flats and the "Dinosaur Discovery Dig" is held most years by the fossil hunters at Melbourne University.








The entrance to the Wilsons Promontory National Park is about 80km east of Inverloch, and it's about another 50km to Twin Rivers near the southern coast.  There are many campgrounds in the park but only Twin Rivers is accessible by vehicles - the others are walk-in camps.  We had a picnic lunch at Squeaky Beach.  




Wilsons Promontory is the southernmost point on the Australian Mainland.  We took the scenic route to the park and stopped of at several places which look over "Wilsons Prom".  There are several lighthouses along the treacherous coastline and we stopped off at Cape Liptrap.







About 50km to the west is Phillip Island and we booked in to the Penguin Parade to see the nightly procession of the Little Penguins from the ocean to their sandy burrows.  The penguins wait until after sunset to make their way up the beach and there is a strict "no photos" rule.




We've managed to stay in Inverloch for over 2 weeks and will soon be making our way eastwards again.  We had hoped to spend a week or so on the Mornington Peninsula but that will have to wait for another time time we weren't able to find an available campsite.

More From East Gippsland

There was plenty to keep us busy while we relaxed for six days in the Lakes Entrance area.  We had a couple of days of rain and overcast weather as well as several sunny days.  Lakes Entrance is very much a holiday, beach town and the nearby "big smoke" is Bairnsdale, about 35km away.





We drove to the Nyerimilang Homestead which is managed and maintained by local volunteers.  We walked along some of the walking paths through the bush and along the cliffs.  Then we had a picnic morning tea in the manicured gardens, serenaded by fairy wrens , wattle birds, crimson rosellas and magpies.








We continued our drive along the coast to the little village of Metung then turned north towards Swan Reach and Bruthen before turning east to Nowa Nowa where we had another short walk in the Lake Tyers State Park to look at the gorge.  Then it was on to Lake Tyers Beach for our picnic lunch before making our way back to Lakes Entrance.









At Nicholson, about 5 km east of Bairnsdale on the Nicholson River, we stopped off to visit the Native Plant Nursery and Gardens.  We had a pleasant walk through the established native gardens.




There's a good "foodies trail" in the area so we called in to a local orchard to buy some peaches, nectarines and plums direct from the farm.  We also visited the blueberry farm to buy some blueberries and bought a bottle of locally made blueberry liqueur, delicious when mixed with sparkling white wine!