Cruising the Gippsland Lakes, Victoria

Written by charterer

We had 7 days on the Gippsland lakes - 21st to 28th December, 2005 - in a 34' Clipper cruiser. We arrived at 8pm on the 20th, packed the boat and stayed on board at the docks, settled the account the next morning and were off just after 9:30 am. This was pre-arranged with the charter company.

We had some problems with the battery holding power over 3 days requiring us to run the engines to watch TV at night and also the electric anchor winch didn't work (ache). The guys replaced the batteries no questions asked. Although using $106 (73 litres) of fuel over that period, the charter company refunded us the full $500 deposit this week and sent us a letter giving a 12.5% discount on our next cruise, for those troubles. This was completely unexpected and my wife is writing them a letter of thanks.

Over the 3 days of 23rd thru 25th, gale-force winds had us moored at Steamer Landing in the Bunga Arm across from Paynesville, with about six other boats seeking shelter. One cruiser broke its bow line and we other boaties struggled to help pull it back against the unrelenting wind and affix a new line. Other than that, we felt safe if not slightly uncomfortable from the 3 days of buffeting by the waves. Our 12 and 14 year olds couldn't have cared less. We were told by two other boaties there, who had cruised the lakes for over 15 years, that this sort of windy weather is not uncommon over the December and January period. We usually cruise in off-peak season, so this came as a surprise and of course we'll go back to cruising April-ish again when the weather's more hospitable.

On our last night, we anchored in the safe anchorage of Picnic Arm west of Paynesville, with the bow slowly pushed onto the bank, as did most of the boats. Overnight the wind changed and our cruiser swung parallel to the bank, but a couple of gentle forward and reverse gears had us off easily and safely (if not apprehensively) the next morning. The previous night we had anchored at the end of Ducks Arm which we found to be a good protected anchorage.

An interesting trip is up the Mitchell River. The entrance is tricky. The navigation marks start about a mile or more east of the entrance (don't take short cuts). As you approach the entrance at Point Dawson, the navigation marks cease about 200 m from the entrance, as they then mark the passage further north to the Nicholson River. Simply continue directly ahead to the middle of the Mitchell River entrance. It seems a bit nerve racking as you can see shallow water either side of you, but staying in that straight line is safe. Stay in the middle of the river as you head up towards Bairnsdale. There is a small public jetty about 5 miles up on the port side that is a quiet and safe mooring, or you can tie-up anywhere along the bank - don't anchor.

On the western side of Metung township, in Lake King, there is a long public jetty. This would not be a good spot if a westerly was blowing, but there is a great safe beach there for the kids and lots of good sized whiting. Metung is only a couple of minutes walk over the hill (along the road). A few people were getting good catches of prawns here at night. Alternatively, there are some safe anchorages further around the point past Metung.

Off the northern point of Raymond Island in Lake King, near to the shallow-water pylons, we were catching some good flathead. Up in Lake Victoria, across the lake from Wattle Point, there is a red sand cliff with shallows in front. Anchor about 200 m off the beach, as the shallows begin to drop away, for some more great flathead.

A word of warning. The kellick anchors on the cruisers are not made to holdfast a heavy cruiser in windy conditions. Therefore, if you can't find a mooring at a jetty, you should head early for a safe anchorage spot marked on the cruising maps. We were forever alert when fishing close to shallow water, because on 2 days in windy conditions the anchor "gave way" and we started drifting. This wasn't a problem, because we anchored so that the wind pushed us parallel to or away from the shallows, and a couple of times we simply steadied the drift with the engine, brought in the anchor, and motored back to roughly where we were by sighting on-shore landmarks.

At Paynesville, a vehicular ferry is used between Paynesville and Raymond Island. Only proceed when the ferry is stationary. Two flashing lights on top of the ferry indicates its intentions. If the light on the Raymond Island end of the ferry begins flashing, it's about to set off towards Raymond Island and the light will continue to flash while at Raymond Island. When the ferry is about to head towards Paynesville, the light on Paynesville side will flash and will continue to flash while at Paynesville. So, just watch the lights as you approach and if they change flashing from one to the other - stop! There is a 5 knot limit through the strait here, and also in Newlands Arm and Duck Arm.

An enjoyable seven days cruising (even with the blustery conditions over 3 days), talking to other boaties over a glass of red, and some good fishing, certainly will have us back on the Gippsland Lakes next year.

December, 2000

After having cruised the Hawkesbury and Pittwater systems (north of Sydney) for many years, we decided to try something closer to home for our Xmas 2000 holiday.  The Gippsland Lakes is a 3.5 hour drive (300kms) east of Melbourne.  There are over 400 sq kms of waterways which makes it the largest inland waterway in Australia.  There are two towns (that I know of) where you can hire cruisers and/or yachts - Paynesville and Metung.  We chose a company operating out of Metung, and hired the same type of cruiser we use on the Hawkesbury, a Clipper 34.

