Bright

More hills.. I suppose that's mostly what you see in the Victorian Alps... but Bright is much flatter. We made the trip from the Kiewa Valley this morning, leaving Mountain Creek at sparrow fart. Actually I stuck my head out from under the covers at about 6am and suggested to Rose she might like to get up and turn the heater on.... She made some guttural sound then turned over, so I guess it was up to me.

At lights out the previous evening there was only us and a solitary small van at the camp. I stuck my head out the door... and straight back in very quickly. "Hey Rose, have a look at this". "Do I have to". "You won't believe it". "I probably will. "No you won't, have a look". "Oh, OK (grumble, grumble)". "Wow, where did they come from". "You're asking me!" Right outside and all around us were tents. There were literally 100's of them... well at least 10. "Will we ask them in for breakfast". "No blo...y way". "Will you turn the heater on then?"

It was way too busy so we left straight after breakfast. The weather once again was absolutely perfect. The sun was out, not a cloud in the sky.  The plan was to drive from Mt Beauty to Bright via the Tawonga Gap Road. It's a very windy and steep 26k that terminates at German Creek. The views are spectacular. We decided not to stop. Photos wouldn't do them justice. We bought some fruit by the side of the road. The vendor wouldn't let us leave without trying her persimmons which were really sweet, weren't the vanilla variety (say's he now an expert) but very, very sticky. They took 10 seconds to eat and 10 minutes to clean up afterwards.

We drove in to Bright and parked just through town under the only tree in the main tree that was full of nuts. We also pulled up right out front ("plonk") of the home of a really nice lady who we learned ("plonk") over the space of about 30 minutes, had a husband in high care in Melbourne who could remember more about his girlfriends than her, that she owned her home and the one next door, a unit in Melbourne, and not to forget the farm ("plonk") in Doreen. You can't go past country hospitality.

We decided to stay in a caravan park for a couple of nights. We chose the council park at $36/night. Maybe we should have committed to stay just long enough to charge the batteries and fill the tanks.

The local bike shop told us about the bike paths and we chose the old rail trail. The weather was great so we rode off to Ovens, a round trip of about 45-50k. It might have been a bit ambitious, we were quite tired when we got back, but what a great flat ride.

More riding expected tomorrow, provided the weather holds... let's see!

Mt Beauty

Swifts Creek to Anglers Flat.

Not a big day today. We left Swifts Creek after much discussion about which route to take. Oh well just play it by ear and see how the day looks I suppose. Omeo was less than an hour up the road. Which way... over Dinner Plains, Mt Hotham and on to Bright, or down the Omeo Highway. The Omeo Highway won. About 22km's from Omeo is a place called Anglers Flat. There are several free camps in the area. 

The one we chose was right next to the river and a short walk to the Blue Duck Inn. All the ducks are blue up here... something to do with the temperature. The Blue Duck Inn has rooms, a Bar and an open fire. We walked up for dessert and was passed the menu. "We'd like the sticky date pudding please", "We're right out of that", "OK, how about the Apple Strudle?", "Nup", "Hummm, what about the Triple Choc?"....."OK, I think I can do that, and would you like some bread and butter pudding too?" "Do you have that?"..."Smart A...."  

"Where are you guys from", the Caravan down there?" "Yep", "Is that an Audi?", "No,  it's a VDUB", "Yep, I thought that, an AUDI wouldn't tow that van of yours", "Possibly not". "Hey we're trying to decide which route to take tomorrow, down to Mitta or up over Falls Creek?", "Hummmm, what do you reckon Bert, I reckon if he can make the climb after the turn off he'll be OK?" "Yep", sounds plausible, depends on the weather", "Thanks guys".... Falls Creek it is and we'll see what the weather's like".

Much, much later...."Hey Rose, did you hear that tooting", "Yep, It's the guys from the Blue Duck, there were 10 of them in the one 4x4... they've gone past so they won't run in to us".

Anglers Flat to Mt Beauty...

The High Plains highway was fantastic.  From the time we left the Omeo Highway, it climbed for 36km to about 1800m. We started out below the cloud, then we were in it, and finally above it, and nothing but blue sky above... absolutely extraordinary weather we've been having. Falls Creek opens officially next weekend and they close the Omeo end of the road so we were lucky that it was open, and that the weather was as good as it was. We we're also very lucky that there was absolutely no traffic at all. Not a car passed us in either direction. It's a great place place to visit in Winter... with a heater. We've burned 3lt of diesel in the heater so far!

We stopped and had a coffee and a walk at Falls Creek. It's all pretty dead at the moment, but next weekend is usually pretty busy. They have some great mountain bike tracks but no one uses them.... could be something to consider in January next year.

The road down to Mt Beauty was wider than the way up, but still no traffic, no hard braking, just took our time and arrived safely.

We're now camped at Mountain Creek Picnic area at the base of Mt Bogong. We went for a 10k walk this afternoon up one of the walking tracks. We used the generator for the first time and all went well.... heater is on again tonight!

We're off to Bright tomorrow for a couple of days. We're looking forward to breaking the bikes out over the weekend. 

Swifts Creek

Wow, what a road. Plenty of sweeping corners, where's a bike when you would like one. Swifts Creek is on the Tambo River, 70k West and slightly North of Bruthen. We arrived yesterday morning in the pouring rain.... today was absolutely stunning... what a differnce a day makes.

