Falls Creek (5/1/12)

Lunch spot

We spent today going up and back to Falls Creek, one of Victoria's favourite snow skiing destinations.  More windy roads, slow driving and spectacular scenery.  Massive mountains and flowing rivers.  Chloe travelled with Nanna and Pop, so she kept them entertained.

Falls Creek Village itself was busy with cyclists and hikers.  We were in awe of the cyclists - how they actually managed to ride up the massive hills that kept going and going and how they managed to avoid being hit by a car on the windy roads! 

We were able to drive to the highest peak at Falls Creek - Mt McKay - some 1800m above sea level.  What an amazing view - spectacular.

Simon, Ian and Ben did a walk into Wallace's Hut, the oldest remaining cattleman's hut in Falls Creek.

We had a picnic lunch on the way back towards Omeo on the riverbank.  Beautiful.

We were expecting very cold temperatures up the mountain, but wasn't too bad at all.

Ready for the cold!

We made it!

The view from Mt McKay

On top of the world!
Mt McKay

Omeo (4/1/12 - 6/1/12)

We thought we'd head to the Victorian Alps from Bairnsdale for 2 reasons.  1stly to get some cooler weather and 2ndly we thought it would be "easy" to get accommodation inland.  Once again we were WRONG!  After phoning almost every caravan park in Bright with no luck, we got accommodation at Omeo, a small town at the foothills of the Victorian Alps, 120kms north of Bairnsdale.  Simon's driving skills were put to the test once again - the Great Alpine Road was very windy and slow going.  But Simon got us there safely and the scenery was sensational.

We didn't have high expectations of Omeo (since they had vacancies!) but we loved it.  It is a beautiful little town that was originally a gold mining town.  The caravan park was gorgeous - huge grassy sites right on the river and it was so quiet.  Plus we were allowed campfires.  Even better the kids borrowed some bikes and rode, rode and rode!  We all did a nice walk into town from the caravan park, despite going the long way.  We got our cold weather - 17 degrees.

From here we did a day trip to Falls Creek (separate entry)

Marshmallows - yumm!

Paynesville and Raymond Island (3/1/12)

Paynesville is 16kms from Bairnsdale.  From Paynesville, we caught the car ferry 100m over to Raymond Island, known for its "koalas and nice beaches".  We saw a few koalas and the kids thought they'd be koalas too.  We drove around the island and Simon thought it was quiet funny that he led Ian onto some very bumpy, gravel roads in the hire car!

Unfortunately the recommended beach was not quite what we expected.  Instead we headed back over to Paynesville where the kids had a swim at the foreshore.  It was here while eating lunch that it hit 40 degrees!  Then back to Bairnsdale and airconditioning.

Lakes Entrance (1/1/12)

35kms south east of Bairnsdale is Lakes Entrance, a coastal town with a number of lake systems that meet the ocean - 90 Mile Beach.  We had a great view of Lakes Entrance from a lookout 2kms from town.  Very impressive.

Bairnsdale was quiet compared to Lakes Entrance - it was packed!  We spent a couple of hours exploring - stroll along the foreshore, the foreshore markets and over the foot bridge to 90 Mile Beach.  Nice spot.

We drove into Metung, which was recommended to us for a nice spot to swim.  We didn't get the swim in as we couldn't find a parking spot!  Back to the caravan for a swim at the pool.

View of Lakes Entrance footbridge and foreshore from 90 Mile Beach

90 Mile Beach

Bairnsdale - (31/12/11 - 4/1/12)

Which way do we go???  Half an hour before leaving Marc and Andrea's, we decided our next destination would be Bairnsdale, near Lakes Entrance.  Trying to get accommodation anywhere on the coast was almost impossible, so we decided to head a little inland...and Bairnsdale had a few spare sites.

So off we went, 45 minutes down the road to Bairnsdale.  How wrong we were that an inland town would be quiet this time of the year, it was packed!!  Plus it was HOT!  Thankfully there was a pool at the park - so it got well used.  We had only intended to stay a couple of nights, but we were able to get a chalet for Ian and Maxine, who were due to meet us on 2nd Jan for a week, so we ended up staying four nights.

