Sunshine and Snow

The Sun does shine in Australia. And it looks pretty good for it. From Wilson's Prom, we headed east, picked up some provisions at the farmer's market in Foster (all good Wilson references!) and headed for the campsite of all campsites at Lakes Entrance - brand new toilets (although they still got the foot under the lid spider check), lovely hot showers, and best of all a massive inflatable bouncy pillow and no real bona fide children in sight. Brilliant. We felt like we were five years old! I'd nearly forgotten what it felt like to have a giddy loss of control at the top of a big bounce (accompanied by a quick panicky 'winding down the windows' arm action).

Lakes Entrance is at the eastern end of a series of lagoons, separated from the sea by the Ninety Mile Beach. We went for a run on this the following morning. Happily Damo didn't press on for the full 90 though. As we travelled further east, we took a detour for the Buchan Caiyves (as they are known here) and had a guided tour through a system of low tunnels, with stalactites and mites galore. That evening we had our second 'rough camping' experience, in a lay-by next to the beach. We had curry (a GREAT curry - made from a spice mix we bought from an Indian lady in Melbourne) and beer and watched 24 on the laptop. Holidaying in style.

With the niggling worry of being told off for camping in a lay-by, we got up early - had breakfast and brushed our teeth looking at the sea, and cracked on with a day of sightseeing. We went for a bush walk up Genoa Peak, which had great views of Croajingolong National Park, but a bit too much leaf cover and snake-shaped sticks for my liking. We then spent the rest of the day in Mallacoota - where there are loads of MASSIVE pelicans that flock around people like seagulls. Fortunately they're most interested in people with fishing rods and preferably fish, so we could snap away in safety.

From Mallacoota, we drove north into New South Wales, waved at some dolphins at Eden, picked up some fish, fresh off the boat, before heading inland to swap from coastal to alpine scenery. It's certainly different! Today we went up Mt Kosciuszko, which is the highest mountain in Australia. Sounds impressive, but it's really not that high. And we got a chairlift half way up. Cheats! Still - some great views from the top (for once the cloud hovered and decided to leave us alone), and a bit of playing in the snow never goes amiss. We're now supping 'Snowy Mountain Beer' in the campervan...mmm.