| s/y Nine of Cups Australia - Victoria - Gippsland Lakes January 2012 |
| A long day and an overnight and we were in Victoria, rounding Australia's southeast corner and within shooting distance of Tasmania. While in Eden, we had, by chance, picked up a brochure about Victoria's Gippsland Lakes. One photo showed a sailboat on the lakes and we wondered if maybe the lakes were deep enough for bigger boats like Cups to navigate. Lakes Entrance leads into Lake King behind the Ninety Mile Beach. Raymond Island there supposedly has a large population of koalas in the wild. Rotamah Island is a wildlife/bird sanctuary with emu, roos, wallabies, wombats and echidnas. A few phone calls to the local VMR and Coast Guard and we were assured that Cups would do just fine all the way to Paynesville. It's all we needed to hear! |
Victoria Facts...
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| The secret ballot was first used in Victoria and South Australia.. The secret ballot was referred to as 'kangaroo voting'. Worldwide, secret voting is sometime called an 'Australian ballot. |
| From the Sail Blog 23 Jan 2012... En route from Eden to Lakes Entrance: Hundreds of sooties and petrels attest to the fact that the fishing is good here. Some sit in rafts on the water and move only when the boat is close to them. We saw our first albatross in Australia this morning followed by many, many more as the day progressed. As we turned the corner and started heading west, hugging the coastline of Victoria, we entered into the Bass Strait. Pods of dolphins greeted us, surfing down the waves and seemingly enjoying themselves immensely. We certainly enjoyed their enthusiastic welcome. |
| Lakes Entrance, as its name suggests, is a direct access off the Bass Strait to the lakes behind the coastal dunes known as the Ninety Mile Beach. In actuality, the "lakes" are a network of lakes, marshes and lagoons covering 400 sq km and are Australia's largest inland waterways. |
| We arrived two hours before high tide as planned and the conditions were perfect. That said, the water around the entrance roiled and we could see a standing wave in front of us. We plowed on through and in a matter of minutes .... |
| we were in tranquil waters where dozens of black swans and hundreds of other birds swam peacefully. The air smelled earthy and the scent of eucalyptus wafted on the breeze. |
| Birds, birds, birds. We'd never seen so many diverse birds in such numbers ... pelicans, black swans, gulls, cormorants, herons, coots, ducks... all swimming around looking for a snack. The rafts of birds would part as we motored through, but they were evidently savvy about boat traffic. |
| Paynesville map with our anchorage marked across the narrow McMillan Strait. |
| Even Australian fur seals made their way into the lagoon. A lazy seal above does the back float with his flippers high in the air. |
Blue-green algae is a problem in
the lakes this year and limits
swimming and fishing activities.
the lakes this year and limits
swimming and fishing activities.
The 9-mile route from Lakes Entrance to
Paynesville was quite circuitous, through a
well-marked channel which doglegged
around shallow spots in the lake. We came
close, but never went aground.
Paynesville was quite circuitous, through a
well-marked channel which doglegged
around shallow spots in the lake. We came
close, but never went aground.
| We anchored just around Montague Point off Raymond Island. Lake traffic was steady, but we sat comfortably, a quick dinghy ride across the harbor to town and within a stone's throw of Raymond Island and its wildlife wonderland. |
| Black swans came a-calling regularly. Sometimes they brought the family and other times just the parents came by. They'd trumpet a hello and wait patiently for the first mate to bring out the daily ration of bread. |
They weren't the least bit afraid of
Marcie as she fed them by hand from
the dinghy.
Marcie as she fed them by hand from
the dinghy.
| Gippsland Lakes Yacht Club members welcomed us warmly. |
| Montague Point, Raymond Island - 37S55.44 / 147E43.27 - 23' |
| Raymond Island is home to hundreds of wild koalas. Don't miss this page! |
| Wednesday night yacht racing |
| January 26th commemorates the arrival of the British First Fleet at Sydney Cove, Port Jackson, in 1788. |
| Australia Day is the country's "national" day. Flags were flying, red, white & blue balloons swayed in the breeze, banners waved and even the Raymond Island Ferry was dressed in her colors. |
| Children had their faces painted and their bikes all decorated for a parade later in the day. There was quite a turnout in town. Free breakfast served by the local Lion's Club was an incentive to arrive early. |
| The Australian flag was raised by the local Sea Scouts and the crowd sang "Advance Australia Fair". |
| Dignitaries gave speeches; bands played. Twelve people swore their oath of allegiance to country and in a moving ceremony became new citizens of Australia midst audience applause and smiling faces. |
| Bernie's Tin Shed motored slowly into the little bay near the Progress Jetty playing "Waltzing Matilda". The "Tin Shed" is literally a tin shed on pontoons. Young Sea Scouts did a fine re-enactment of the story of Waltzing Matilda's swagman to the delight of the crowd on shore. Check out the "Australia" page for more info about "Waltzing Matilda". It'll have you humming all day long. We topped off the day with a BBQ at the Raymond Island home of our new friends, Jim & Linda. |
| Don't forget to visit the koalas of Raymond Island! |
An aerial view of Paynesville showing the
intricate lake, strait and canal systems of the area.
intricate lake, strait and canal systems of the area.
| As always, it's time to go before we're ready to leave, but a good weather window appeared and we needed to take advantage of it. The trip across the Lakes Entrance bar was thankfully uneventful. We're off to Tasmania...again...this time with a planned stop at Deal Island. Come with us across the sometimes treacherous Bass Strait and visit the island/ lighthouse caretakers on Deal Island. |
| The plan was to leave our anchorage off Raymond Island timed so that we'd arrive at the Lakes Entrance channel and shoot right through. The wind was up and the exit channel looked a bit dodgy when we arrived. We opted instead to tie up to the Flagstaff Jetty for a free mooring night and wait till the channel looked less dicey. So, left with some free time, we explored a bit. |
| Lakes Entrance - Flagstaff Jetty - 37S53.22 / 147E58.42 |
Cups and crew enjoy a night's respite at
the Flagstaff Jetty before tackling the
channel exit.
the Flagstaff Jetty before tackling the
channel exit.
The now-abandoned tiny village of New
Works, is adjacent to the jetty and offered
an illustrated historic walk.
Works, is adjacent to the jetty and offered
an illustrated historic walk.
David reads a placard as we stretched our
legs and checked out the Lakes Entrance bar.
legs and checked out the Lakes Entrance bar.
| Viewing the bar from land, it still looked a bit too dodgy for our comfort. We're glad we waited. |
Above, a dredge works constantly to keep the
channel navigable. Right, a big pelican on the beach.
channel navigable. Right, a big pelican on the beach.
| We also visited Portland, Victoria and the Discovery Coast. Come along for the ride! |