Australia Road Trip: Kosciuszko NP to Lake Entrance and Wilson NP, Day 8-10

Hi All,

We were up early and ready to leave the spooky place in Thredbo….never did meet the proprietor…just plain weird and a little creepy….we think we had the place to ourselves the 2nd night….like 3 stories and 20+ rooms!!!

Since we had decided to take the scenic route through Snowy National Park I thought I should check weather and the road conditions. Good thing I did….found the road was a narrow dirt road for about 50% of the trip and best suited for 4WD….why Gigi gave us that option I’m not sure but we decided our little Renault SUV might not be up for it or its passengers. BTW, this Renault Koleos, a midsized SUV has been excellent….first time we have driven a French car and I have to give them high marks!!!!

The drive to Lake Entrance took us about 4.5 hours and it wound it’s way through a lot of Gum tree forests and cow/sheep pastures. It reminded us of Northern California…the Sierra Nevada foothills with out any farming….just ranch after ranch after ranch with some timber forests in between!!!

Wow….Lake Entrance….they cut an artificial channel to the ocean…what a cute little seaside town and our first sighting of Bass Strait….between Tasmania and Australia and the Southern and Tasmania oceans. It is very shallow….~150′ and can brew up some wicked storms!!! It was very, very calm for us!!! We went to the beach….wow, outstanding…..it’s the start of what they call the Ninety-Mile Beach….hmmm, John asks, why if Australia is metric do you use miles….hmmm mate, don’t know, must be a Yank thing:))))

We have since walked many of the beaches in this area and they remind us of the Texas/Florida or even the Georgia/Carolinas beaches…..long, brown/white sand beaches…just beautiful and pretty good shelling.

We also went to a Sea Shell Museum….OMG….Kathy was in heaven. This was an amazing place….1000 upon 1000’s of shells….many were caught in fisherman nets or even scuba diving but the collection was amazing….we stayed for almost 2 hours….well, Kathy did, I was “shelled” out in half that time:))))

Wilson Prom NP: “The Prom is one of Victoria’s most-loved places. At the southernmost tip of mainland Australia, it offers spectacular scenery of huge granite mountains, open forest, rainforest, sweeping beaches and coastlines. Great bushwalks extend from under an hour to over three days. Visitors can camp, caravan or stay in huts, cabins, wilderness retreats or lodges at Tidal River where there is a general store and take-away food shop. Wilsons Promontory Lightstation is perched on a small peninsula jutting into the wild seas of Bass Strait. The waters surrounding the Prom are protected as a marine national park and marine park and offer outstanding diving”.

And a little history: “Wilsons Promontory National Park has an early history of Aboriginal occupation with archaeological records dating back at least 6500 years. The Prom had (and still has) spiritual significance for different Aboriginal groups, who knew the area as Yiruk or Wamoon. The area was a valuable food source, particularly in summer. Aboriginal people may have used the Prom, which was then part of a ‘land bridge’, to reach Tasmania during past Ice Ages. Today, local Aboriginal communities are active in establishing cultural and spiritual links with the park and in undertaking park management activities. George Bass and Matthew Flinders were probably the first Europeans to see the Prom, on their 1798 voyage from Sydney, and Bass is thought to have named it after a London friend of Flinders. They recognised its commercial value of seals, whales and timber, as well as cattle grazing, which went on for nearly a hundred years. The Prom’s position means it is important for navigation in the turbulent waters of Bass Strait, and a lighthouse was built on South East Point in 1859.

Sealing was underway at Sealers Cove soon after it was named by George Bass in 1798. Historian Patrick Morgan calls the men who descended on the coves of Wilsons Promontory and the islands of Bass Strait as “a motley group of vagabond freebooters” who lived a rough, Robinson Crusoe-like existence, often in the company of Aboriginal women whom they had kidnapped. They wore kangaroo and seal skins and survived on local wildlife and by growing a few vegetables and on basic supplies dropped from passing ships. Occasionally, the sealers were joined by convicts escaping from Van Diemans Land. Sealing was a lucrative business. According to the Sydney Gazette of July 1804, in 18 months, one ship alone had collected 28,282 skins and 266 gallons of oil from the 63 men working in the straights. By the 1840s, the great sea elephants had disappeared entirely from Bass Strait and Australian fur seal numbers had dropped to about 100!

Alas, we saw no seals:((((

We had a very good time in the Prom. It is indeed one of the best NP so far. We got up rather early and were out the door by 8 am and walking by 9am. We did 3 hikes…..Prom Wildlife, Cotter Lake and Lilly Pilly Gully Nature Walk totaling about 8 miles and saw 3 beaches…..Cotter, Norman and Squeaky…..the later had very fine quartz sand that squeaked when you walked on it…really, no foolin’:)))). The first hike was the best for wildlife….saw a big mob of roos….ok, names for kangaroos – a baby is a joey, female a doe, flyer or jill, male a buck, boomer or jack, and a group is called a mob!!! We also saw many Emu’s…..man are they fast!!!! So, on our list we still need to see a wombat!!!

Tomorrow we take care of a little business….we take our Winslow liferaft in to be serviced as well as our EPIIRB (needs a new battery)….both places are in Melbourne….then it is off to Yarra Valley for some wine tasting….game on!!!

Stats:
Traveled: 215 miles to Lake Entrance; 4.5 hrs, 150 miles to Prom Cottage, 3 hrs; 1150 miles total
Wrong turns: 1 today; 2 total: Gigi does not work in the NP and the Aussie maps are just not accurate….well, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it:)))
Kangaroo/”Roos”/Skippy count: 50+ today; ~200 total!!!
Skippy roadside warning signs: 30 this leg, 73 total
One Way bridges: 0 today; 14 total
Hotels: Lake Entrance: Best Western; wow, after the last place we were a bit concerned; big, clean, spa for 2, great shower, very friendly people!!!
Prom Holiday Lodge: cute country cottage about 10 miles from NP, very isolated, very friendly people; Kathy did laundry!!
Food: Lake Entrance: John had a seafood sampler – excellent scallops, prawns, fish and whiting (a bit strong for me); Kathy ordered fried prawns and got grilled…..still very tasty
Prom Cottage: after all the restaurant food we had popcorn and a movie and then steaks on the barbie the 2nd night!!!

LIG!!!! Hope all is well!!

John
Mystic Moon