Thursday 31 December 2009

Canberra to Mallacoota via Boydtown

Having had a lovely stay in Canberra we set off for Eden as the satnav still had it in its memory then it was a quick run along the Princess Highway to Boydtown for lunch at the Seahorse Inn. Unusually we both had the same dish of pork with mash and vegetables and again, it was proper cooking; a lovely meal and what a nice spot close to the beach. If it hadn’t been so windy we would have tried to check in for the night and had the afternoon by the beach for our first time. Claire read in the paper this morning at our hotel in Canberra that Sydney had just had 3 days of cloud and rain, apparently there has only been one other time in December that that has happened on consecutive days within the last 80 years. We had 4 nights in Sydney with the same 3 days of rain and it rained also on the day we left so don’t be put of by our blog, we were just unlucky. However, since we arrived in Canberra it has been sun all the way, just how we expected Australia to be in the summer.

We didn’t bother resetting the satnav and carried along the Princess highway to Genoa where we took a left past Gipsey Point to Mallacoota. Claire had been reading the guide book on the way and I had a quick look over lunch and thought it would be different and exciting to stay at the Adobe mud flats in Mallacoota. It was described as cheap, unique and a labour of love by Margaret and Peter Kurz with an emphasis on recycling and eco-friendliness. They have solar powered hot water and birds, lizards and possums can be hand fed outside your door. Claire didn’t seem keen when I read it out to her but agreed to give it a go. It was a very unusual place in the bush looking how it was described but nobody was around. I parked the car and went to find where reception was while Claire had a look around the mud huts. I couldn’t find anyone around, just broken windows and, well mud huts. Claire on the other hand came rushing up the hill having seen a very large black rat like creature with a small tail outside one of the mud huts. After we had got back into the car we headed into town to look for more suitable accommodation for my little Princess. When was the last time a large, black (possibly) marsupial rat ever hurt anyone?

We tried the Mallacoota hotel and every other place we came across but everywhere was full, either “No Vacancies” or “Closed, gone fishing”. I reset the satnav for Marlo near Orbost and we headed off. As we were going out of town we spotted a place called the “Silver Bream”
www.silverbream.com.au which had had a cancellation and we got the last room. We literally dumped the bags inside and headed off walking towards the beach. By the time we got outside the sign now said “no vacancies”. This town is absolutely buzzing, what a place and it happens to be the most Easterly town in Victoria by the coast as well. Again the photos don’t really reflect the spectacular views over the sea and lake. The sea is divided from the lake by a very long strip of beach and apparently they are joined most of the time, we were just lucky for once. A real “sight for sore eyes” if you are ever over this way it is a must to see. It’s about 20km from the highway but well worth it if you can find accommodation.

Following our walk we headed back through the tent and caravan park which was endless and also seemed totally full up to a little bar at the top where we wetted our whistle. We carried on back and stopped for one more at the Hotel that we first tried and it was a great atmosphere so we sat outside and almost immediately the next table sort of included us in their conversation. We had rather more than one and ended up with Julian and Arlene who invited us to their party in the evening. Strange, it must be a New Years Eve, Eve party. When I say evening, they wanted us to come straight away as Julian had to work in the morning. Trouble is, there are no taxis and it’s not on a bus route so 4km is quite a way to walk in the dark. We took their address and came home to relax, write the blog and catch the last rays of the day outside our room. Claire keeps coming in from time to time and asking if I fancy going to the party but it’s the getting back that worries me; 4km in the dark with full on wildlife, no buses or transport with Claire that jumps at a fly before she has had one. In fact the photo of our food at the Seahorse, Claire was vigorously trying to clear the flies from our food. They are bad enough without food but the second you get some there are always about 20 around you immediately and very difficult to eat your food without eating at least two of the little horrors.

2 comments:

  1. Glad to see you've hit the sunshine at last. Perhaps you'll find a few roos now. We all watched 'Crocodile Dundee' the other day, couldn't help thinking about you two. When you get to 'Walkabout Creek' give Wally & Donk our regards.
    Jim, Shirley, Daniel & Tom - Yes Tom

    ReplyDelete
  2. Welcome home Tom! Hope your still there when we get back. Remember, we already saw Donk in a bar in Bali but he might be home now. We should be heading off that way shortly.

    ReplyDelete