coastal cruising

I suppose a difficult part of traveling on my own is my indecisive nature. I have a difficult time picking and choosing my places to go. Today, by choice, or accident, I did pretty well.

I woke up dressed and ready to go, the first of three vehicles parked at the rest area to depart in the morning. My first stop was Lakes Entrance. I stopped initially to have a cafe breakfast with a cappuccino and my book. I ate at the Pelican Cafe and enjoyed peaches and scones.

From this spot, I drove another couple kilometers down the road to a bridge over one of the lakes. Right across this pedestrian bridge, flanked by pelicans, a large sand dune is all I hiked over to a beautiful view of the Tasman Sea. It was also the first time I was able to touch the Tasman! I dipped my feet in and allowed the bottoms of my capris to get wet! It felt amazing; sun on my shoulders, and sand between my feet.

After snapping some pictures and collecting some shells, I sped off towards Orbost where the Snowy River flows through. Since The Man from Snowy River was one of my favorites stories growing up (poem is linked), I had to make this stop. You can't miss it. In fact, you might think the town is named Snowy River, and not Orbost! I spent some time there walking through their park, talking with a visitor centre man, and checking my e-mail. I may have enjoyed shopping the quaint village some more, but I am running out of room in my bags for souvenirs! I am becoming adept tat making tuna, cheese, tomato, and avocado sandwiches and I slapped one together for lunch and promptly departed Orbost.

My plan was to scale Genoa Peak for the 360 degree view of the mountains to sea. However, I missed the turnoff and mistakenly drove to Mallacoota. This little fishing and boating village didn't have much to offer me, so I began the 25 kilometer drive back, only to find I had taken yet another wrong turn (one street too soon on the round-about). This, fortunately, led me to a remarkable beach where the river meets the aqua-marine waters of The Sea! I couldn't believe what a brilliant discovery I had made unintentionally! I felt much better about the 60 additional kilometers I drove! The beach had unique red rocks jutting out on it which were a great subject for pictures of the water. I sat atop one of them strategizing my next travel moves.

On the Obrost info-man's advice, I found the Fish 'n Chips place in Eden he recommended and did take-away there. The food was pretty good for fried stuff!

My hope was to find a place to sleep in Merimbula, but I missed that turnoff, so instead joined the Coastal Road at Tathra and picked a campground in the Mimosa Rocks National Park at Gillards Beach. Wouldn't you know, after seeing only two kangaroos this trip, today, at this camp, there were dozens of the critters and their wallaby-doo, too! The beach in this park is nice and I wish I had more time to spend on it, but I'm sure there are more beaches down the road. For now, I have another night in my tent with a bit of a breeze to dry out the fly. I just missed the park ranger, so it looks like another free night for me!