Wildly Pretty

The Age

Saturday September 22, 2007

Louise Southerden

Tiny, remote and unspoilt, Mallacoota is full of things to do, writes Louise Southerden.

For a small place (population about 1000), Mallacoota has big ideas. "It's like Byron Bay 20 years ago," says Rosemary Luker, who owns Karbeethong Lodge, a restored 1920s guest house overlooking a grassy lawn that runs down to the lake.

It's also rumoured to have more millionaires per capita than anywhere else in Australia, thanks to its 20-odd abalone divers; as well as sea changers from Melbourne and Sydney, and weekenders from Canberra, which is a three-hour drive away.

Because of its arty heritage, Mallacoota is also the kind of place that has "characters" - including the beachcomber with the long white beard who lives in a caravan and is best known for "borrowing" residents' unlocked bicycles for, let's say, "unclad" joy rides around town - though he always returns the bikes when he's had his fun.

History

Originally inhabited by the Maap or Bidawal people, the Mallacoota area was home to several small groups of indigenous Australians until the 1870s. At least 12 archaeological sites, mostly shell middens, have been found in the area - some of which demonstrate continual occupation for thousands of years.

Mallacoota is not far from the spot where, in 1770, Captain Cook first glimpsed the Australian mainland (Point Hicks). Settlement in the area took off in 1894 when gold was discovered and the Spotted Dog gold mine opened.

Edwin James (E. J.) Brady, who used to write for The Bulletin and was commissioned by the Federal Government to write a book on Australia, was taken by Mallacoota's untouched beauty when he passed through in 1909. He set up a writers' camp overlooking the lake, which was visited by Henry Lawson in 1910. Brady's other acquaintances included artist Tom Roberts, novelist Katherine Susannah Pritchard, and poet and playwright Louis Esson. "We were radical bohemians," Brady once wrote, "filled with sincere enthusiasms."

Today Mallacoota retains much of the ideal of making the world a better place through the arts. In 1925 the settlement moved to the south side of the lake.

When to go

Mallacoota is generally about five degrees warmer than Melbourne and cooled by ocean breezes in summer. Try to avoid summer holidays and Easter, when the usually sleepy town becomes a holiday monster.

How to get there

Mallacoota is 521 kilometres east of Melbourne, just south of the NSW border. Follow the Princes Highway and turn right at Genoa - Mallacoota is at the end of a 23-kilometre sealed side road. Regional Express Airlines (131 713, rex.com.au) flies daily from Melbourne to Merimbula, on the NSW south coast, for $125 one way. Mallacoota is 40 minutes south of Merimbula. Prices of Hertz rental cars (133 039, hertz.com.au) start at $105 a day. Mallacoota has its own airport but you need to charter your own plane to land there; scenic flights to Gabo Island leave from there, too.

Where to stay

Karbeethong Lodge (5158 0411, karbeethonglodge.com.au), a stylishly renovated 1920s guest house five minutes from town, has 12 bedrooms with views over the Bottom Lake; a luxurious lounge room with open fire, armchairs and window seats; a sunny veranda; and a large self-catering kitchen. Rooms start at $75 a night, including continental breakfast. Karbeethong can also be booked as a whole house.

Gipsy Point Lodge (1800 063 556, gipsypoint.com), on the road to Mallacoota, has guest house accommodation from $155 a person per night including breakfast, dinner and, if you stay more than one night, a picnic or barbecue lunch. Prices for its three self-contained cottages start at $105 a night with dinner available for an extra $60 a person. Guests can use the lodge's rowboats and canoes to explore the Top Lake, or rent a four-metre launch for $90 a day.

For more mod cons, try Gipsy Point Lakeside (1800 688 200, gipsy.com.au), a relatively new establishment with self-contained, serviced apartments. Think minibars, air-conditioning, floor-to-ceiling windows and spas. There's also a ladder from the jetty for lake swimming in summer. Nightly rates start at $215 an apartment.

To really immerse yourself in the landscape, you can rent a six-bunk houseboat for $850 for three nights - plus fuel from Mallacoota Houseboats (5158 0775). There are toilets and hot showers on board. BYO bed linen.

Where to eat

The Tide (5158 0100) has a lovely deck and great food including tempura fish'n'chips and live music some nights, but is closed in winter. It reopens for the summer in September-October. Cafe 54 (5158 0646) is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and has live music some nights. Croajingolong Cafe (5158 0098) is open for breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea; it does an excellent bacon-and-eggs breakfast and smoothies.

Mallacoota Bakery (5158 0253) is one of those classic country bakeries that serves pasties, meat pies, lamingtons and vanilla slices. Sit on its sunny patio or pick up the ingredients for a picnic.

You can get dinner at "the pub" (nobody calls it the Mallacoota Hotel) between 6pm and 8pm every night. This is "surf'n'turf" country - great steaks and seafood. It's also one of the town's live music venues on Friday and Saturday nights. Gipsy Point Lodge is the town's "put on a frock" dining establishment; for men, a nice shirt and jacket will do. Pre-dinner drinks are served on the downstairs deck surrounded by bush and bird life. Recommended in The Age Good Food Guide.

