Day 16 / 2016 - Sale to Lakes Entrance

In a tradition we have now become acustom to it rained while we packed up in Sale. Actually it was more showers. When I looked at the rain radar it was a thin line of rain starting out to sea to roughly right over the top of Sale.

I shouldn't complain about the rain, so far this year most days haven't rained and when it did it was usually just a series of shower not really stopping us from touring around. The days have been warm and we are still able to get around in shorts and tee shirts. When you look at the weather stats it is not uncommon for the east coast this side of the dividing range to receive rain during the summer months usually in the form of short moderate showers and the occasional summer storm.

The mean February rain average for some of the lower east coast is around 140mm compared to Bunbury which it is about 6mm. It has taken some time to adjust but I think we are getting the hang of it and just make rain part of the trip. On a previous night we had a spectacular lightning show all around us from a storm that looked pretty similar to the one that hit Geelong but we got lucky and did not receive the same amount of rain or wind maybe that will come later.

Lakes Entrance is set at the mouth of the Gippsland Lake System linking them to Bass Strait. This lake system is made up of a number of lakes of Lake Victoria, Lake King and Lake Wellington. You can traverse this lake system by boat starting at Lakes Entrance and travel all the way to Sale located at the end of the LaTrobe River. There are a number of towns and settlements based along the mainland with many houses located on the islands as well.

Lakes Entrance itself is a town of about 9,500 people and is well geared towards tourism with many types of accomodation available. The place is pretty much booked during the Christmas and January school holidays but has a mass exodus on the 26th of January when a lot of accomodation becomes available and the rates drop from a peak price to something approaching normal. For example the caravan park we are staying at during the peak season charge about $90.00 per night for a powered caravan site. Post holiday season we have been able to secure a site with discounts and specials for about $31.00 per night for the same piece of land. The park is quite nice and located within walking distance of the beach and town is about 1.5 Km away accessable by a walking path or road. Sea side of lakes Entrance is 90 Mile beach and is accessable via a walkway from the centre of town.

Taking a drive into the country side in no particular direction we end up at Metung a small town positioned on a peninsular between Bancroft Bay and Lake King. The town is poscard picturesque with many open spaces to sit looking towards the water. We found it a peaceful place with a sense of belonging and put it on the list of places we would like to live.

From Metung we travelled inland towards Bruthen wich is the town at the start of the Great Alpine Road that takes you across the alps into the North Eastern area of Victoria eventually connecting to Hume Hwy. We wanted to look over the Bullant Brewery in Bruthren but although it was suppose to open on Wednesday according to the brochure this particular Wednesday it was closed for some reason.

Back in Lakes Entrance we jumped aboard Peel Cruises which run a daily 70 Km tour around part of the lake system taking in Lake King around Raymond Island then past the town of Paynsville. We visited the canals of Paynsville where millon dollar houses are lined up along the canals with their masive boats parked out the front. Exiting the canals we then rounded the other side of Raymond Island and back towards the town of Metung travelling along the foreshore there looking at more million dollar houses. From here you return back to Lakes Entrance.