Log Ninety Five – Random Travels Inc

12 October 2023

It’s been a few months since we have been on the road and apart from a few short excursions we have stayed home over winter. That all changed with a trip to visit to an old friend who was celebrating the anniversary of his birth 3 score and 10 years ago.

After the celebrations we hit the road to discover new places and maybe fit in some bike rides on rail trails. With no plans we followed roads through towns we had not visited previously but with a destination in mind.

Our first day was to take us to Wilsons Prom, a national park in Victoria. The park includes the most southerly point of the Australian mainland. It includes some amazing beaches and remote bush land.

From the Tidal River campground we travelled west to the Gippsland lakes area to explore some of the rail trails. Along the way we discovered why this part of the country is so green – it rains a lot.

This part of Australia forms the first interruption of the weather coming up from the southern ocean (apart from Tasmania) so it blows and it rains.

We also discovered that during the off season travel destinations take the opportunity to upgrade or renovated their facilities. And so the general store was closed and there was no cafe to provide espresso coffees. The nearest town or at least a shop was a 2 hour round trip away. That meant we did the pioneer thing and checked what supplies we had left and decided what meals we could manage and how long we could survive without any wine. I know, serious stuff but we pulled it off.

Apart from the walks in the bush and along the coast the high point of this part of the trip was a boat ride along the coast in a amphibious vessel designed and built for this beach. They have three of these unique vessels which they drive down onto the beach and into the surf where they retract the wheels and hit the throttle on the outboard motors.

This boat tour took in the most southerly point of continental Australia, some whales, a seal colony which stinks and the famous skull rock. It turns out a TV crew some years ago used a helicopter and then abseiled into the cave in the rock only to find a Portuguese canon ball from the 1700s.

From here we are off to explore more rail trails and to enjoy the bush on our bikes and away from busy roads.