Gippsland Treasures

By Jen.
It is tax season again, and since we worked last year, we actually have to file taxes. So, we had relatives mail us our W-2s and other tax documents that weren’t available online (such outdated procedures!). While we were waiting on our tax documents to arrive, we decided to explore more of Victoria. Since we had decided to do “The Lap” of Australia in the clockwise direction where we would be heading west first, we instead went to the east. Wilsons Promontory and the Great Alpine Road beckoned to us and we answered.

First stop was Wilsons Promontory. This national park that is only a couple of hours southeast of Melbourne is a popular place. If I had to sum it up, it is like a taste of Tassie, but on the mainland. So, we really didn’t feel like sticking around too long there. We climbed up Mt Oberon and called it good. We might have stayed longer in the area, but we didn’t feel like paying $60 per night to camp in the park and it was a bit too long of a drive in and out of the park to justify it, especially since we had already seen very similar things in Tassie. Plus, the number of people were astonishing, especially compared to Tassie.

View from the summit.

Small bird that was flitting along the trail.

Next stop was Ninety Mile Beach. Yes, literally about 90 miles of unbroken, wave-tossed beach. Great for surfers.

Then for a break from the coastline, we went up to Walhalla, an historic town that was home to a gold mine up through the early 1900s. It is a cute, sepia-colored town that is also home to a steam-powered train and decent walking trails.

Local bird (this is the female).

This is all that remains of the burned bank—its vault that used to house the gold!

A close-up of the sign on the vault! That is a lot of gold/money!

The gold mine.