I shouldn’t really be telling you this as it is a well kept secret. Don’t let word get out, but the New South Wales southern coast is stunning. You can keep your Gold Coast with its tacky theme parks and Versace hotels, though I admit the climate and beaches are rather perfect. However the rocky bays, heads, and inlets interspersed with long sandy beaches are so much prettier and more interesting, so for a couple of weeks we meander down the lesser feted NSW south coast beaches and into Victoria.

Sadly the weather isn’t as nice as we’d hoped, but for the locals any rain is more than welcome – aside from one shower weeks ago back in Barcaldine, this is the first wet weather we’ve had in four months. It would be churlish to complain. And it doesn’t rain much but is overcast most days and temperatures hover around 18℃ instead of the 38℃ we’ve almost become accustomed to.

There are lovely camping spots all down the coast,many in State or National parks. On the caravan grapevine we hear about Mystery Bay in the Eurobodalla National Park – bush camping by the beach – perfect. We find a place among the towering gum trees and we’re amazed fires are permitted, albeit in fireboxes. This is another of those times when you meet really interesting people. Tina had worked as a nurse in remote outback locations so had wonderful stories to tell abut her experiences. Pete had spent years in Africa and then in Israel where he learned about rose cultivation and growing. I ask how he ended up in Israel growing roses and two hours later I know.

It’s the end of the season for whale migration south, and every day there are a few humpbacks or southern rights passing by. Some come into the bays and rest up for a while, especially if they have babies. We arrive at Eden on the weekend of the Whale Festival, which has very little to do with whales; there’s a hot rod rally, a kite flying display and a quilt exhibition, not to mention a chainsaw sculptor and an historic and modern heavy machinery demo. So much action, one hardly knows where to look.

The Killer Whale Museum, though, really does get into the nitty gritty of whales, whalers, and whaling history. In the 1840s there were reportedly around 50 killer whales in the area. They are bastards, killer whales – they’d help the whalers hunt the baleen whales by herding them into the Bay. When the whaler had hit the target with their harpoon the killer would even hold the harpoon rope in their teeth and drag the whale to the boat. The whalers would then buoy the line and leave the harpooned whale for 24 hours till it floated, and the killer whales would enjoy a gourmet snack of whale lips and tongues as their reward. 

While parts of the whale were used for all the usual products like candle making, oil production and so on, there was also a use for the fresh, hot whale carcass as a whole. Climbing inside the carcass was once thought to bring relief to rheumatism sufferers. Staying inside the whale for about 30 hours was believed to bring relief from aches and pains for up to 12 months, BUT….. you wouldn’t want to go out in polite company for a few weeks.

We travel through what seems to be back to back national parks before we cross into Victoria and rock up at Lakes Entrance, a beautiful coastal settlement. The harbour entrance, dug out in the 1800s, links the ocean, in particular Bass Strait, to the four large inland Lakes (Victoria, King, Coleman and Wellington) that extend over 500,000 square kilometres. Even though the weather isn’t that pleasant we take a boat trip up through the lakes and around some of the up stream towns. We find there’s an island, Raymond Island, which is home to not only people, but over 300 koalas. Guess what our next stop is.

The next day we take our bikes over on the cable ferry and go koala hunting – we don’t have to go far and over the course of the next hour or so we see about 30, including three sets of mums and babies, sitting up in eucalyptus trees doing what they do best – or actually doing the only things they ever do: eat and sleep.

After deviations to the big city, Melbourne, and wine country, Coonawarra, we are back on the coast and, at time of writing, heading into the last 10 days of this trip.

I suddenly have a problem uploading photos so apologise for the lack herein – in case you’re wondering what they would’ve been; our campsite at Mystery Bay; a panorama of Lakes Entrance; a cute koala up a tree; a would be National Geographic photographer climbing a tree to get a shot of a cute koala.