Day 105 -Wednesday 12 April - A day on the Prom

Day 105

Wednesday

12 April 2017 –

Dalyston – Tarwin Lower – Venus Bay – Sandy Point – Wilsons Promontory – Tidal River – Squeaky Beach

We woke this morning to clear blue skies and a beautiful day beckoning. We read first, as has become the norm and then it was into the morning routine. Showering again in the men’s footy change room before returning to the van for breakfast.

Paul changed 2 batteries on our tyre sensors, while I packed up what was needed for the day’s outing and then we were off checking out some more of the Gippsland. I messaged Katie along the way to wish Pip a happy birthday and partaking in a short text conversation.

Our first stop was Tarwin Lower on the Tarwin River. We passed lots of fishing spots and Paul was wishing he had his rod with him. We found a place to park in the small town and then did a walk along the boardwalk following the river’s path. We looked into the water and watched tiny crabs scurry for cover in their little mud holes along the bank.

When we returned to the car we continued on 5 kms to Venus Bay and checked out the surf beach. While it was sunny, there was a cool breeze coming in and made me glad I had my jacket.

We then meandered our way along skirting past the town of Walkerville and on to Sandy Point. Here we wound our way in to the small seaside vacation spot and parked up at the beach picnic area and had an early lunch at one of the picnic tables. Once we had finished, we walked over the sand dunes to check out the view of Waratah Bay.

There was a great, even surf roll ploughing in towards the shore and a few surfers out trying to catch a wave. The sun was on us at this point, but we could see the weather rolling across the hills of the Prom, where we were heading to next.

Wilsons Promontory is a national park. It incorporates the most southern tip of the Australian mainland and is a mountainous area, densely covered in thick forest. Much of the high country was covered in cloud, like a layer of fairy floss. We passed through Yanakie before entering the gates of the park, thankfully a day trip is free.

Once in the park we followed the one road in, taking it a further 30km to its final stop of Tidal River. We enjoyed the view along the way, first along the flats, before weaving our way up into the mountains and across a pass. There were plenty of signs out saying beware of wildlife, in particular wombats, but we saw only emus as we drove along.

We took in the views at one of the lookouts where we could see Squeaky Beach and the Great Glennie and Norman Islands and then we passed below Mount Bishop and into the car park at Tidal River. There are camping facilities at this point and many families were taking advantage of it.

We walked along the boardwalk next to the Tidal River. The views to the other mountains were spectacular and the cloud floating in over them just added to the majesty of the view.  We watched people fish, walk the boardwalk and jump from the bridge before returning to the car.

I took some photos of beautiful red parrots and a plump looking kookaburra then we were back in the car and making our way to Squeaky Beach, so named for the sound the sand makes when you walk on it, though it was not as squeaky as that at Lucky Bay. In fact the Promontory itself reminded me a lot of the Cape Le Grand National Park in Esperance, the large, smooth boulder surfaces protruding from thick, tree covered mountains, the orange colours of the rocks, the blue water and the white sand.  

Once we had finished at the beach, we set the GPS for Wonthaggi and followed it for the following hour all the way back to the town centre and into the petrol station to fuel up once again.  With that complete it was on a further 5min to our van. Home again.

Once unpacked, I took advantage of the sunny weather and walked 10 laps of the footy oval.  All the while the oval became busier as the players of all ages turned up for footy training. The park also became busier with vans. One by one they arrived and parked, a sign of how busy this weekend might be with Easter. It could make finding somewhere to stay interesting.

Once complete, I rang Cathy to catch up on her European trip and find out how her daughter is getting on, as she is due to give birth any day. It was so great to chat to her and catch up on the goss.

When I finally finished chatting it was time to get dinner started. The footy players were still going strong and the club had a social sausage sizzle going on, so they were in for a while. We ate our dinner and then I did a check in to where next, checking distances and places to stay. We were aiming to get to Lakes Entrance but will probably stop somewhere in Sale tomorrow.

I then sorted the photos for the day, the noise of the footy group slowly subsiding. We were also waiting for them all to leave so we could plug into the 240.