Gippsland

Gippsland is a very large area to the east and south of Melbourne. The Princes Highway follows an inland route through the La Trobe Valley, the heart of Victoria's coal mining, gas, electricity and heavy industrial area. The South Gippsland Highway follows an almost coastal route through magnificent rolling hills with occasional ocean glimpses.

The Gippsland region is full of natural beauty, including Australia’s largest system of inland waterways, beautiful Ninety Mile Beach and the foothills of the High Country. The Lakes National Park is a terrific place for walking, birdwatching, swimming and camping.

Lakes Entrance is a holiday town at the eastern end of the Gippsland Lakes and offers excellent lake, beach and deep-sea fishing. And it’s only a short hop to mountain streams to fish for trout.

At the time of writing the lakes were having a bit of a green algae problem but, hey, even supermodels get head colds from time to time.

A rewarding way to explore Gippsland is to allow a couple of days to do a ‘circle’ trip via both highways. The Gourmet Deli Trail begins at the small town of Drouin, less than 100 kilometres east of Melbourne, and covers an extensive area (down to Foster and Wonthaggi). This is lovely, lush, dairy and farm country, growing berries, fruit and vegetables, raising deer and trout – the trail will tempt the tastebuds. Pick up a map at an information centre.

Moe is a large town and is gateway to the alpine region. A side trip to Walhalla and Baw Baw National Park is recommended. ‘Baw Baw’ is Aboriginal for ‘echo’ and the highest part of the park has ski fields that are seldom crowded. The eastern section of the park is popular in summer with walkers and campers. Walhalla (population 15) is one of Victoria's prettiest and best-preserved gold-mining towns. It has several historic buildings and a small museum. The best attraction is the Long Tunnel Extended Gold Mine, reputedly the richest in the State, and the Walhalla Goldfields Railway. They open only on weekends and public holidays.

Back in Moe, there is a pioneer township in Lloyd Street with 30 restored buildings and a collection of restored horse-drawn vehicles. Moe hosts good provincial race meetings (the Moe Cup in held in October). One Moe race call will live with me forever.

It was a July afternoon in 1969 and there was national radio coverage of the moon landing. Neil Armstrong was about to utter his ‘one small step for man’ bit when an announcer cut in with, ‘We’ll leave it there, they’ve jumped in Moe!’ and the broadcast crossed to cover the horse race. Only in Australia.

The La Trobe Valley has one of the world’s largest deposits of brown coal. You can tour mines and power stations in Morwell. Tours run from the PowerWorks Museum (Ridge Road). If you don’t want to head back to Moe from Walhalla, you can head back down to Traralgon where there are walking tours, a heritage drive and some fine buildings like the old post office and courthouse.

Sale is a good spot for an overnight stop and a base to explore the Lakes area and Wilson’s Promontory. The Bataluk Cultural Trail traces important Aboriginal areas throughout the Lakes District and begins at Sale – detailed brochures are available from the Ramahyuck Aboriginal Corporation there (Foster Street). Locally produced arts and crafts are on display and for sale, no pun intended. There are some lovely buildings and, on the south-east edge of town, there’s a protected wetlands area with a boardwalk.

The tiny coastal town of Port Albert (first port in Victoria) is a centre for commercial fishing and is also popular with leisure anglers (fishing contest held each March). Wet the line for snapper, whiting, trevally, bream and flathead. A quick recipe that works for me – fillet the fish, a drizzle of sweet chilli sauce, wrap in foil, whack on the barbecue for a short time, serve with confidence and chilled white wine. There are historic buildings in Tarraville Road and the Port Albert Hotel has been quenching thirsts for 160 years. Ninety Mile Beach begins northeast of town.

The pretty town of Foster is the gateway to Wilson Promontory National Park. The park, at the southernmost tip of Victoria, has 130 kilometres of rugged coastline with spectacular granite hills as a backdrop. It’s remote, beautiful with diverse native flora and fauna. More than 20 walks, ranging from a short 1 to 2-kilometre stroll to a very long hike, start from the only road in the park.

Heading back to Melbourne, stop to wander around the craft shop at Meeniyan or a coffee at Koonwarra’s Corner Store. Leongatha, in the foothills of the Strzelecki Ranges, is a good spot for canoeing and abseiling and hosts the South Gippsland Food and Wine Festival in January. The Korumburra’s Coal Creek Heritage Village, a recreated 19th century coal mining village (Cnr Highway and Silkstone Road) is well worth a visit. This area is also home of the giant Gippsland earthworm. Before television came to Australia one of Australia’s best-loved entertainers was Roy Rene who played a character called ‘Mo’…

“Are you going fishing?”
“Yes.”
“Have you got worms?”
“Yes, but I’m still going fishing!”

Sorry about that.

If you take the Bass Highway loop from Leongatha, Anderson Inlet near Inverloch, is one of the state’s best fishing spots. Wonthaggi began as a coal ‘tent town’ in 1909. There are tours of the reopened Eastern Area Mine with a former coal miner as your guide. Newhaven has the Australian Dairy Centre (museum and cheese factory). On nearby Churchill Island, there’s an historic homestead and walking tracks. At 11;30am daily you can feed pelicans on the foreshore opposite the San Remo Fishing Co-op.

Phillip Island is world famous for its international motorcycle racing circuit and its colony of little (fairy) penguins. There’s something incongruous about the rev of 500cc engines and the pitter-patter of little penguin feet, but it works. The island also has the largest seal colony in Australia near its Seal Rocks Sea Life Centre and a Koala Conservation Centre where you can see koalas eye to eye from a tree-top boardwalk. The Penguin Parade is a remarkable experience. Depending on the season, hundreds of the sleek little birds can come ashore at Summerland Beach at sunset, after a hard day’s fishing. They swim 15 to 50 kilometres a day to hunt, swimming in packs known as 'rafts'. Photography is not allowed because ‘flashes’ upset the little critters, which actually makes for a better experience because you’re focused on the penguins rather than getting the right ‘happy snap’.

Cowes is the main town on Phillip Island. It has safe swimming for kids and a good jetty for fishing.

Phillip Island Wildlife Park, the largest privately owned wildlife park in Victoria, lets visitors feed some of its animals, many of which wander freely in the park. A Maze ‘N Things features a three-dimensional timber maze and a puzzle centre.

Add that to the island's coastal scenery and it is easy to see why the area is one of Victoria's most popular tourist drawcards.

More Information

For more information about Victoria:

• Events And Festivals
• Accommodation
• To See And Do
• Melbourne
• Yarra Valley, Dandenongs & Mornington
• Great Ocean Road
• Goldfields
• High Country
• Grampians
• The Murray

Victoria Tours With Tours To Go