Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting There & Away
To get to Loch Sport, turn off the South Gippsland Hwy at Longford. From the turn-off,
it's a 61km drive along the C485.
BAIRNSDALE BYPASS?
Bustling Bairnsdale (population 11,820) is East Gippsland's commercial hub and the turn-off north for the Great
Alpine Rd (B500) to Omeo or south to Paynesville and Raymond Island. There's better accommodation in Sale,
Metung or Lakes Entrance. Otherwise, the only reason we can think to stop in the town itself is the
Krowathunkoolong Keeping Place
( 03-5152 1891; 37-53 Dalmahoy St; adult/child $3.50/2.50;
9am-5pm Mon-Fri), a stirring and insightful Koorie cultural exhibition space that explores Kurnai life from the
Dreaming until after European settlement. The exhibition traces the Kurnai people from their Dreaming ancest-
ors, Borun the pelican and his wife Tuk the musk duck, and covers life at Lake Tyers Mission, east of Lakes En-
trance, now a trust privately owned by Aboriginal shareholders. The massacres of the Kurnai from 1839 to 1849
are also detailed. For more information, try the
Bairnsdale Visitor Centre
(
03-5152 3444, 1800 637 060;
www.discovereastgippsland.com.au
;
240 Main St;
9am-5pm) . Bairnsdale lies 67km from Sale and 280km
from Melbourne.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Paynesville
& Raymond Island
Sights & Activities
Paynesville is a relaxed little lake town where life is all about the water, and some resid-
ents have their luxury boats moored right outside their house on purpose-built canals. A
good reason to detour here is to take the ferry on the five-minute hop across to Raymond
Island for some koala spotting. There's a large colony of koalas here, mostly relocated
from Phillip Island in the 1950s. The flat-bottom car and passenger ferry operates every
half-hour from 7am to 11pm and is free for pedestrians and cyclists; cars and motorcycles
cost $10. Several operators hire out boats.
Aquamania
( 0417 163 365;
www.aquamania.com.au
)
Organises boat tours, waterski and wakeboard instruc-
tion, and operates a water taxi.
WATER SPORTS
