Tag 49: Cape Conran Coastal Park - Mallacoota

Michi wakes up early today and takes a morning tour to the beach. Samuel wants a bottle and falls back to sleep. We all get up at 9 o'clock and leave at 10 o'clock.

Today we want to hike to the lighthouse at Hicks Point. We drive to Cann River on the highway and then turn onto the access road to the lighthouse. Unfortunately, we didn't take the time to inform ourselves at the info center and it was not mentioned in our guidebook: the 45 km access road is only paved for the first 25 kilometers. So we have to turn around and cancel the hike to the lighthouse. No hike and 50 kilometers wasted - our mood doesn't pick up today.

We continue driving without stopping to our overnight destination Mallacoota. The drive is winding and often leads through the forest. At 2 o'clock we check in at Mallacoota Foreshore Holiday Park. There are some campers already, but the place is huge so it doesn't feel crowded. Michi and the kids go to the playground and I make us some Kaiserschmarrn (a type of pancake). After the meal, we go for another round at the playground. Samuel immediately finds a friend. She is 7 years old, has long blonde hair and her name is Fleur. In the evening, kangaroos come to the campsite and graze. Fleur's mom shows us a koala that has made itself comfortable in a tree.

We take a short walk around the campsite and down to the beach. Unfortunately, the walking paths from the campsite either end in the ocean or in the middle of nowhere in the forest, so we go back. We take another look at the koala and meet the four-person family from Bavaria again, whom we briefly met at the pool in Melbourne. Emilian and Marla thoroughly explore the playgrounds with Samuel and we exchange travel experiences. After their Australia trip, the family is going to New Zealand for 3 more months at the end of December. They came from a three-week trip to South Africa. We feel fortunate, but a little envious as well.

11th December 2016

Overnight: Mallacoota Foreshore Holiday Park (1 night 31 AUD, huge campsite by the water, several playgrounds - and we are right across from one, kangaroos/koalas in the evening)

Weather: cloudy, 16 degrees Celsius

107 kilometers today, total of 8,188 kilometers