Be Inspired by East Gippsland

This post is sponsored by Nuffnang & Destination Gippsland

East Gippsland has such raw beauty. I have forgotten what was in our backyard. After all the rain that we have been experiencing in the last month, we were greeted by green plains, full rivers and everything is blooming and kicking. I took up this outdoor gig as I thought it will be good for my mum to experience the outdoors. Even though she has visited me a few times, she has never travelled out of Melbourne. She is such an urban girl so I was a little apprehensive and hoped she enjoy herself.

Eat

Gippsland Food & Wine
123 Princes Highway Yarragon
(03) 5634 2451

This is a one stop information center, cafe and local deli that you can pick up goodies before heading towards Bairnsdale. The shop is stacked with goodies. Wine, blue cheese, jams, chutney, smoked trout, olive oil, super hot chilli oils and the list goes on. Most of the stuff here are local and mainly from Gippsland. I also love the fact that they stock organic Elderslie eggs from round the corner and the area winemarker, Mal, just lives up the road!

The country style café next door serves the infamous Godfather which is hot baked potato with garlic butter, sour cream, Bolognese meat sauce, shavings of Parmesan and a touch of chives.

Riversleigh Bairnsdale Restaurant
1 Nicholson Street, Bairnsdale
(03) 5152 6966

This local restaurant is opened for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Most of the ingredients used here are sourced locally. The owner, John is a great host and sweet gentleman. He is such a charmer and entertained my mum very well!

The lunch menu is relatively small but enough choices to keep most people happy. Mum was delighted with her pan-seared scallops with a sticky maple glaze with a coriander pesto, slices of apple, celery and cashew nut accompanied by a sweet capsicum sauce. And even enjoyed her glass of 2009 Riesling from Ladies who shoot their lunch. And I definitely enjoyed my drop of 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon from Myrtle Point.

Marlo Hotel
19 Argyle Parade Marlo
(03) 5154 8201
Website

This place serves generous portioned country pub food. They are almost always accompanied by thick fries and fresh crisp salad. Just to note that lunch is opened from 12 – 2pm and dinner is from 6 – 8pm. By the time we arrived most of the yummy specials were gone! So try to get here early. It was such a bummer to miss out on sticky date pudding as well. But fortunately, the weather held and we were rewarded with a beautiful sunset over the balcony that we happily shared with the resident magpie and dog.

Mingling Waters
Princes Highway, Nowa Nowa
(03) 5155 7247
Website

“We do not serve fast food. We do good food” Great motto and just up my alley. Did it leave up to my expectation? Hell yes! The herbs were picked from the backyard. Produce are locally sourced and care is taken to prepare the food. My mum enjoyed her Thai chicken curry and gave Mike a thumbs up! Very well catered for the vegetarians. If you are the area, please do pop in. I can safely assume that you are not going to find better vegetarian food around this area. This is the one and only. Oh… by the way, did I mention homemade pita bread? Awesomeness.

Metung Hotel
Kurnai Avenue, Metung
03 5156 2206
Website

Lovely view of the waters and will have been good if the weather held up. But we were not disappointed with the food. The seafood platter ($80) feeds 2 and is worth getting if you love your seafood. Crayfish, king prawns, cuttlefish ring, scallops, pan fried and smoked salmon, mussels, moreton bay bugs, beer battered flathead tail and oysters.. do I need to say more? Mum and mister cleaned out their plates! And also discovered the joyous drop from Tambo.

Bancroft Bites
2/57 Metung Road
03 5156 2854
Website

This modern cafe is owned by both Jennifer and Lauren. This place is opened for breakfast, lunch and dinner and also does some catering. The ingredients are fresh and they believe in serving good quality food to their punters. Look at those eggs! Perfectly poached. I wish I could hang around for dinner to try out their dessert tasting plate.

Wa-De-Lock
Tyers Street, Princes Highway, Stratford
03 5145 7050

This is a awesome stop over either towards Sydney or on the way back to Melbourne. This place is packed with local goodies. It has an impressive wine collection and mostly wines that we can’t get in Dan Murphy. If you are after fast food, then this is not for you. The food here is cooked to order and only fresh and local ingredients are used. I ordered a selection of Maffra cheese to sample. These handmade cheese are only available in selected farmers market and retail outlets.

Play

Cape Conran Coastal Park

The park is about 11, 000 hectares and there are so many walks available to everyone. From the very short walks to the ones that take weeks. One of the shortest is to Yeerung River where it is great for dipping in scorching summer. And I wished I had time to walk the East Cape Boardwalk where the interpretive signs gives us a glimpse of the uses Indigenous people made of the many resources around the Cape.

This is also a great fishing ground. We bummed into a regular that has been coming back for the last 10 years and have yet to fail. Salmon, bream and flatheads are in abundance around this area. We will be back here for some body surfing. Seems like the perfect wave for it!

