When I think of sailing in Australia I automatically think of sailing in the Whitsunday Islands in Queensland which I understand are spectacular. However the Gippsland Lakes are an excellent alternative if you are staying in Melbourne. They are a network of internal lakes which have an outlet onto the Bass Strait and are 4 hours drive from Melbourne. They have picturesque bays with cosy isolated anchorages, you can walk across the dunes to the wonderfully wild 90 mile beach and as they are lakes they tend to have flat water even when it is windy which is great if you have someone like my wife on board who gets sea sick!

We hired a 37 footer from Riviera Nautica which was very spacious for 4 of us. This is the largest boat in their fleet which starts with 28 footers. No formal qualifications are needed to take rent a boat but it is probably advisable to have someone with sailing experience on board!

We had 4 nights on the boat which gave us ample times to sail around the lakes. We arrived in the evening and slept on board in Metung where Riviera Nautica is based. We had a briefing first thing in the morning then we were off.

Day 1 we had a leisurely sail across Bancroft Bay to moor at Barrier Landing which is a pontoon with toilet facilities. From there it was a 5 minute walk over to 90 mile beach which is just awesome. As its name suggests it runs for 90 mile and we had it all to ourselves! The swell is quite powerful and one needs to be careful swimming in the waves but it was extremely exhilarating to be in the sea. 

Day 2 we sailed across to Paynesville and Raymond Island for lunch. Paynesville is a sleepy town where one can stock up on food, but the star attraction is the Koalas on Raymond Island. They live wild on the island and can be seen in many of the trees. I have been to a koala sanctuary before where they appeared as little blobs at the top of very tall trees but here they were at eye level and were an absolute joy to see at close quarters. We then sailed across to the Bunga Arm for our night time mooring. This was in a bay which we had all to ourselves. We had another swim on 90 mile beach then settled down on our boat loving the night sky with a bottle (or two) of wine – perfect

Day 3 – nice wind today so we had a great sail up Lake Victoria which was exhilarating before spending the night in another beautiful location called Duck Arm. Here we were able to enjoy close up encounters with the beautiful black swans which are present in abundance on the lakes before enjoying another stunning night sky.

Day 4 – leisurely sail back to Metung to give back our boat.

The wildlife on the Gippsland Lakes is wonderful as well as the koalas and the black swans we saw some kangaroos near Mosquito Point. You not able to take a yacht to Lakes Entrance but you can go on a day trip and the star attraction there are the seals who we saw playing and surfing in the waves as well as numerous pelicans which are always a joy.