Tuesday, November 17th

We slept ok on our tiny double-bed in the dorm. People seemed to go to bed fairly early so no late night. We got up at about 8 am. We did not have breakfast included in the room and were not too impressed with the look of the restaurant here so decided we would take our chances up the road to see what we could find.

Tathra accommodation

I went into the bar to hand in the key to the room as we were leaving and had a little chat to a sweating handyman preparing for his day’s work. It has been quite sunny and hot and he remarked that it is actually quite unusual for this time of the year to have these temperatures. In the car most of the time we simply have the windows open…I don’t like air conditioning unless absolutely necessary.

Leaving Tathra we followed the road to Bega we headed to the “big city” to find something to eat. Parking on the main street we found an organic café, “Evolve Café” (http://cafeevolve.com.au/) which looked perfect not in that they were organic but in that they were (a) a café and (b) served breakfast. The place was quite busy but we found a table and looked over the menu. I decided on the “eggs benedict” and mel had an omelette, both of which were very good indeed. The walls of the place are covered with posters of local music events both past and present and there was a nice informal buzz to the place.

Before we got back in the car I did take a quick look into the neighbouring bookstore. I was looking for interesting local, even if generally Australian, books. Nothing immediately caught my eye and I know Mel is not terribly interested in this so we headed out shortly after.

Back on the A1 we had not travelled too far until Mel spotted the sign to an animal sanctuary on the side of the road so we decided to have a look. We followed a short dirt road to the car park.

This is “Potoroo Palace” (http://www.potoroopalace.com/) a “Native Animal Educational Sanctuary”. We entered the small visitor centre and cafe to pick up a map and our tickets. We were told there would be a talk in about 45 minutes if we wanted to meet by the land train (not running) station at that time. So, this gave us some time to walk around a bit beforehand.

Train station

It is not a very big place and there are hand-written signs everywhere talking about the animals and the work they do here. Though we had a map we just walked wherever the path took us looking into the various cages scattered here and there. In one building we had a look at several glass enclosures with large snakes and other reptiles.

Smile!

At the far end of the park Mel got excited - There was a small enclosure with kangaroos and emus. Walking a bit further we realised the gate was open and we could go in to pet them so I broke into a bit of a run to keep up with Mel who was off like a shot to say hello to the animals. The lady at the visitor centre had sold us some feed wrapped in cloth that we now put to good use as Mel fed both the kangaroos and emus who both seemed to be quite friendly if quite…er…large.

Feeding the kangaroos

It was about time to meet the keeper so we reluctantly left the kangaroos behind to return to the visitor centre. It turned out to be a very interesting talk. This a sanctuary not a zoo but a number of their animals, because of the nature of their injuries or the fact that they have become used to humans (and are no longer scared), will have to remain in the sanctuary for the rest of their lives. Most of the injured animals they receive recover and are returned to the wild. It seems most of the people at the sanctuary, as you might expect, do the work for the love of it and not the money.

We started off with the keeper bringing a young echidna out of an enclosure to feed it. It was quite an amazing looking thing, sort of like a porcupine with a long nose. The “quills” the echidna has are actually stiff hair rather than actual spines so it is not as spikey as you might think…so still spikey.

Enticing the echidna...

We stood around the animal for quite a while as it ate it’s breakfast and listened what the keeper had to say. It was quite a long talk as the keeper explained that the echidnas are animals she finds the most interesting. At one point it came quite close to me at the path and proceeded to push it’s very hard nose into the ground looking for food. Evidently it's nose is strong enough to poke into a termite mound - Quite impressive given that they are almost as hard as rock.

Anything interesting?

The keeper came and retrieved the animal, picking it up and putting it back in it’s enclosure.

Back into the enclosure...

She took us over to another enclosure where she showed us a white echidna that will never be returned to the wild because of her colour.

The keeper took us over to the potoroos next. No, we didn’t know either, they look like a cross between a kangaroo and a mouse, standing on their back legs. They are quite timid and small but we managed to get a good view through the foliage in their cages as the keeper gave them something to eat.

Potoroos

Next we visited the snake building where she fed a few of the snakes with some frozen mice. They try to encourage the hunting instinct here so the snakes literally struck out to grab the mice from the tongs the keeper used.

Feeding the snakes

We thanked the keeper then headed out to see the rest of the park.

More wildlife...

We began by returning to the kangaroos and emus so Mel could spend some more time with them. The emus are a lot like an ostrich but we were told are actually quite gentle here. They are quite big and odd looking but enjoyed the attention we gave them. We did have a lot of feed that we had to dole out. Mel was quite happy that both the kangaroos and emus allowed her to stroke them so much, it seems, they are accustomed to humans. These are obviously creatures that would never be returned to the wild.

Emu feeding

A peacock was nearby determined to get some attention away from the animals in the sanctuary. Who he was displaying to, we do not know as there were no females about…

Peacock

We also saw a dingo curled up in the corner of his enclosure trying to get out of the midday heat and we also saw a bunch of flying foxes hanging from the roof of their pen sleeping.

Flying foxes

Mel was also happy to see a solitary koala sleeping with it’s back to us in another pen though it didn’t move while we were there…

Koala

There are exotic looking birds everywhere here so Mel took a lot of pictures. For the most part they were just wild birds coming here for something to eat so nothing really all that special but to us they look absolutely incredible - The vivid colours and their songs are amazing.

