Charming villages abound. Port Albert is a favourite stop for history buffs with its maritime museum and quaint old houses, alongside recreational fishing. Art lovers and shoppers should make a bee-line for the tree lined streets of Maffra for cafes, boutique shops and galleries. Bairnsdale offers easy access to Raymond Island, a tiny island accessible only by boat, home to Victoria’s largest koala population. Jump on the ferry which leaves every hour from the Paynesville terminal on The Esplanade. The ten-minute trip is $13 return for cars but free if you’re on foot or bike, which is a good option when wandering and spotting the koalas sleeping in the treetops.

Active travellers can hit the Central Gippsland Rail Trail to cycle or walk, and bushwalkers explore the cool-temperate rainforest of Tarra Bulga National Park, with its towering mountain ash, waterfalls and Corrigan’s Suspension Bridge above a gully of tree ferns. Feeling ambitious? The Grand Strzelecki Walking Track (100km) connects magical Morwell and Tarra Bulga National Parks. While it has challenging parts, there are also easy walks within it for all fitness abilities. You’ll walk among dense rainforest and tall eucalypt forests, which is home to local wildlife including the South Gippsland koala.