The Gippsland Lake District, Victoria

Salty but sweet

One of the distinguishing features of the south-eastern Victorian coast, the Gippsland Lakes District is a superbly diverse part of the state, encompassing some of Victoria’s outstanding natural treasures.

Hotels and accommodation in Gippsland

Spilling down from the rolling hills of Central and East Gippsland, the Latrobe, Thompson, Avon, Mitchell, Nicholson and Tambo rivers are barred from the sea by the long, sandy breakwater of Ninety Mile Beach. Forced to a halt, these fresh waters spill across a huge lagoon area to form the Gippsland Lakes, Australia’s largest inland waterway. The three magnificent lakes begin in the west at Lake Wellington, which connects via McLennans Strait to Lake Victoria, then onto Lake King and finally, through a man-made entrance at the popular tourist resort of Lakes Entrance, to join Bass Strait.

Among the glories of this region is the waterside village of Metung. Located just south-east of Bairnsdale, the town sits on a peninsula that juts out into Lake King. If fishing, boating or sailing feature in your idea of a perfect holiday, Metung is a perfect base. With over 400 square kilometres of water on your doorstep, you couldn’t ask for more.

Boating comes naturally here – you can either bring your own, hire one from the local operators, or take a cruise. You can even hire a yacht or cruiser and spend a night or two on the water.

As any of the locals will tell you, the fishing is superb – in fact, it’s one of the reasons people return to this part of the world year after year for their annual break. Flathead, mulloway and bream can be caught in Bancroft Bay, off Shaving Point, and from the town’s jetties.

Fine dining is also part of Metung’s repertoire – whether it’s a seafood barbeque with your own catch, or something from the local restaurants. The town has several fine-dining options, or you can keep it simple with a pub meal on the water’s edge as you take in the view over the bay.

The bird life in the area is sensational. The lakes attract high concentrations of migratory wading birds, hosting breeding colonies of the vulnerable fairy terns and little terns. The common greenshank, march sandpiper and bar-tailed godwit are just a few of the other species of waterfowl you might see here. Birdwatchers should head for Rotamah Island, one of the lakes’ many small islands. Many bird hides have been constructed for visitors to use, and the surrounding marshland is home to an abundance of native waterbirds and wildlife. Rotamah Island is accessible by water taxi.

Cyclists have a splendid opportunity for discovery on the East Gippsland Rail Trail. Created from abandoned railway corridors, rail trails are one of Australia’s lesser-known treasures. These corridors of greenery often have abundant bird and animal life, and they offer scenery not visible from roads. The 58 kilometre East Gippsland Rail Trail is a generally flat cycle route that begins in Bairnsdale and runs to Nowa Nowa. The trail passes through a variety of forest and farmland, with occasional views of the Gippsland Lakes. The area offers many attractions and is ideal for a weekend trip. A linking trail connects to Lakes Entrance.

If you’re looking for a scenic drive in the region, the Grand Ridge Road is a rare find – a road that keeps getting better as the journey unfolds. It starts on the western side of the Hyland Highway, where a sign points to Carrajung, about 20 kilometres south of Traralgon. From there, the Grand Ridge Road meanders westward through the Strzlecki Ranges for 132 kilometres, offering spectacular views of the coast as it threads through serene farming country, sleepy villages, and towering forests of mountain ash. On a sunny day, the air is drowsy with the smell of eucalypts, rosellas explode from the trees, while wombats and echidnas wander across the road.

The steep hillsides in this eastern half of the Strzlecki Ranges are totally unsuitable for farming, but by the time that realisation dawned on the early settlers they had already felled much of the magnificent forests of the region. For an idea of what has been lost, take a look at Tarra Bulga National Park, one of the last remnants of the forests that once covered the area, and home to some of Victoria’s finest tree ferns. Take a walk along Fern Gully over the suspension bridge and nature trail, and you’ll probably encounter some of the park’s beautiful birds and native animals, against the majestic backdrop of the waterfall on the upper reaches of the Tarra River.

The natural abundance of marine life in the lakes made the region a paradise for the local Aboriginal people. As you move through East Gippsland, you are following routes that the Koorie people have been taking for over 18,000 years.

With the mountains a two or three-day walk to the north, and the lakes and ocean one or two days to the south, the path that is now the Princes Highway formed the backbone of the network of trails and trading routes that spanned the region.

These days, East Gippsland’s Aboriginal heritage is celebrated through the Bataluk Cultural Trail. Twelve significant sites – including artefact scatters, scarred trees, shell middens, occupation sites and axe-grinding grooves – enable visitors to share in the Dreamtime culture of the Gippsland Koorie people. The trail is well marked and literature is available at information centres.

Finally, Ninety Mile Beach should not be missed. Accessible from Sale or the South Gippsland Highway, via Woodside Beach, Seaspray, Golden Beach and Loch Sport, this is all a beach should be – pristine, sparkling and endless.