On the road to ....The Victorian High Country April 2015

April 2015

This is our trip with  friends Jeannie & David.

We left home and the rain started and as we drove through Chain of Ponds we had fog through the hills but by the time we got to Murray Bridge the sun was shining.

We stopped at Sherlock for mornings tea and headed for Pinnaroo.  The rain has stopped and the wind had picked up but not a head wind.  We stopped at Pinnaroo for lunch at a roadside park and got fuel then headed off again.  Crossed the border into Victoria and onto Ouyen for coffee and to stretch our legs.  We arrived at Sea Lake camping area around 4.30pm and the weather was looking very cloudy, had a quick drive around the camping area, only one other van here, so decided to stay the night.  We set up quickly as we didn't unhook and sat outside with a drink before tea, but soon it was starting to rain so we packed up the chairs and went inside.

Next morning we were on the road again at about 9 am and our next stop was Castlemaine where we had a look around the Restorers' Barn, an interesting shop we have been to before.  We had a coffee in the town, got fuel and headed on to Maldon and to Mt Tarangower for a free camp just out of the town and a lovely bush setting, had a campfire and then it rained!

Next morning we woke to a lovely clear sky, fed the local magpies and headed off to Rawson where we would be meeting Jeannie & David tomorrow.

We drove on  and our Navman took us through Dibcaster and Ringwood, busy roads and raining again.  We stopped at a Service Centre near Officer and rang Rawson CP  to see if we could get a site a night earlier than we had previously booked.  They said they would leave a map for us on our sites 9 and 10.  The weather was getting colder now.  We stopped at Trafalgar Bakery, through a lovely little town called Erica, then onto Rawson.  The CP was in a forest of stringy barks, it was very dark and damp, so we didn't unhook and got inside the van to keep warm and dry and tomorrow we will sort things out when we have more time and hopefully no rain.

27th April 2015
Had a good sleep. Jeannie sent message to say they would be late.  We got the van site sorted and decided to have a drive around the area and had lunch at Walhalla, a pretty little town not far away. Jeannie & David arrived about 4 pm.  After they were organised we lit a campfire in the camp kitchen and caught up on all the latest news.

Next day we all drove in our car to Thompson Dam where we did a short walk in the beechwood forest, very pretty area.  Had another campfire at night.

28th April
We drove to Walhall for the train trip, beautiful scenery along the way and had lunch at the Walhalla Pub.  We then drove around and found the Cricket Ground after a bit of tracking around on 4WD tracks, then back to Rawson and another campfire.

Next day we just all sat around, catching up again and enjoying each others company and of course a campfire.

1st May 2015
We left Rawson CP after a lovely time there, but our next destination was Lakes Entrance and decided to stay at the Lake Tyers CP just out of Lakes Entrance.

After a good night's sleep we drove in David's car to Lakes Entrance and had a good look around, took some photos, and then onto Metung for lunch at the Hotel.  Metung is a lovely beachside town with some nice apartments on the waterfront.

Next day we left Lake Tyers and stopped at Nowa Nowa to look at the sculptures in the park, a bit disappointing but a nice drive anyway, then drove on through Bruthen and a forest of stringy bark and wattles.  We were on the Great Alpine Road and stopped for lunch, then on to Little River and Swifts Creek, and Omeo Caravan Park.  We had a stop here at the Bakery for coffee before setting up at the caravan park.  A very friendly welcome at the CP, bought a bag of firewood for $10 delivered to our van, then got ourselves set up, campfire lit and drinks before tea.

Monday was a lovely sunny day so we had a look around the Museum in Omeo, then onto Benamba and the lake, and Hininje Bridge.  Beautiful scenic drive.

Tuesday we packed up again and headed to Mt Hotham on the Great Alpine Road. The weather started out cold and cloudy and as we got up higher the fog increased to the point that we could hardly see anything in front.  We couldn't stop anywhere so we had to keep going and down into Bright.  Disappointing that we couldn't see anything on this drive, but luckily we both made it safely into Bright where we had lunch then on to Eldorado for the boys to see the Dredge.  We had a good look around here, David & Ron would have stayed there forever, but Jeannie & I were not so interested, so we all agreed we would head onto Wangaratta and found a CP which looked very nice so we booked in at the Painters Island CP.

Painters Island Caravan Park

 We were particularly impressed by this caravan park and the friendly staff were happy for our caravan to stay hooked up as we were only staying 1 night and this would be our last night with our friends.  Of course the first thing Jeannie and I did was to inspect the Amenities, and to our delight they were exceptionally clean and modern and even had fresh flowers on the hand basins.  This sounds like we have an obsession, but to be honest, some of the Amenities on this trip have left a bit to be desired, so it was great to find facilities as good as these, especially for Jeannie as their van does not have shower/toilet and they were staying 3 extra nights here at Wangaratta.

We decided to have an "End of Trip" night out and after making ourselves look respectable, set off for the Pinsent Hotel.  We had a great meal and we all agreed we had had a great trip and we're starting to think about another one.

Wednesday 6th May 2015

 We said our goodbyes and  headed for home, which would probably take 2 days,  while Jeannie and David had their day planned including catching up with friends and a game of golf.

Our first stop was at Shepparton where I did some Aldi shopping, as I wanted to get some chocolate for the grandchildren and a few other goodies that I can't get in Adelaide supermarkets. 

