Sun, Sand and Surf at the Last Stop on Our Around The World Journey: Two Weeks in Southeastern Australia

One of southeastern Australia's many beaches,
Squeaky Beach at Wilson's Promotory

We're half-way through our whirlwind two-week tour of Australia. I know, I know, two weeks is not enough time to devote to such a large and diverse country but at this point in the game - eight months into our around the world journey - two weeks is all we can manage to eke out of the remains of our travel budget. And I do mean, 'eke'. Yes, there's lots of brown rice with tuna and chopped tomato on the menu these days...

But back to the more important details at hand! The vast multitude of gorgeous beaches in this limited corner of the globe have made us realize there's an obvious lack of lovely, swimmable ocean beaches in Canada. How lucky the Australians are! Every inch of this coast seems to be blessed with soft, powdery sand, good surf and an endless parade of holiday parks to ensure travelers will find all the comforts of home just a short walk across the road.

We've been here for less than a week and have been making our way along the coast from Melbourne to Brisbane. At the moment, we're in picturesque Mallacoota, just south of the Victoria/New South Wales boarder. Our travel brochures tell us that, as straight as the crow flies, we're only about 500km from Melbourne, but the odometer on our rental vehicle tells us we've actually traveled about 700km to arrive here.

Similar to other places we've stopped at along the way, we're lazing away our days soaking up the sun on the area's many beaches and hiking the trails in the nearby national park. On this stop, the nearby park is the very impressive Croajingolong National Park which, along with the adjoining Nadgee Nature Reserve, is classified as one of only 12 World Biosphere Reserves in Australia. Considering it's unique designation, it's no surprise that Croajingolong possesses some of the most photogenic beaches we've seen in a year's worth of travels. To add to the fun, we're staying in a great campsite located on a lovely stretch of the area's 320km of coastline. Needless to say, we're having a fine time in good ol' Mallacoota!

We often have the beach all to ourselves at
the campsite in Mallacoota

One of the many beautiful views along the Mallacoota Coastal Walk

Other favourite spots on our Australian journey so far were Rosebud on the Mornington Peninsula, where we enjoyed the views at nearby Point Nepean National Park, and Cape Conran, which appeared to be a popular spot for young surfers to hone their skills.

Cape Conran Coastal Park

The true highlight of our trip so far though has been our visit to Wilson's Promotory, also known as 'The Prom'. We loved the stunning coastal views, great variety of trails and the well serviced campsite located right beside the oceanfront beach!

View from the summit of Mount Oberon,
Wilson's Promotory

Squeaky Beach is covered with rounded quartz sand that actually
squeaks as you walk on it!

It's a little sad to think that in just a few short weeks, our "journey of a lifetime" will come to an end. Yes, as the saying goes (and my bank account heartily agrees), all good things must come to an end. If it must end, I couldn't think of a better way to do it than savouring a laid-back road trip in a land far, far away in the southern hemisphere. Our trip may be winding down, but we've still got a lot of miles to travel before we reach home and with the majority of the wild chaos of the past eight months behind us, there seems to be plenty of time to think and reflect…and maybe even start planning for our next "journey of a lifetime".