We are now in Lakes Entrance, Victoria. The weather has been lovely and sunny for two days, although the wind is a little chilly. But we are much, much further south than Brisbane, probably about 1,500 kms, as the crow flies. Although the beaches are lovely, I am not even tempted to have a swim as I am sure this water comes straight from Antarctica.
The telephone connection is great here, no doubt due to being close to Melbourne. Walter has a Sim card for his telephone which includes internet so we use his telephone as a modem for Wifi connections to our tablets and my laptop. It has worked brilliantly, until the campsite in Canberra. We could not get a phone connection at all last night in Eden.
Yesterday we travelled 150 kms through really lovely rolling countryside from Canberra, until we came to the coast at Batemans Bay, which is meant to be Canberra's beach resort.
We drank a welcome cup of coffee in the sunshine on the main street of Batemans Bay. The main street was smart but a little bit lacking in character. Reverse angle parking was the norm here.
The promenade at Batemans Bay was very pretty, but it was also chilly so was empty.
We travelled further along the coast, past more lovely beaches and then the road went inland through forests and farms until we came to a town called Bega, which is the centre of a rich pastoral countryside. Bega has a large cheese factory, unfortunately we did not have time to stop at the factory and sample the cheese.
The Bega Valley.
Why do pubs in NSW always look like public toilets? The outside walls are always tiled. This one was covered in red tiles.
The main street in Bega. Bega did not appear to be a rich town, from the appearance of the shops, which included a large number of cheap shops. They made good coffee in this town. We also bought pumpkin rolls for our dinner last night.
We stopped at a caravan park in a quiet little town called Eden. Apparently the fishing boats leave from here each morning. The beach certainly looked very deserted. And we could not get a telephone connection for our phones, and the internet at the caravan park was very weak. Oh to be ruled by technology. However the camping ground was quiet and well looked after. I made hamburgers which complemented the pumpkin rolls very well. Of course I included beetroot and pineapple. They were true Aussie hamburgers. Delicious!
The road from Eden went inland for most of the way to Lakes Entrance. We passed mainly forests and National Parks. There was very little traffic and only one or two trucks. The road was good as well. We also passed over the border from New South Wales and into Victoria.
We stopped at a little settlement called Cann River, which had four coffee places and two pubs and very little else. Very charming.
We went through a large area that had had a fire through it, probably about two years ago. The eucalyptus trees had leaves sprouting all over them. They certainly regenerate quickly.
Finally we arrived at Lakes Entrance, which is situated on a very picturesque location on the Cunningham Arm. I really like the concrete area on each site as it means you do not have to step out onto mud, or sand. Most of the caravan parks have either concrete or rubber matting beside each site. The sites in Australia also come with water taps and waste outlets so you can connect your van or caravan up to them. There are no water or waste carriers around the caravans. Excellent! Walter enjoying the sunshine.
The town itself is mainly made up of caravan parks, holiday units and shops. We went for a walk over a bridge to the strip of sand hills and super long beach, which was deserted of course.
We finally finished the day with a meal at the local Bowling Club. This club was much quieter than the one we went to with Brian and Terry last Friday. We preferred their club, full of charm and friendly people. Everyone tonight seemed so sedate. Food was very good though. And we were not tempted to play the poker machines.
Off to Melbourne tomorrow.
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