We decided to end the year with a short trip fairly close to home. During the year we'd bid on a travel auction 10 night stay for a powered site at Venus Bay CP. Usually $38/nt, we successfully bid at $205 for the 10 night stay. We don't do many travel auctions because we don't stay in CP's very often. This wasn't new territory for us as we'd been coming down that way for around 40 years but hadn't been there recently. After spending a total of about 6 months of 2018 traveling to far flung destinations mostly interstate it was a nice change to not have to drive a long way. South Gippsland is a very diverse & enjoyable area with Wilson's Promontory NP, Yanakie, Shallow Inlet, Waratah Bay, Toora, Corner Inlet & the Strzelecki Ranges just to name a few of the places to visit on day trips. After doing a lot of driving on our previous trips this year we decided to remain in the general Venus Bay, Cape Liptrap & Walkerville area.

We were booked into Venus Bay CP beginning on a Monday night so we thought that it would add to our trip if we stayed the weekend prior at Walkerville Nth Foreshore Reserve CP. Saturday was rainy & windy so we headed off early on Sunday morning. Walkerville Nth Foreshore CP is lovely, but is it worth $40/nt for an unpowered site, a lot of people must think it is? It struck us as the kind of place that the same families keep coming back to year after year. Good on them, we enjoyed our short one night stay & the late departure on Monday. Its an excellent nature based destination. If it had a nightly fee of around $25/nt we'd probably come back sometime for a week

Walkerville Nth foreshore.

Crimson Rosella

A day at the beach for this Superb Fairy-wren.

Moving on to Venus Bay CP we were looking forward to going surf fishing. We've been surf fishing for many years but about 5 years ago we'd upgraded our gear to new whizz bang equipment which hadn't caught a damn thing until this trip. Whoopee! We actually christened our rods & reels, catching some decent sized Australian Salmon which we always turn into a gourmet seafood/mornay pasta sauce meal. Yum! The 5.5km return walk to Pt Smythe at the entrance to Anderson's Inlet through shady tee-tree & banksia woodland was well worth the effort. The views from the point were great, all the way along the coast to Eagles Nest near Cape Paterson. Cape Liptrap Coastal Park extends from Pt Smythe along the coast to Cape Liptrap & around to Waratah Bay.

On the way to Pt Smythe

Pigface

At Pt Smythe, Eagles Nest near Cape Patterson in the distance.

Pied Cormorant

Looking across Anderson's Inlet to Inverloch. Teepee must belong to the Wonthaggi tribe.

Little Wattlebird

Nature Reserves are a focus on most of our trips so we headed for Bald Hills Wetland Reserve, it has a lovely picnic area & walking track to a bird-hide overlooking the wetlands. On other days we visited Cape Liptrap Lighthouse, Bear Gully & Walkerville Sth. Great views of Wilsons Promontory were had from Cape Liptrap lighthouse. The main feature at Walkerville Sth is the old lime kilns, the low tide walk along the beach to Walkerville Nth is lovely. Bear Gully has been a popular campground for many years, rightly so, its a delightful spot. Years ago some grey nomads used to stay there for free for many months every year. Those days are long gone as fees are now $27/nt off peak & $37/nt peak periods, a little excessive in our opinion.

Smile Mr Wallaby

Eastern Yellow Robin

It must get pretty damp in Winter at Balld Hills Reserve.

Cape Liptrap lighthouse with Wilson's Promontory in the distance.

Bear Gully foreshore.

Crested Tern

Washed up at Bear Gully. Hmmm, now what is it exactly?

Sea shell mosaic Bear Gully beach.

Lime kilns Walkerville Sth.

Thanks for reading/viewing.

Happy, healthy & safe travels to all in the New Year.

Cheers Keith & Judy