Birds

Baby bird...

For a small place they certainly had a lot of things to look at but we had done the circuit and were ready to have a bit of a drink and visit to the “organic” (compost) toilet before heading out (during my visit to the toilet I spotted several lizards scuttling away from me as I approached - wildlife is everywhere here). We had a bit of a chat with a couple at the next table before heading back out onto the road.

At about 1 pm we stopped at Eden for fuel and some drinks - soft drinks and water. At this point I had been driving all morning so Mel offered to do it for the rest of the day so I had a bit of a break.

Mel driving for a bit

A bit of cheer as we left New South Wales and entered Victoria state…

Victoria

We passed very close to Snowy River so I was quite excited. Mel was not familiar with the film “The Man From Snowy River” so I had to give her a bit of a summary (not that I remember it all that well).

Snowy River

The drive was otherwise quite uneventful with the scenery pretty much the same - Grey soil with light green trees, mostly gum, and the occasional termite mound of dirt. We were, of course, always on the lookout for animals but generally we did not see any. We just enjoyed the quiet and peace of the drive without even any music on despite bringing CDs to play in the car.

After our experience yesterday we wanted to stay somewhere perhaps a bit nicer or, at least, with more choices of accommodation so I had spotted the larger town of Lakes Entrance that would be a much better choice. However, the distance was quite large so it ended up being quite a long drive for us today.

Lakes Entrance, as you might imagine, is a large town on the edge of a number of lakes. It is right on the ocean, so it is quite flat, and is very touristy. It is also quite peaceful and pretty. Travelling along the water we stopped at a motel for the night “Cunningham Shore Motel” (http://www.cunninghamshore.com/). We were given their best room, the last they had, a “spa suite” at the end of the motel (unit 10) for $125.

Unit 10 at the end

It is a nice room with a large double-bed, sofa, small table with two chairs, a kitchenette (sink, microwave and fridge) as well as, of course, the bathroom with the large spa in the corner.

Inside our room

Mel wanted to try out the small pool in the car park so we went out to do that. It did not look like it had seen a lot of use and we had to remind ourselves that it was just getting into the summer season. The sun was out though the water was quite cool but Mel went in anyway and did some “laps” but given that it was only about 20 feet from one end to the other they were very short laps…I sat and watched her from a plastic lounger…that I promptly broke and ended up spending several minutes trying to put it back together.

Swim!

We had a bit of a laugh and relaxed for a few minutes. It has been a long drive today and I really appreciated Mel doing a bit of it herself.

Swimming...

For dinner we asked for suggestions from the hotel for a good local seafood place. They pointed us to “Ferrymans Seafood Cafe” (http://www.ferrymans.com.au/) just down the road which is actually built on an old ferry and moored up beside a car park.

Ferrymans

It turned out this was a great choice. We were asked where we wanted to seat and we chose to sit outside in a covered area at one end of the restaurant where we could watch the sun set. There were only about four tables out there and it looked like it was just about to rain…

Rain coming...

We started with some fried squid on a bed of salad leaves - Even though we had only two pieces they were enormous and very fresh (not chewy!). For my main I had the scallops which, disappointingly, were deep-fried but, again, they were very, very fresh and, I have to admit, delicious. Mel had the sea bass which was lightly steamed with a butter lemon sauce served with spinach and roasted potatoes. She said it was delicious. We were quite full but on the recommendation of the server mel ordered a chocolate fondant I had three of their home-made truffles (I said bring whatever non-alcoholic flavours you like and she brought me three of the same flavour - peanut butter - but they were lovely anyway).

The menu made mention of a “seafood platter” (“a selection of local fish and various shellfish, some steamed, others fried or grilled served with chips, salad, cocktail sauce and lemon”) that we could not bring ourselves to order but a couple of our neighbouring tables did order it and it was massive and had every conceivable type of local seafood you could think of. They spent a long time trying to work their way through it…

Where we were sitting just outside of the restaurant nearest to the door was a great place to be with a nice view out over the, now quiet, marina watching the sun set and the spectacular rain clouds overhead lit up with beautiful colours.

Sunsetting

Eventually the rain did come and the staff hurried to wind the handles to bring the plastic coverings over the sides of the patio. The plastic was not entirely protective and some of the tables did get a bit wet as the rain squeezed through but everyone took it quite well with one man making faces like a fish then loving Mel’s impression as well…

Fish!

At about $140 it was actually fairly reasonable and we had a lovely time. It was so relaxed, the company was great (!), the food was fantastic, and the view amazing.

Sunset

It was about 9:30 when we left and the sun was just about gone but we drove to the edge of town where the inlet is from the ocean to have a look around. It is a bit of an industrial area but we managed to find an unpaved car park right on the edge of the water to have a look.

Wonderful clouds

We were not the only ones as there were a bunch of kids chatting and fishing on a small dock there. Mel was happy to find a bunch of pelicans so got out the camera..

Pelicans

The clouds were amazing with the colours from the sun lighting them up as well as the rain we could see in the clouds streaming down here and there.

Dock

Back at the hotel I have had to try out the spa - Very nice though it does take a while to fill. The rest of the evening we have been spending watching a bit of television and planning the travel for tomorrow when we most definitely have to be at Phillip Island.

Today we travelled another 300 or so kilometers. We are being pretty consistent. Our route today…

>> Wednesday, November 18th