Big Trip 2026(1) Day 9 - Mallacoota to Lakes Entrance

I woke up and managed to get this shot of the rising sun.

 After packing everything in the car to head off, Nick wanted to take a last walk down at Quarry Beach.  Whilst I wasn’t into the full walk of the beach that he did it allowed me to sit down and enjoy the area. I’m glad I did that as I was able to see a pod of dolphins swim over and through the waves. They seemed to be heading to the township area where dolphin food beckoned.  Or maybe they were on their way from a feed. Or they were just having a nice morning swim.  I won’t know. I was looking at them for so long, I almost forgot I had a camera; however the shots I did take were hardly the evidence to prove nine or ten dolphins swimming past.

As we hadn’t had breakfast before we left, we stopped in Cann River for morning tea (food review below).  We had a very cheeky currawong(?) hop on the table where we were eating hoping for a tiny morsel of food.  We obliged, which was a big mistake, as it had a lot of mates that identified me as a soft target and also wanted their own tiny morsels.  Three or four of them were lucky birds, but the rest missed out.

Whenever we are driving between Lakes Entrance and Mallacoota, if time allows I will make a detour along the coast to Cape Conran.  Not content with limiting myself to the beaches at Mallacoota, I find the beach at Cape Conran particularly stunning.  It also has a walkway at the west end that leads out over the rocks which Nick used.  Having had a couple of heavy days of walking I was content to sit and admire the view.

 Neither of us were hungry for lunch so only stopped briefly at Orbost and then headed on to Lake Entrance.

Once we unpacked and had a break, I was on a mission from Lesley to a) visit the Shell Museum and b) procure a present for her.

The Shell Museum has been there as long as I have been travelling to Lakes Entrance.  It is not only a “museum” for shells but also features an old model railway out the back, once you walk through the largish (and also old) aquarium.  Nick used to be interested in model trains when he was much younger, so this we had visited this quite a few times in earlier years.  Now, it feels a bit kitschy.  The presents that we bought Lesley celebrate that kitschiness. 

As we walked around some of the shops, we came across a chocolate shop that had n=only been around a couple of years.  We had to go in, and I had to buy more presents.

 Tea tonight is a bit of a tradition with Nick and I when stopping in Lakes Entrance.  We go to one of the fish and chip shops – there are plenty of them.  The chocolatier had recommended Awesome Fish and Chips.  Nick ordered some local fish (gummy shark), chips and “sides” (scallops and potato cakes). I ordered a hamburger with the lot (I am not a fish eater).  A proper hamburger with the lot must include beetroot and pineapple, in addition to the standard egg, bacon, lettuce, onions, tomato, cheese (Kraft Single unfortunately) and beef patty (obviously).

Tomorrow morning will feature a game of mini golf before heading onto Foster.

Food Review

Cann River Bakery was today's chosen bakery. 

The sausage roll was OK, according to Nick 6/10

The chosen pie was a pepper steak pie. It was a very, very peppery pie, which gets bonus marks from me. It did feel a bit undercooked as the pie needed to be supported by its tin base, which is never a good sign. 7/10

Today's Album  Storm Front Billy Joel

Kms Travelled Today 240

Kms Travelled Total 1,826