We looked up a mate from my PNG past. Tony ("Bones") Skelton has been flying in PNG since Noah was a boy. You think I've got stories, well he's got many, many more. Tony grew up here behind what is now the IGA and still lives just West at a place called Bindi. His father Les, turns 98 shortly, and still lives at home, although he's slowing down a little, he's still sharp as a tack.

Anyway, back to my story....I didn't have Tony's number but knew his father was involved with the Tambo Valley Golf Course. We found the web site and spoke to Neil. "Are you after Tony?", yep "here's his and his Dad's details". We caught up and spent a great afternoon and evening looking around his spread and the golf course. We had a great game of golf with Deb and Trevor this morning.
As it turns out the town has about 400 residents and if you looked at the honour board at the Club, you'd say they were mainly related to 5 or so families... the men folk are obviously quite prodigious!

The camp ground is $14/night for a powered site, so we've stayed for two. Hot showers, right on the river, very well maintained as everything in town is.

Later, we dropped in to the IGA to book the second night "You caught up with Tony eh?", "Oh, Deb dropped by earlier".... small town eh!


The Vic government is spending about $10m setting up their fire base here so this little town is going to around for a long, long time....

We'll likely come back in January

We're off into the Alps tomorrow. Need to decide on:

1. Omeo, Hotham, Bright or,
2. Omeo, Anglers Rest, Mitta Mitta, Mt Beauty, Bright or,
3. Omeo, Anglers Rest, Falls Creek, Bogong, Mt Beauty, Bright.

Well tomorrow's another day...

Johnsonville

We're booked in to a Caravan Park overlooking the Tambo river. Mum and Dad went back home this morning. Rose and I took a short ride in to Bruthen for lunch. About 30k there and back. I rode a little further back towards Nicholson and back up the highway. Once again on the rail trail, several tunnels and a couple of road crossings, great fish and chips in Bruthen. Weather has been great.

We tried out our washing machine today. There's not much room in a 2.5kg capacity machine. Definitely good for socks and jocks.

I can definitely recommend the diesel heater. We're heading back to Bruthen and up through Swifts Creek, Omeo and in to the Victorian Alps over the next few days.  

Log Crossing

We're at Lakes Entrance.

Better consult WikiCamps again... "Where can we stay tonight"? Suggestion is the boat ramp, there's a dump point, it's close to everything... but the sign says "ABSOLUTELY NO FREE CAMPING"... strike 1 for Wiki Camps.

Lakes Entrance Information sent us to "Log Crossing". Go back the way we came  6k's, take a right on to a dirt road, travel in to the national park about 2k's and follow the signs.

Fantastic place to stay. It's adjacent to the Gippsland Rail Trail. I rode about 10k's west of the camp on an extraordinarily well groomed bike track that wound it's way through the National Park. It traverses the valley several times but the grade is always easy. The track runs about 70k's all up.

Rose and I rode back towards Lakes Entrance the following morning and we broke camp shortly thereafter. We'll be back here... might be something to do in January '15 before tassie.

Marley Point

We ended up at Marley Point on Lake Wellington. We arrived late having taken our time and come up and across central Gippsland to Sale then North and East.

Haha. It's duck season and we've been told to stay low about 6am.


The evening sky was amazingly clear... it was bloody cold outside... but the diesel heater is amazing. Turn it on in the evening to warm the place up, and again in the morning before we get up

Our first "FREE CAMP"

Cape Patterson

"Let's meet at the corner of Craigie and Mooraduc Rd's at 9am".
A bit early... geez I'll need to be up at sparrow fart. "OK Dad, see you then".
"Where are you". I check my watch it's 9:02, I'm 200m away. The van is packed, I'm driving so as to avoid trees by 8 feet, there's 20 school zones between home and the rendezvous with busy mothers dropping off their Jane's and Johnny's.... busy as a one legged man in a room full of marbles...

We're heading for Cape Patterson. My cousin manages what is arguably the best van park in Victoria. The weather is exceptional.

The trip was uneventful. The van towed very well. We were the only 2 caravans in the park and the sites were both stunning.

Rose and I broke out the bikes and spent some time in and about town.

The wind kicked in on the second day, but the weather held, the coastal tracks are great, and we were visited by a large possum. Apparently he's generally around during sundowners.

We packed up and headed further in to Gippsland, not sure where we'll end up, but who cares. Wiki Camps has made some suggestions, we'll check them out....

Finally Away...

Our home for the next year or so has finally arrived. Some statistics...
It's 19' long and weighs 2.5 tonne.
Tandem independent suspension
It has a bathroom and laundry
12v and 240v power sources,
Gas and 240v water heating,
Diesel space heating,
310 watts of solar, 220 amp hours of battery storage.
a 12v compressor fridge.

Rose has been nesting now for a couple of weeks and there's a place for everything and everything has a place...

The 2 hour drive back from Craigieburn to Mt Martha was uneventful except Dad decided to find the most circuitous route with about 20 roundabouts, peak hour traffic, truck routes, hills and many other natural and manmade obstacles, The Touareg faired better than the driver, and still managed to pull 12L/Km.

Well back to doing my bit and packing the outside essentials into the remaining space..