On Victoria’s Summerland Peninsula, a wallaby bounds past. But no-one is paying it any attention. The gathered throng’s eyes are on the sea, from which hundreds of little penguins are about to emerge.
When they do, Phillip Island’s penguins gather in formation, then waddle as fast as their tiny legs can carry them. It’s a glorious, hilarious sight, and the Phillip Island Penguin Parade is understandably one of Australia’s great tentpeg attractions.
Yet Phillip Island tends to be as far east as most visitors get in Victoria. The focus is on the Great Ocean Road heading west.
This westward gaze leaves the Gippsland region east of Melbourne – full of wildlife, moody ocean beaches and forest-filled national parks – magnificently uncrowded. A road trip along the Gippsland coast offers a simple, wild Australia with plenty of breathing space.
The major issue with this sedate ocean road is that it rarely runs alongside the ocean. Stick to the highways, and it’s a pretty boring holiday. Yet every little detour towards the coast works out rewarding.
On the way from Phillip Island to Wilsons Promontory, the nine mile Bunurong Coastal Drive laces together towering clifftops, dramatic rock formations, wave-lashed beaches and tide-exposed flats that have proved a dinosaur bone bonanza for paleontologists.
At Eagles Nest near Inverloch, the lookout peers out towards a jagged sandstone stack, gamely battling centuries of wind and water erosion. But the real joy comes from descending the seemingly endless staircase down to the beach. Put it in Europe, and this golden curve would have several multi-storey resort hotels behind it. Here it stands isolated, and at the whims of nature.
There are countless beaches along these lines on the Gippsland coast, but the single most impressive one might well be Squeaky Beach on Wilsons Promontory. Here, a short walking track through the dunes follows a creek winding its way into the sea. On one side of the creek, giant fire-orange granite boulders provide a maze of passageways to scamper through. On the other, fine white sand squeaks underfoot.
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Tidal River is what passes for a town in these parts, although it’s effectively a giant campground. By day, the purpose-built boats from Wilsons Promontory Cruises flit around the islands and seal colonies. By night, it becomes abundantly clear why there are big holes in the ground.
While sitting on the decking at the Tidal River Cabins at dusk, a furry tank of a creature emerges from its burrow and charges around with comical awkwardness.
Elsewhere in Australia, wombats are incredibly difficult to find in the wild. At Tidal River, they more or less run the show.
The three-and-a-half hour drive from Wilsons Promontory to Lakes Entrance passes Yarram, an agricultural town that has turned itself into a giant street art canvas, and the elegant, multi-tiered Agnes Falls.
The end destination is the closest thing Gippsland has to a classic seaside town. As the name suggests, Lakes Entrance is where a network of lakes filters out into the sea, the waterways ideal for pootling around on boats.
For some, this is serious business. The large fishing fleet moors along the town centre. For others, it’s pure pleasure. Squadrons of hire boats putter around the lake arms, some with barbecues, most with a considerable stash of beer in the cool box.
A pedestrian bridge leads to a seemingly different world, however, with the beach sprawled along a narrow spit. Here, bodyboarders throw themselves into the waves. The further east you go, the wilder it gets.
This applies to Gippsland, too. Barely a soul lives in the far eastern section, and deviations off the highway lead to increasingly wistful, tuned out spots. Salmon-coloured rocks illuminate Cape Conran, a lonely lighthouse holds strong at Point Hicks – the first place in Australia sighted by Lt James Cook in 1770 – and a wilderness walking trail heads across the dunes from the purposefully basic Thurra River Campground.
The end point is Mallacoota, out on a limb and surrounded by a warren of waterways. When the bushfires came through here in 2019, the townsfolk had to be evacuated by boat.
There are still blackened stumps, but it’s the lush greenery of the surrounding Croajingolong National Park that truly strikes. Well, that and the wildlife.
By the water’s edge, scores of pelicans gather. They’re elegant in flight and wonderfully cumbersome strutting about on land.
Then, in the town centre, one of Australia’s great clichés comes true. In the park opposite the supermarket, a mob of kangaroos grazes. They’re utterly unperturbed by humans moseying up for a photograph. There’s more than enough room in this remote eastern corner of the state for happy co-existence.
How to get there
The writer travelled with Qatar Airways which flies to Sydney via Doha from Heathrow, Gatwick, Cardiff, Manchester and Edinburgh.Where to stay
Phillip Island Apartments start from £160, stayonphillipisland.com.au
Tidal River Cabins, Wilsons Promontory, start from £135, parks.vic.gov.au
NRMA Eastern Beach Holiday Park villas, Lakes Entrance, from £100, nrmaparksandresorts.com.au
Gipsy Point Lodge, Mallacoota. Rooms from £103, gipsypointlodge.com.auWhere to visit
Phillip Island Penguin Parade, $27.70 (£16), penguins.org.au
Wilsons Promontory Cruises, $135 (£78), promcruises.com.au
Victor Hire Boats, Lakes Entrance. From $80 (£46) per hour, victorhireboats.com.auMore information
visitgippsland.com.au
