Hello, from Lakes Entrance, yet again,

I was away just on 8 this morning, heading in a northerly direction. I stopped in the village of Buchan ’round 9 to top up the fuel tank, and to obtain provisions, as there’d be no towns with fuel/food (just some hamlets comprising a few houses)  ’til I made my way back down south to Orbost, via a circuitous 225km route. The very pleasant proprietoress of the servo-come-takeaway freshly made me some chicken salad sangers for the journey. When I replied to her enquiry as to where I was headed, she recommended that I visit the Little River Gorge Lookout.

I continued north, stopping for a slightly early morning coffee break when I encountered a roadside rest area at 9:30. At Wulgumerang, 60km north of Buchan, I left the bitumen, heading east towards the Snowy River. Halfway there, I had a look at the Little River Gorge, which, at 500m deep, is the deepest gorge in Victoria, and is very impressive.

Shortly afterwards, the descent to the Snowy River commenced. It’s 15km of occasionally steep, continually winding, single-lane road, albeit in good surface condition. Thankfully, I didn’t encounter any oncoming traffic; as the warning sign at the beginning of the descent states, passing opportunities are infrequent. One or other of the cars would have to back up (or down) around 500m, on average, to allow two cars side by side, and that wouldn’t be a great deal of fun, with the drop over the edge being quite precipitous. I think it’s the closest I’ve ever come to praying for something not to happen! I’ve been  this way with mum and dad in a Range Rover, back in the late seventies, and I don’t recall it being that hairy!

I arrived at the Snowy River near 11. It’s crossed by the 250m long McKillops Bridge, 15m above the river, built in 1934. By the time I’d finished taking photos of the bridge and river, it was 11:30, so I decided to have an early lunch, as it’s quite a pleasant spot.

From the Snowy River crossing, it was another 55km of narrow, winding, but mostly flat, gravel road, following the Deddick River, to the Bombala-Orbost road junction at Bonang. It was still quite slow going though, around 40-60km/h; whilst a little wider than the road down to the Snowy River, a low speed would be necessary to pass safely, and because of the many bends, it was generally impossible to see oncoming traffic.

From Bonang, I headed  back south, on a sealed road, 95km to Orbost. It was a great drive, through tall timber with an understory of tree ferns for most of its length. Like the gravel road I’d just been on, it was practically all corners, with any straight sections being minimal, but unlike it, it was two lanes, and handling was predictable. I was kinda wishing that I was in the “old” Merc, but it was nevertheless a handful (or two) of fun, and provided an insight into the handling limitations of the truck.

It’s about 65km west from Orbost to Lakes Entrance along the Princes Highway, and I was “home” at 3, after having driven what amounted to a 354km loop.

There’s still no wireless access from my room. I spoke again to the receptionist I saw yesterday afternoon, and he now says that he’ll contact their ISP to check out the equipment. He’s also going to void from my account the $15 I paid for 12hrs access (which is quite a good deal), even though I “signed up” knowing that I’d have to be in the atrium, or the bar, to use it.

Cheers,
Julian