Our 1st night was new year's eve - a very quiet one for us.  We definitely did not see the new year in!!

Day 2 we did a day trip to Lakes Entrance (see next post).

Day 3 we had a look around Bairnsdale before it got too hot.  The highlight for the kids was the "super big yellow slide".  We were all very excited to see Ian and Maxine when they arrived this afternoon - so great to see them.  An added bonus was the kids spent the next two nights having sleepovers with them!! Woohoo!  Thanks Mum and Dad.

Day 4 - we spent part of the day at Paynesville (see separate post).

Our last day was the hottest yet - 40 degrees - our hottest day since we left home.  We were looking forward to some cooler weather.  We got our wish, as overnight the temperature dropped significantly plus we had rain!  As we left Bairnsdale on 4/1/12, headed for Omeo it was 20 degrees!

Sale (29/12/11 - 31/12/11)

Next stop... Andrea, Marc, Jemma, Zoe and Miah's farm at Kilmany, near Sale.  Andrea and Marc very kindly offered for us to stay with them, despite only meeting us a couple of times, with the last time being 9 years ago!

Donna finally got to see Sale, after hearing about it from Jen for such a long time (Jen grew up there).  Beautiful town.

The kids had an absolute ball - not only did they make 3 fabulous new friends in Jemma, Zoe and Miah, but they learnt to ride a two wheel motorbike (bit nerve racking for Mum and Dad), learnt to use a pogo stick, fed a calf, paddled a kayak and Ben skied on the learner water ski on Lake Glenmaggie and didn't fall off!  Ben constantly reminds us how he can ride a motorbike all by himself.  Marc, we hold you responsible for Ben's requests for his OWN motorbike!

Simon and Marc enjoyed a beer (or 10!), Andrea and Donna enjoyed a few G&T's and we all had a great time.

Thank you guys for opening your home to us and your great hospitality - we really appreciate it and had a wonderful time.  We look forward to returning the favour in Albany one day soon.

Before we left Sale for our next destination, we spent a couple of hours with Danielle, Leigh, Fynn and Imogen.  Thank you for a great catch up and Danielle for all the absolutely delicious morning tea treats!!  The kids had a ball playing together and blowing bubbles!

Chloe the biker

And Ben

Chloe and Miah 

Ben getting ready

Ben on the ski

Proud Ben after his ski

Donna, Andrea & Marc

Ben on the kayak

The kayak kids

The kids

Zoe, Miah, Ben, Jemma & Chloe - Glenmaggie Dam Wall

Wilsons Promontory (28/12/11)

Thursday was spent at Wilsons Promontory National Park, home to the most southern point of mainland Australia.  Unfortunately Wilsons Promontory had massive floods in March this year, causing huge amounts of damage, so the southern part of the park was closed.  So we didn't make it to South Point.

First stop, Tidal River, where the campsite is.  Huge camp ground and absolutely jam packed!  It is here that Tidal River meets the ocean, Norman's Beach.  Beautiful beach - in fact the nicest beach we have found in Victoria.  The kids had a ball climbing the rocks, chasing the crabs and splashing in the water.  Walked the entire beach - gorgeous!  Chloe probably won't forget Norman's Beach - at one point she was running backwards and fell flat on her backside in the water.  We all thought it was hilarious - Chloe didn't see the funny side!

Once back, we set off over the Tidal River Bridge and did a nice walk up to Pillar Point.  WOW!!  An amazing view back to Norman's Beach and beyond.  Very specky.

Final stop, Squeaky Beach, where the sand supposedly squeaks when you walk on it.  It didn't!  A rough surf beach, but beautiful white sand.  The kids enjoyed a quick swim in the ocean and river.

Back to Foster late afternoon exhausted!

Tidal River

Tidal River

Tidal River and Norman's Beach

Norman's Beach

View of Norman's Beach from Pillar Point

Squeaky Beach

After a dip at Squeaky Beach - it was cold.