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Mallacoota

Nice to meet you

By Thomas Feng

January 24^th, 2018

A long drive

We're just over halfway a five and a hour drive to Mallacoota, somewhere in between Orbost and Marlo along the Snowy River in East Gippsland.

Mum plucks a wild daisy from the flood plain and twirls it round and round along her pastel yellow dress. I'm lying on the ground photographing the rickety, neglected wooden bridge from the old railway line.

It feels like a scene out of a Studio Ghibli film. The grass sways to and fro to the zephyr; the sky is a cotton dreamscape where the mind runs blissfully free; and my parents and I have a longing to be away from town.

Mallacoota

Mallacoota

One road in and one road out. A sleepy town of 1,000 swells to 9,000 in the summer.

A van by the foreshore sells fresh seafood caught locally each day. Tents, caravans and marquees fill the coastline on the ocean, while houseboats and dinghies wade beside private jetties on the inlet.

Up the river is the ever-quiet Gipsy Point. My mum starts chatting to a local fisherman about his catch today, but his luck has been off so far.

Mallacoota

Mallacoota

Genoa Peaks

Surrounding town is Croajingolong National Park which spans from the Great Lakes region in Victoria to the New South Wales border.

One of its highlights are the Genoa Peaks, which I somehow manage to convince my parents to climb alongside with.

It's a steep two hour, two kilometre climb up through the forest. A slight drizzle makes the track extremely slippery and provides a few scares, but when we climb up the final steel ladder to the top, I eagerly munch on a satisfying packet of rosemary sweet potato crisps as we soak in the breathtaking view.

The panoramic scenery, with the ranges in the north west, the mirage of Gado Island in the east and a moody ocean in the south, alongside the satisfying, savoury, golden crunch are a reinvigorating treat.

Mallacoota

Eden

As we climb down the rain subsides and my parents decide to drive up to their favourite town on the highway: Eden.

We stop by the port and see giant pelicans sit atop various fishing vessels, waiting for their next loot of a meal. Further up the road are a few lookouts onto Two-Fold Bay which leads out to the Southern Pacific Ocean.

I amble along watching the waves crash in and out onto the cliffs, transforming instantly from sapphire blue to snow white.

There is a promise of finding perpetuity by the water. Perpetuity in the sense that the tide will always be there, and our lives and our problems will not.

I have always found comfort in that thought.

Mallacoota

A walk by the beach

The next day I decide to break away from the parents for a solo afternoon walk.

With a small map and a camera in hand, I start from Mallacoota and head down along the coastline to the mouth of the Betka River.

I marvel at the bustling Bastion Point, where the inlet meets the ocean for the first time. Surfers line up to catch the Pacific waves which come from Chile; toddlers wear an assortment of inflatables dig up deep sandcastles; curious children search for weird and wonderful sealife by the rock pools; and the lifeguards watch from a roofed metallic trailer parked on the beach.

I turn the corner and climb over some rocks to Betka Beach which leads onto Davis Beach, a long stretch of ocean beaches where the winds are ridiculous but the water is vividly crystal clear, the dunes are fun to run down, and there are tiny finches flying around the beach grass.

Upon reaching the river I turn inland and walk through the forest along Davis Creek. The ocean is nearby, but there is no sign of it among the tall gums and flourishing fern gullies. The track is gentle, with flowers blossoming from shrubs, and a kind caressing breeze providing respite from the sun.

How lucky I am to walk through such a beautiful part of the world with not a single person in sight. How blissful and peaceful it is to be around nature.

It reminds me of what it means to be human.

Mallacoota

Mallacoota

Mallacoota

© 2026 Thomas Feng

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