The Gippsland Lakes area is made up of a number of large lakes, medium sized to small navigable channels, and a number of navigable narrow rivers.  You could cruise for a week and not see the entire area (for example, Lake Victoria alone is 27kms long).  The lakes can be quite shallow in places but, as expected, they are well served by navigation aids.  The Lakes meet the sea at Lakes Entrance at a narrow opening that produces strong currents on both the incoming and outgoing tides.  For this reason charter boats are restricted to venturing no lower than Kalimna Jetty in Reeves Channel or Barrier Landing in Hopetoun Channel, both 1.5kms upstream from the entrance.  The upper charter limit is the entrance to Lake Wellington, over 7 hours cruising from Metung.

Although the tidal influence is strong near the mouth, upstream from Metung the tidal influence is limited and we experienced a low/high tide change of less than one foot within Bunga Arm.  Our navigation map, supplied by the charter company, cautioned about the affect of strong winds on the lakes, both while cruising and in particular with overnight mooring.  As on any large body of water the right mooring is determined by the prevailing winds, so we listened attentively to the Coast Guard weather watch every afternoon.  One day we misjudged the winds and became buffeted by large waves while tied to a jetty, so had to move to the other side of the lake to a more sheltered anchorage.

The introductory talk by the operator pointed out things to be aware of, such as the aforementioned tidal and weather influences.  Some differences between the Hawkesbury and Gippsland Lakes chartering are:

Public jetties are denoted by having two poles on the jetty painted red - these poles are ladders used by small craft.  Private jetties will not have the red poles and generally are signposted as private.

Metung, Bancroft Bay, Reeves Channel, Kalimna Jetty, and Barrier Landing

Metung is on Bancroft Bay, approximately 9kms upstream from Lakes Entrance.  At the northern end of Bancroft Bay is Box's Creek and Chinamans Creek, both suitable as safe anchorages, but that's about all - bush and muddy banks surround both areas.  At Metung you can pick up supplies - moor at the public jetty. If you're short of water, Metung Cruisers (formerly Bulls Cruisers) has reciprocal arrangements with some of the other charter companies, as does Riveria Nautic in Chinamans Creek.  Across from Metung is Silver Shot public jetty where you can moor to explore the National Park.

Downstream is Reeves Channel, 6kms long, offering excellent fishing.  2kms upstream from Kalimna Jetty, Rigby Strait veers off to the right into Hopetoun Channel to Barrier Landing.  Because of the fast tides at both Kalimna Jetty and Barrier Landing, extreme caution is required when berthing - berth against the tide and allow for the dropping and raising of the tide when tying up.  Overnight mooring is not allowed at Kalimna Jetty, and with a hotel at the top of the hill a good nights rest wouldn't be had anyway!  A short walk across the sand dunes from Barrier Landing brings you to Ninety Mile Beach.

Lake King, Tambo River, Nicholson River, Mitchell River

Around the bend upstream from Metung is Lake King.  As you come out of the channel into Lake King, Raymond Island is directly ahead of you.  Veering  right, heading north-west, you will head towards the entrances to the three rivers.

The entrance to the Tambo is one hours cruising from Metung and is the first river encountered.  The first navigation marker is .5km from the mouth with sandbars on either side.  Another hours cruising will take you to the head of the navigable waters in the Tambo, passing the Princes Highway bridge at Swan Reach, 9kms upstream.  The river averages about 100 meters wide.  There is a tap on the jetty at Swan Reach if you need to refill your water.  A hotel is a 2 minute walk away - for ice, of course.

The entrance to both the Nicholson River (the next past the Tambo) and the Mitchell River is via one set of navigation markers.  As you pass the fifth port navigation marker the Mitchell River veers off to the left with a direction light platform marking the starboard-side entrance.  Veer right, up towards the sixth port navigation marker to enter the Nicholson River.  You'll then come to another direction light platform with navigation markers on the extreme right marking the narrow entrance to the Nicholson.  You can only navigate about two more kilometres up the Nicholson to the Princes Highway bridge at Nicholson.

You journey up the first 8kms of the Mitchell River with just a narrow strip of land on either side of you separating the river from the very shallow Jones Bay on the starboard side and Eagle Bay on the port side.  It's akin to cruising along a canal.  There is good bream fishing in the area.  Another 8kms upstream is Bairnsdale, but the channel past the first 8kms area is difficult to navigate.