Nightlife

The Strum Club, started by John and Joycelyn Grunden (see Local View, right) has communal music-making every Sunday from 4pm at the Mud Brick community centre. Ask at the Visitor Information Shed for directions.

Karbeethong Lodge (5158 0411) regularly hosts jazz, opera, poetry readings and performances by renowned Melbourne-based saxophone player Martha Baartz on its lawn-with-a-view. Manager Patrick Buckley often rounds up musician friends for an impromptu fireside performance in the lounge.

The Mallacoota Arts Council (5158 0890) organises various art exhibitions, workshops, writing competitions and shows throughout the year.

Things to do

If you're a water person, you've come to the right place. Mallacoota has more than 100 kilometres of pristine beaches and more than 320 kilometres of lake shore. The main surf beach is Bastion Point where there's a great right-hand point break that doubles as a loading zone for abalone divers' boats - don't get the locals started on that one. There are two surf shops in town: Coota Surf (5158 0788) and the Surf Shack (5158 0909), which runs two-hour surf lessons during the summer holidays for $45 a person.

Betka Beach is popular with families for its child-friendly lagoon and barbecue facilities.

Further south, reached by a maze of dirt roads, there's Quarry Beach. If that's not remote enough for you, walk around the rocks to Secret Beach which cannot be reached by car so can be blissfully uncrowded in summer. Or pack a picnic lunch and a bottle of water and follow the Shipwreck Creek walking trail to an even wilder beach.

Croajingolong National Park, which surrounds the lake, is a UNESCO-designated World Biosphere Reserve - one of only 12 in Australia - with more than 1000 species of native plants including 90 orchids, and 300 bird species, making it ideal for birdwatching and bushwalking. Mallacoota Parks Victoria office (5161 9500) has track details.

Mallacoota Wilderness Coast Charters (5158 0701) runs a pick-up and drop-off service around the lake (price on application).

Blue Ocean Sea Kayaking (0429 028 017) runs two-hour guided sea kayaking tours, including lunch, on Mallacoota Inlet for $120 a person.

Step aboard the Porkie Bess for an authentic wooden boat cruise. (Skipper Simon Buckley, 5158 0109 or 0408 408 094.) Go at sunset and you'll see sea eagles, pelicans and maybe a koala. Two-hour cruises including tea/coffee cost $25 a head for a minimum of two people. Fishing trips can be arranged for $30 a head, including tackle.

M.V. Loch Ard Wilderness Cruises (5158 0764, cruisemallacoota.com) runs day trips aboard a 1910 former passenger ferry, the oldest in Australia. Fares start at $25 an adult or $10 a child.

Many visitors to Mallacoota come for the fishing. Commonly caught species include black bream, flathead, tailor, salmon, snapper, whiting, prawns and mulloway. Recreational fishing licences are available from the Mallacoota Ampol service station (5158 0354), with prices starting at $5.50 for a 48-hour licence.

Buckland Jetty Boat Hire (0428 580 660) and Mallacoota Hire Boats (5158 0704) rent boats on the lake from $50 for the first two hours or $120 a day. They can also arrange bait and tackle.

Mallacoota Air Services (0408 580 806, mallacootaairservices.com) operates scenic flights and charter flights to Gabo Island, 13 kilometres offshore, where you'll find penguins, seals and Australia's tallest lighthouse. A return trip costs $100 for three adults or two adults and two children aged under 13. Mallacoota Wilderness Coast Charters (5158 0701) also goes to Gabo Island. Tours cost $60 a head including a lighthouse tour, with seal tours, surfing and fishing trips on demand.

More information

? Mallacoota's Visitor Information Shed at the jetty: 5158 0800

? Mallacoota and District Business and Tourism Association, visitmallacoota.com.au

? East Gippsland Visitor Information:

1800 637 060 (press "2" for Mallacoota) or www.lakesandwilderness.com.au

? East Gippsland Shire Council, including event listings: www.egipps.vic.gov.au

? Tourism Victoria: inspiredbygippsland.com.au (part of visitvictoria.com)

Louise Southerden travelled to Mallacoota as a guest of Tourism Victoria and Karbeethong Lodge.

LOCAL VIEW

John Grunden

Retired architect and musician John Grunden moved to Mallacoota from Melbourne after playing in a band at a friend's New Year's Eve party at the local golf club in 1977. He and his wife Joycelyn now live in a house John designed and built on Karbeethong Hill and run musical events in the town, such as Strum Club. As John explains, "We're trying to create the feeling that we can do music together; mistakes don't count, there's no particular style and it's fully democratic. Our youngest member is eight, our oldest is 88. A lot of the people who are drawn to Mallacoota are into art, dance, theatre, music. It's a terrific place. There are the ocean beaches, the inland waterways, it's remote. It's changed quite a lot since we first came here - there are more retirees now - but it has a special beauty about it, an unusual quality. I think people should visit Mallacoota because it's such a beautifully remote place and it still has a feeling of pristine beauty. If it's looked after and doesn't become another coastal planning mistake, this will be a place of value for a lot of people in the future, because there's a limited number of these kinds of places left."

© 2007 The Age

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