Vic, ACT and NSW roadtrip

Reporter: Janet & Adrian Schirrman

​It's taken awhile since the COVID lockdowns to get back into travel mode.  However, Janet and I were recently away on a two week 2400 km road trip through SE Victoria and NSW. 

The first part of the journey was something of a trip down memory lane - out through Sale in Gippsland where we first started working, me with Esso Australia and Janet at Sale High School.  We caught up with friends who still live in Sale and had lunch and a good catch up.  It was then on to Metung on the Gippsland Lakes for two nights.  We stayed at the Moorings resort, which is right in Metung opposite Lake King.  In years gone by, we spent many happy occasions exploring the Gippsland Lakes and the many rivers that feed into them. For this visit, we explored in and around Metung - lots to see and do - a lovely nine hole golf course, hot springs and we can recommend the Metung Hotel for drinks and meals.

From Metung, our journey continued east along the Princes Hwy through Lakes Entrance, Orbost, Marlo and Cape Conran.  The scenery is terrific and the coastline spectacular.

Our next stop was Boydtown, which is located near Eden on the opposite side of Twofold Bay.  We stayed at the Seahorse Inn for three nights in one of their self contained villa units.  The area is steeped in history of the whaling and timber industries - there is a fascinating whaling museum in Eden.  We also explored Merimbula and Tathra - including the terrific old Tathra Hotel.

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From Boydtown, we headed up the Snowy Mountains Hwy through the Great Diving Range to Cooma and on to Canberra.  We hadn’t been to our capital city for many years and it was great to see all the well known sights including Mt Ainslie, the National Aboretum, New Parliament House, Portrait Gallery, High Court, War Memorial and a bike ride along part of Lake Burley Griffin.  Our accommodation was in the East Hotel located in Kingston.  It is an apartment hotel and was very good for our four night visit.

Our time in Canberra passed very quickly and the next stop was Beechworth for a quick visit with our daughter - Joanna, Brendan and baby Spencer.  They have a 15 acre farm just outside Beechworth and it’s always great to see them and the latest projects they have underway.  And baby Spencer . . . he is now 18 moths old, a riot and into everything!

We had heard good things about the Mitchelton Winery located north of Seymour just off the Goulburn Valley Hwy.  So, our next stop was one night there and it was very good - excellent accommodation, good restaurant, good wine and a wonderful indigenous art gallery. We would have stayed longer but the accommodation was all booked out.  Just up the road from Mitchelton Winery is one of the oldest wineries in Australia - Tahbilk.  It is a lovely old place and the underground cellars are amazing.

The final stop in our road trip was two nights in Ballarat where we stayed with friends who had just moved into their new house.  It was great to see them, catch up on all their news and explore Ballarat again.  The city is thriving with lots going on - the botanical gardens are terrific and there was a music festival in full swing when we were there.

So, all in all, a great road trip and we will look forward to planning another one.