Lakes Entrance Long Weekend
Comments(3) On the Queen’s Birthday long weekend, we travelled to Lakes Entrance with some friends for a couple of days. Lakes Entrance is in Gippsland on the Victorian coast, heading towards the NSW border.
As expected, traffic on the Friday night of a long weekend was crawling out of Melbourne but we stopped for a bite to eat and pushed on to arrive at our accommodation around 10.30pm which wasn’t as bad as we thought it might be.
The Saturday was bleak and very cold and I wasn’t thinking much of Lakes Entrance at that point and wondering if it really was going to be a “long” weekend. They had a Hot Rod car display on so the main street was closed off with hundreds of old cars parked along the side. Can’t say I was overly enthusiastic but there were a couple of interesting antique vehicles to admire. I like some of the 60s and 70s ones with “interesting” colours (aka purple, bottle green) and some with painted designs on the doors and bonnet.
Our dinner at the Central Hotel in Lakes Entrance that night was a disaster. The man taking our order was very rude to Andrew about his request for a modified meal due to allergies and when I got my schnitzel and took a bite, I realised it was burnt underneath so they had just served it with the good side up hoping I wouldn’t notice! Another meal of seafood stirfry was not served with rice, just a bowl of seafood with a soupy sauce! I wouldn’t recommend it. On the other hand, the bowling club the next night was fantastic – definitely the better pick.
I enjoyed Sunday better with a trip to Buchan Caves, about 40 mins away. We did a 45 minute walk through the Royal Cave. The limestone formations including stalactites and stalacmites were beautiful. I was a little nervous because I do get claustrophobic but after the inital walk down into the cave and a few minutes of beating heart and slight light-headedness I adjusted and thoroughly enjoyed myself.
On the way back we also visited Lake Tyers and took a short walk on the 90 mile beach which was great. I’m a big fan of a deserted beach with the waves crashing in and a lone fisherman on the shoreline. It always reminds me of childhood growing up in Port Kembla beside the sea. There were lots of shells in the sand too.
We stayed in a cabin at a caravan park which was adequate for the four of us, a good kitchen and large bathroom. The bed was hard and the pillows lumpy so we ended up with slightly sore necks. We are too used to our pillow-top bed and osteopathic pillows!
As we departed Lakes Entrance on Monday, I finally got a glimpse of why Lakes Entrance would be appealing in Summer. The sun was out and driving up the hill we had a beautiful view of the water dotted with a number of islands and boats. We hadn’t seen these views when we arrived because it was dark.
Yeah, was an interesting weekend. Definitely not a fan of the Central Hotel. The Bowlo was definitely better. Will have to check out some of the Restaurants if we go back (maybe sometime in the summer). It was a frigid weekend. Summer I think would be a much better time to visit
The Caves at Buchan were excellent though, and the drive from there back to Orbost was really nice.
Oh that brings back memories of Lakes Entrance. I visited in Winter too while driving down to Melbourne via Princes Highway. We didn’t spend too much time but of the little I saw I really enjoyed. There were black swans everywhere and it was in the winter of 2003. Wow that was ages back.
I remember Bairnsdale had some nice old heritage buildings and Orbost had amazing wide landscapes dotted with farms and grazing moos everywhere. It was a great drive.
Central Hotel didn’t sound all that and so out of line to be rude to anyone let alone customers who bring in business!! That doesn’t sound like fun. But am sure it was good to get out and about.
I’m glad your little break turned out well in the end after a shaky start. I admire you for venturing away in the Winter…’no place like home’ eh?
The views looked spectacular so you can look forward to a visit in the warmer months.
I look forward to your next traavelogue!