We were woken in the night with a lot of loud bangs and a continuous noise which I thought was heavy rain but turned out to be wind! A quick check assured us that the bangs were just bits coming off the trees but it took us a bit of time to get back to sleep. When morning arrived the wind was still blowing a gale but it was quite sunny and not too cold!

We checked out (reception was open this time!) and went for a walk along the boardwalk next to the inlet/lake. Then we set off for the next place along the road which is called Lakes Entrance - it being the place where you can get from the sea into the Gippsland Lakes! We stopped at a lookout high above the town and the lake and sea were being whipped up by the strong winds and the sky was looking a little stormy by now giving the whole landscape a very dramatic look.

Rough sea at the entrance at Lakes Entrance

Down in the town itself, we did a little shopping, had a cup of coffee and set off to walk across the pedestrian bridge across the inner lake to the outer beach. It was incredibly windy and we clung onto each other to get across! Once at the beach the waves were pounding in so we didn't hang around for long. On our return it rained on us but we had our macs and didn't get too wet.

We continued to travel eastwards until we got to Orbost and then turned south to take a scenic route via Marlo. Here we had lunch to the sounds of a little wattlebird and the sights of the rough tide coming in. The scenic route took us on to Cape Conran. On the east side the beach faced the full strength of the gale and the sea was churning up the sand to make an amazing maelstrom! The west side was much calmer as it was leeward of the wind.

Little wattlebird

Pounding waves churning the sand

After this we only stopped for petrol until we got to Mallacoota, which is where we are staying tonight. We are back on track with our accommodation as we have a lovely room, with all we need including a dishwasher which we don't really need! Items for breakfast are also included! Our host has been most helpful in giving advice and has convinced us we really need to stay here much longer! More than that, he was here when we arrived!

The Narrows at Mallacoota

We immediately took him up on his advice about local walks and walked along the local inlet, which is part of the Croajingolong National Park. We saw a sea eagle and lots of pelicans sitting artistically on a jetty!

Dancing pelicans?

Tonight we have been to the Chinese restaurant in town - again on the advice of Dave, our host. It was quite an experience! The poor servers were run off their feet as it was busy. We were given a table and then a lady came in who said she had booked our table so we offered to move and went into the semi-outside bit which turned out to be rather cold! We had great food though!

Here in Mallacoota, we are very close to the state border and tomorrow we will cross over from Victoria into New South Wales. However that won't be until we have seen a little more of this lovely town and its setting. Oh and hopefully we will get a good night's sleep tonight! By the way the WiFi is much better too - we are able to use it in our room!