Orbost, Victoria

Wednesday February 8th saw us on the road once again. A slightly longer trip today to Orbost (120km) It was a fairly short drive but not an easy one. The road was very winding and hilly with numerous uneven patches. We were both relieved to arrive safely at our destination. We had originally planned to stay at one of the numerous free camps along the Snowy River between Orbost and Marlo. However, when we explored them we found them all very small and right on the main road. Most of them would only fit two vans comfortably. We also discovered the Ransleys had mechanical problems with their caravan when they pulled up to inspect one site. Their parking brake cable had come off during the trip. We decided it might be best to head back to the caravan park in Orbost.

The caravan park there is lovely and shaded with several large trees. We got setup in two nice grassy sites. The sites were nice and wide but not very deep. There were sites behind ours but with no access road. Would be interesting during peak times. Luckily the park wasn't that full and these sites weren't required. Gave us a bit more room and space to park our cars in the shade. Two large amenity blocks that were old but lovely and clean. Very cool as well due to the thick brick/masonry walls. I'll give 4 stars. It was relatively good value at $29/night and would recommend for future visitors.

We headed into town once setup to find some parts to fix the brake problem. We were fortunate to find the required part at our first stop at Home Hardware. Rans and I got the problem fixed up in relatively short order. We had a quick lunch before heading off in our car to explore Marlo. A relatively short trip South on a good sealed road. We inspected a number of free camping areas along the river towards Marlo. Unfortunately, they were all small with poor signage and difficult access to many. I would highly recommend that you travel to Marlo first and look to find a site on your return trip to Orbost as would be much easier to access all the sites on your left.

We did a quick tour of Marlo and found a nice beach/picnic area near the mouth of the Snowy. All the posts had hats/beanies which was interesting.

We then travelled East towards Cape Conran. We stopped at a number of viewpoints where you could see the Snowy estuary with the ocean in the background.

We then stopped at Point Ricardo where we did a short walk. Only a couple of hundred meters took you to a huge beach which we had all to ourselves. Sandra, Carol, and I did a short walk enjoying the views.

We returned to the Caravan park where we enjoyed a quiet night. Sandra and I took a short walk along the Snowy River near the caravan park after dinner. The river was beautiful but unfortunately a number of information signs and viewpoints were somewhat rundown. Given the Snowy River would be the main tourist attraction for Orbost it is a shame that the area isn't better maintained.