21 January 2009 So that we could spend the maximum possible time in Mallacoota we decided to leave on Tuesday night as soon as I finished work at 6pm. We managed to hit the road by 7:00 pm and had a great run, even with stops for dinner, fuel, toilet stops and Meg getting car sick we arrived a little after 1:00 am. With the weather fine we made our way down to Betka beach where I promptly had a little snooze primarily due to my limited sleep over the previous couple of nights. When I awoke I saw Cath sitting speaking to someone, when I wandered over I saw it was Indra who with Jonny and there 2 girls have been travelling Australia for the last 5 months and were now on there return leg home. Jonny and Indra also had friends up from Melbourne staying at the caravan park with them and before long it was a mass of people, kids, dog and beer.

22 January 2009 Up early today for a bike ride around town with the dog in tow before the kids got up, managing to catch the sunrise over Mallacoota lake. It was Fiona’s Birthday today (aka Aunty Nona), so presents were exchanged before heading down to Betka Beach again where we one again met up with Indra, Jonny and friends. That night we headed out to the Golf Club for dinner in celebration of Fi’s Birthday and I must admit that it’s been a long time since I’ve consumed quite so much alcohol in one day.

23 January 2009 With the weather overcast I was itching to head over to the other side of the lake to Fiona’s old farmhouse and the 10 cabins that she used to run. I was curious to see how the landscape had changed in the past 7 years since they had been vacated after Parks Vic didn’t renew the lease. With Cath the girls, the dog and Warwick we made our way into Croajingolong National Park and up to “Jingalong” as it was known, the track had seen little use over the last few years with trees growing on the track. The gates were locked to the property so we parked and made our way down for a BBQ lunch at the farmhouse. It was interesting to see how much stuff had been taken (recycled) from the buildings, windows, kitchens, even floor boards, but the thing that amazed me most was the fact that were once the cabins looked out on the lake via a grassy bank there was now a mass of trees up to 20ft high and the cabins were totally enclosed by these.

24 January 2009 It poured down with rain this morning but soon it cleared so we planned a bike ride but to be honest not a great deal of bike riding happened. We made our way to the Mallacoota market where we wandered the stalls, followed by an extended stint at the playground, then off to the bakery for lunch and then a return trip home via the foreshore.

25 January 2009 I headed out early with Warwick towards Ship Wreck Creek with the plan to stop along the way for a few photos of the beaches along the way. We had travelled less than 500m before we came across a Koala on the road, the car in front had stopped and was assisting the koala onto the verge before it became a victim of a vehicle. We stopped at quarry beach, secret beach and an unknown beach that had no access to it before heading down to the campgrounds at Shipwreck creek.

26 January 2009 The Girls had planned a fishing trip today so Warwick, the girls and I made our way out to Wingan inlet. We walked the 3km return walk to the beach were you could see seals on the Skerries which is a rocky outcrop just off the entrance to Wingan Inlet. On the return we saw multiple goannas sunning themselves on the road before they made a mad dash for the trees as we came bundling along the dirt road.

27 January 2009 Today was our last day, along with everyone else’s but with the weather forecast for Melbourne in the 40 plus Degs Fiona, Michael, Morna and John made the wise choice to stay for a few more days. We had a goodbye get together at Betka beach for brunch with 1.5kgs of bacon, 2 dozen eggs and 2 loaves consumed. In an effort to drag out the return home to the sweltering heat we mad a detour to Point Hicks, where a lighthouse and a giant sand dune are located and which neither I managed to get to with walks of 2 hours return for both. We settled on the beach and whilst climbing over the rocks to take photos I saw the biggest crab I have ever seen this side of a Chinese restaurant, it must have been close to a foot across.