East Gippsland

Drive far enough east in Victoria and the world empties out. East Gippsland is where the Great Dividing Range meets the coast in a tangle of deep river valleys, old-growth mountain ash and tall open forests that stretch from alpine heights to the tidal flats of the Gippsland Lakes. It's one of the largest remaining temperate coastal wilderness areas on earth.

The Snowy River — wild, clear and impossibly scenic — carves through remote gorges before emptying into the coast near Marlo. The Errinundra Plateau shelters ancient cool-temperate rainforest where myrtle beech trees arch over fern gullies and spotted quolls move through the understorey at dusk. Closer to the coast, Croajingolong National Park protects 100 kilometres of pristine shoreline, drowned river estuaries and isolated beaches with no road access.

Mallacoota, at the very corner of Victoria's far east, is the kind of town that ruins you for ordinary life — a small fishing village on a spectacular coastal inlet, surrounded by national park on every side and accessible only by a single winding road. The offshore and estuary fishing for luderick, bream and flathead is exceptional. Houseboat holidays on the Gippsland Lakes, kayaking the wilderness inlets, and multi-day hikes through Croajingolong make this Victoria's most rewarding remote escape.