Paynesville, Raymond Island, Newlands Arm, and Duck Arm

Coming out of the three rivers, Paynesville is, more or less, south-west.  There is a large radio mast to the north of the town which is easier to see than the town.  Raymond Island is across narrow McMillans Strait (a couple of hundred meters wide) from Paynesville.  A direction light platform marks the entrance to McMillans Strait.  A ferry operates to the south of McMillans Strait between Paynesville and Raymond Island so beware of chains and only cross when the ferry is stationary at either side.  Supplies can be replenished at Paynesville with its many public jetties.  We found the easiest place was to tie up at the most southern public jetty, just past the ferry, with a general store (IGA) just across the road.  If you're short of water, Crystal Cruisers, near the eastern end of McMillans Strait, has reciprocal arrangements with some of the other charter companies.

Sheltered overnight mooring is available in Newlands Arm, to the right after coming out of McMillans Strait, and also in Duck Arm, 2kms further west past Lady Bay.  Water skiers frequent Newlands Arm so don't expect a quite stay during the day.  There is a 8 knot limit in Duck Arm.  Immediately entering either Newlands Arm or Duck Arm, veer left and gently motor up on to the beach.  Both places have good swimming here and good shelter from southerly and easterly winds.

Bunga Arm

Coming out of Paynesville, rounding the port direction light, head sou-sou-west and you'll cross Campbell Channel heading towards the navigation markers between Gergon Bank to the east and Radford Bank to the west.  These markers show the start of the channel heading towards Bunga Arm.  Before you pass the sixth port marker (pile number 12) you'll have to decide on one of two narrow channels to enter Bunga Arm - Bunga Channel heading east (ahead) or Aurora Channel veering off to the right.  The most popular route is to take Aurora Channel into Bunga Arm, and Bunga Channel coming out.  This way you'll pass Ocean Grange jetty in Aurora Channel and can see if any moorings are available here should you find nothing suitable further up Bunga Arm.

Here is the warning on the navigation map: "NOTE: When entering Bunga Arm it is important that you sight and sail towards one set of markers at a time.  DO NOT try to sight three stages ahead, otherwise you will become confused."  With 32 markers between Campbell Channel and the end of Aurora Channel, twisting this way and that, this warning is valid.  However, don't let this put you off.  I thought it would be daunting, but I took it steady, with the navigation map in front of me on the fly bridge and taking the markers one set at a time - no sweat.

We decided to moor at Steamer Landing, with it's adequate jetty and sandy beach for the kids, and Ninety Mile Beach 100 feet away over the dunes.  The navigation map showed three other areas suitable for mooring past Steamer Landing, but we had difficulty finding the channel into the first two areas so returned to Steamer Landing.

Coming out of Bunga Arm along Bunga Channel I noticed that the shallows extended out past the starboard navigation poles, I assume due to the shifting bottom over time.  Even though the channel is narrow in parts, and I needed to allow for three craft that passed us entering Bunga Arm, it is wise to keep towards the center of the channel rather than off to either side.

Lake Victoria

Lake Victoria stretches 27kms and is between 2-3 kms wide.  Shallow water on either bank stretches its entire length.  The town of Loch Sport is approximately half way, on the southern shore.  Here you'll find a marina, but they charge $15 for overnight mooring.  Shallow water surrounds the jetty so proceed slowly.

At the far (western) end of Lake Victoria is Hollands Landing and the entrance to McLennans Strait, a narror river that connects Lake Wellington to Lake Victoria.  Our charter boat was not allowed to proceed into Lake Wellington.

The journey up Lake Victoria is pretty mind-numbing, with the same scenery for 27kms.  You'd need a good excuse to bother heading up that way.  One place we stayed overnight was the bay set in from Point Walker on the southern shore near the eastern end (start?) of Lake Victoria.  We nosed the bow up to the beach and used the ladder on board to climb down the bow.  The bottom underfoot was muddy with hidden twigs and small branches, with clean sand towards the water line - not very nice but the kids didn't mind (seeing I that  piggy-backed them to the shore).

Fishing

The three rivers are good areas for bream - many anglers lined the banks.   The best fishing out of the rivers is downstream towards the mouth, along Reeves Channel.

We had the best luck trolling for tailor in Lake King (and also over ten years ago from a small inboard hire boat in Reeves Channel).  When motoring we always have our bream rods rigged with Silver Wobblers.  When we spot a large flock of cormorants and/or pelicans feeding it invariably means that tailor are feeding on schools of smaller fish.  It's fairly easy to cruise over to the commotion, and then either troll slowly thru the area, or cut the engine and cast and retrieve the lure in succession.  We caught a mess of bonito this way on our last Hawkesbury trip off Flint and Steel Bay, but that's another story.

Click here for Charter Companies - Yachts and motor cruisers are available.