Ten Types of Boating Holiday
Your boat is your passport to a very special holiday – of fun and freedom that can never be captured in the same way if you remain ‘land locked’. Everything is wonderfully different: the way you live, the way you travel about, your closeness to the natural environment, the chance to learn something new, even food looks and tastes better on a boat!
You can hide away from the world, or join the locals at a lake-side pub. You can fish, swim, bushwalk, bird watch, beachcomb, body surf, photograph, picnic, barbecue, dine out, gallery prowl, read, doze, and delight in the beauty around you.
Birdlife, Bushwalks & Barbecue
Discover the amazing bird and animal life around the Lakes. There are over 140 species of birds, and lots of native animals kangaroos, koalas, wombats and more in protected environments. Bushwalks through the national parks will reveal a world of activity, and your barbecue will be visited by curious creatures. Watch out for dolphins as you cruise the Lakes, and seals on the ocean beach.
Never Cook a Meal
Easy barbecues in the national parks add a special flavour to your holiday and, when you want to dine in style, there are restaurants in the portside towns. Clever stocking of your galley with delicious, fresh foods that keep preparation to minimum is the simplest way to keep you out of the galley.
Learn to Sail
Learning to sail as part of your holiday is a great way to gain real skills. We will spend time with you at the start of your holiday to teach you the basics. Then you’re free to keep practicing at your own pace. And you learn quickly because you’re in charge (and were always just a radio call away for more advice). There’s nowhere in the world that matches the Lakes as an ideal place to learn to sail.
Become a Galley Gourmet
Cooking on board is great fun. We can give you ideas for foods that suit boating life and big appetites. How about a Mediterranean menu: tomatoes, cheese, olives and good bread, fish seared on a wood-fired barbecue, lamb kebabs on rosemary sticks, pesto for pasta, and lots of fresh green salads. Or consider catching your own prawns to lightly sear on a barbecue and toss through a fresh green salad.
Ocean Beach Discovery
The Ninety Mile Beach is a magnificent stretch of white sand and thundering ocean – the second longest beach on earth! You can easily lose a lazy morning beachcombing along the shore. Shells and driftwood, and a surprising splash of colourful seaweed; when you raise your eyes, there are gannets diving for fish and oyster catchers poking pink beaks into the moist sand. If you’re really lucky you’ll see surfing dolphins.
Fun and Learning with Kids
Boating holidays are fun for curious kids. There’s so much to learn in this natural environment: the name of a bird, or the stars in a clear night sky. Lighting a barbecue, getting to know a joey, baiting a line; its worlds away from the TV and computer games. And the boat itself provides a wealth of learning experiences: there are knots to know, navigation and boating skills to learn, even helping in the galley is a new experience.
Fitness and Relaxation
Combining fitness and relaxation…
Sailing is an incredibly enjoyable way to fitness. And when you moor, you can jog along the beach and bush tracks, and do pushups on the pier. Breath deeply the air is clean, and savour healthy food that matches this natural environment. Let your soul absorb the beauty and peace around you. Its much more fun than a health resort.
Fishing for Fun
Bream in the rivers, whiting at the Barrier Landing, salmon in the surf, trawling for tailor and netting prawns: the lakes, rivers and ocean beach offer a feast for a fisherman. Living on board means you can stay right where the fish are biting and cook your catch for breakfast.
Romantic Short Breaks
Because boats are so wonderfully different, even just a few days on board will renew your spirit. And the Lakes are romantically beautiful. Picture yourself: relaxing on board at the end of a days’ cruising in the sheltered waters of the Bunga Arm. The surf thunders in the background and the sun sets at the end of the arm. Quiet music and a glass of champagne.
A Photographer’s Paradise
The azure flash of a kingfisher, your prowess at the helm of a magnificent yacht, the pink and gold of a spectacular sunset, the blue lake waters with a line of blue mountains in the distance these are the images that endear us to the Gippsland Lakes. Capturing them on film offers both challenge and pleasure. And what memories to keep!