Snowy River Cycling in Cape Conran
Website

We went for an early easy ride with Liz. I have little experience with mountain biking and this is by far the most relaxing and enjoyable. The bike was great and the seat especially for women. So comfortable! Also she was a great teacher and gave us a lot of guidance along the way. Also at the end of the short and easy tour, we had hot tea with flapper jacks and fruits. I have the recipe for the flapper jacks and will attempt to make them!

Her guided tours are fully supported and is anything from half to six day cycle tour for small groups in East Gippsland. Find out more about other packages on the website.

Mingling waters – Guided canoeing on Lake Tyers
Website

This has to be one of my favourite. I did enjoy biking but this takes the cake. Mike is such a charmer and I was fortunate to be sitting in the same kayak as him. I could relax and not paddle and just take in the view while Mister struggled on a round bottom kayak which he later became an expert in. I saw my first pair of sea eagles and also first pair of beautiful kingfisher! One of them actually preyed and fed!

Lake Tyer is about 26km long and wiggles all the way to the open sea. There is so much history and culture along the lake. I like how it is still so raw and how nature is being respected around here. And did I mention that there were jumping fishes! We shall be back! This time I will also ask if I could cook in his massive kitchen! And thanks to mum for taking this photo

Enterprise Cruises and Aquamania in Paynesville
Website

Mum gets to come along in this little but powerful boat with us and it was her first. The weather was pretty bad so we did not head out too far and so we missed out on the beach that is home to 500 pelicans! But Peta managed to keep us highly entertained by taking us into a man made canal that is lined with expensive houses with a moor in their backyard and also pointing out the koalas that are living on Raymond island.

The big cruise boat can take up to 100 people for tours and also can be used for funtions. The Aquamania is for smaller groups and also water sports like wakeboard, water-ski, kneeboard and fun tube rides. And did I mention kite surfing! And not forgetting that they have about 300 residents dolphins. They are sighted almost every day.

Mitchell River National Park – Den of Nargun

This is a level 3 walk. It is not a flat surface but filled with rocks and require you to have a little bushwalking experience. If my mum can walk all the way down and then back up, I am sure many of you will be able to do it. She went over rocks and got to the Den. I am so proud of her! If you are a fauna lover, this is the place for you. Plus this place has so many butterflies. It is as if we are being welcomed and watched while we made our way down to the Den.

This is just one of the 40 walks in this area. Be prepared to walk, discover, learn and be wowed. I took loads of photos on the way down. Amazing. Another place that I will like to return and spend more time.

Sleep

Cape Conran Wilderness Retreat
Website

To be honest, I did not expect real wilderness. This place is isolation and located within native vegetation that goes for miles and miles. The big plus is the 2 minutes walk to the beach. Anyone that is into nature especially with an interest in birds, fauna and fishing will love this place.

We were set up in the Wilderness retreat that is actually a super large tent with a comfortable double bed and extra bed if required. The well-equipped kitchen and toilet facilities are shared and very well kept. It is comfort for those that need a little luxury in this very raw but beautiful landscape. There are also cabins, lodges and campsites. The campsites get booked out really early and apparently there is a balloting system! My mum survived her first experience in the wilderness. I do suggest to bring along a powerful torchlight.

Metung Holiday Villas
Website

Metung is small but this pretty village that is only 15mins drive from busy Lake Entrance and sits in a corner of Gippsland Lake. The Metung Holiday Villa is very comfortable. The villas are all self contained, all lined is supplied, free AUSTAR pay TV and even a covered heated pool! Mum slept like a baby that evening and was a little disappointed that we had an early start the next day. The surroundings are really well maintained and is a great holiday accommodation for families or group of friends.

I am quietly proud of my mum. She did really well. Sleeping in the wilderness, trekking over dirt road and rocks in Mitchell National Park, riding with us crazy kids in the car from one destination to another and eating and enjoying the food. She is an awesome sport.

Some of the people that I met a long the way are so passionate in what they do. They love the outdoors. And I am so envious of their lifestyle. Mister and I were planning the activities and places that we will like to head back to on our drive back to traffic land, Melbourne. We are now even more inspired to get out of the rat race.

I will like to thank you:

• Allan of Gippsland Food & Wine
• John of Riverleigh Bairnsdale Restaurant
• Josh of Cape Conran Wilderness Retreat
• John of Marlo Hotel
• Liz of Snowy River Cycle
• Mike & Jenny of Mingling Waters
• Gary of Metung Holiday Villas
• David of The Metung Hotel
• Jennifer & Lauren of Bancroft Bites
• Peta of Aquamania
• Michael of Wa-De-Lock

And also to Nuffnang & Emily from Cox Marketing Solution. It has been great fun and I am actually going back to East Gippsland in the New Year!