Entering the lakes....

From the leafy avenues of Bright, the Great Alpine Road begins its ascent into the High Country, through ski resorts and spectacular views of the mountains. A popular year round resort area, Mount Hotham is Victoria's highest mountain at almost 8000ft. The ascent is awsome, narrow roads with hairpin bends, edges unguarded except for the trees, many of which have been burnt and are regrowing.

Signs exhort us to "Keep right of the red poles", should we defy them it is a very long way down!

As we descend we pass through Oleo, where Gold was discovered in the mid 1800s, attracting European and Chinese miners, becoming Australia's most lawless goldfield. The hotel there had been rebuilt no less than five times after fires, the last in the late twenties as witnessed by it's art deco frontage.

Our first sight of Lakes Entrance is from the hill as we descend to the river. The lake is actually a long lagoon, running almost 50 miles along the edge of the Tasman Sea, with sand dunes protecting it. The Gippsland Lakes, as they are called, team with fish, and as we descend we can see the fishermen casting their lines along the shore as well as from boats.

Along the esplanade we come to a footbridge across the lake to the dunes and  '90 mile beach', which, when the conditions are right, are a surfers paradise. 

Today we have travelled a few miles west along the lakes, passing through Bairnsdale to Paynesville, the boating capital of the Gippsland Lakes. It is surrounded by water on three sidesand is popular with windsurfers, jet and waterskiers who flock to it's easily accessible water.

The abundance of aquatic birdlife along this coast gave us the opportunity to take some excellent photos, many Australian Pelicans bask in the sun just offshore, as do egrets and cormorants.

But it is the majestic black swan that catches our attention as they fly over the lake, landing close to us and preening themselves. There are many hundred pairs in this area, they have distinctive white wing ends. The whole area is a birdwatchers paradise, and we have many great photos. 

Tomorrow we move again- who knows where?