Mallacoota, Croajingolong NP

Mallacoota is a town of about 1200 on the ocean close to the border of New South Wales and Victoria. It's also about the half way mark between Melbourne and Sydney - a great place to stop on the way right?!?! It is a summer resort town in Victoria, on the edge of a National Park called Croajingalong, but many Australians in NSW seem to have never heard of it (I guess they all head North for their vacations). It's a good 1/2 way stop between Melbourne and Sydney. We couldn't make it there in 1 day from the Otway, so we spent one night in a town called Warambool. It's a small town, with 3 hotels. One was too expensive, one was closed (8:00 pm), and one was a seedy room above a bar.

Buchan Caves

On our way to the Croajingolong Nat'l park, we took a detour up to the Buchan Caves, which are aquifers under a field, and covered with Massive staligmites/staligtites.

Dinner at Simon's

Our first night in Mallicoota was the night of Australia's first world cup soccer game. We were very fortunate in that our hotel was attached to the town pub, which was breaking the rules and staying open past 11:00 so everyone could watch the game. It felt like the whole town was there. It was a great, history making game. Aus beat Japan. After the game, we met a local, Simon, who invited us over for dinner the next night. What an awsome, friendly town. We decided to spend an extra night there.

On our second day, we cruised up and down the estuary in a rented fishing boat to take in the sights and sounds of the amazing bird life. We would have loved to stay in this area longer, but at the same time were eager to head North for some warm weather.

Gone bird watching

That night we were treated to a delicious stir-fry at Simon's. It was such a treat to have some home made cooking, and to get an inside peak into the life of an hospitable local.

Kangaroo Mug