We then headed to Nyah for our overnight stop. 

Nyah campsite at the Race Course

We have stayed here before so we knew exactly where we wanted to camp, and found a good spot which was clear of the trees.  There were quite a few vans in the area but we were still able to be a reasonable distance from each other.

Thursday 7th May 2015
After a good overnight stop, with no traffic noise, just a horse or two going around the track nearby.  We stopped at Robinvale for a look around the town which we have not done before, although we have stayed in the caravan park, but it was good to see the town. 

We headed for our overnight stop at Lake Cullulleraine, Lock 9 on the River Murray, another area that we have stayed in before, so we knew what to expect. 

Lock 9

View from our van

Beautiful views

When we arrived, the Park Ranger was in the area and we stopped and had a chat and he showed us a good spot to camp, so we were soon set up and had our "choofer" going and settled in for a drink before dinner which I cooked in the camp oven.   

Ron soon got the "choofer" going


This was the last night of our trip and we have had such a good time with our friends, but all good things must come to an end.

On the road to ...Eldorado

Tuesday 5th May 2015

We left the lovely Omeo Caravan Park, and headed out on the Great Alpine Road.  The weather was cold and drizzly and as we got higher up the fog increased.  We stopped at Dinner Plain Ski Resort for a quick look around but decided to keep going and have a coffee break when we got to Mt Hotham.

  As we continued the fog got worse and then it started raining and then hail and to make it worse the road was very winding and the visibility was only about 5 meters and at times it seemed even less.  We contacted Jeannie & David on the CB to see how they were going and we decided to stop at Mt Hotham, but the fog was so thick that we couldn't find the entrance so we had to keep going until we found somewhere to pull off. 



After we  pulled over, David told us he was having a bit of trouble towing his van because of visibility but we all decided it was best to keep going slowly and get off the mountain as it appeared that the weather wasn't going to get any better for some time.

Very low visibility - a bit scary



Glad I wasn't driving!

 .

 

We arrived in Harrietville and we were all very relieved to be out of the fog and continued on to Bright for some lunch.



Beautiful autumn trees in Bright

 

 After lunch we headed to Eldorado to see The Cock's Dredge.

 

 




The Cocks' Dredge, Eldorado

An endless belt with about 110 steel buckets did

the actual dredging. The buckets, carried on a

moveable arm called the bucket ladder, cut

into the alluvium (gold and tin bearing earth) with

an action similar to a slow moving chainsaw. 

 

Eldorado was named after the legend of El Dorado in 1840 by William Baker, the name he used for his run. Even though the name refers to a land abounding in gold there was no gold found in Eldorado until the 1850s when it became a thriving gold rush town. Eldorado Post Office opened on 1 August 1861.

We had been to Eldorado before but somehow missed seeing the Dredge so when David & Jeannie told us about it Ron was determined to see it, and it was amazing, such a huge piece of machinery,].
 

 




The Dredge

On the road to ... Omeo

 

 

 

  

Sunday 3rd May 2015

We left the Lake Tyers caravan park for our next destination of Omeo in the Victorian High Country.  We had our first stop at the little town of Nowa Nowa




One of the sculptures at Nowa Nowa

 where we refuelled and then did a detour to see some sculptures and then continued on  the Great Alpine Road to Little River.  This little town is where The Little River Band got its name, so we had to stop and have a look around. 

 
 





We continued on through Swifts Creek, a really pretty area around the town,  and then onto Omeo where we stopped for a coffee and then  found the caravan park and booked in for a couple of nights







Swifts Creek

Another coffee stop - in Omeo before setting up in the caravan park. 

All set up for our campfire

Omeo caravan park



Another view of Omeo caravan park

We enjoyed the lovely Omeo caravan park and the managers were very helpful and friendly, the only downside was the Amenities block near where our sites were located which were very old and a bit rundown, but we were warned that they were old but we were surprised that they weren't cleaned every day.  If we had chosen sites in another part of the park we would have been able to use the new amenities so that would have been better. 

Monday 4th May 2015

We had an enjoyable night by our campfire, with a great bbq dinner to make it a really good night with our friends.  In the morning we went for a short walk around the park, although Jeannie did the marathon again, but she is the fittest.  After breakfast we drove into Omeo to have a look around and found the Museum open so spent a bit of time there and the information we received helped us plan our afternoon drive around the area.  I'm not always that interested in Museums but Ron likes to have a look at the old machinery etc. so I have got a bit more interested now and this one was very good.  After a great lunch at one of the cafe's in Omeo, we headed off to see some of the local attractions.

The Tractor shed

The Blacksmith Shed

Court House & Museum

Water Wheel

A major project for the society is the full restoration of the Zulu Creek
water wheel driving a 5 head stamper, (rock crusher) along with the
landscaping of Commisioners Gully
in which it stands within the
Historic Park

Museum at Omeo - log prison

We drove out on the Great Alpine Road and to McMillan's lookout where we got great views to Mt Kosciuzko.



View to Mt Kosciuzko from McMillans Lookout




View from McMillans Lookout



McMillans Lookout

From the lookout we continued on to Benambra and drove around the dry Lake Omeo.




Dry Lake Omeo

 We actually drove around a few times as we missed the turnoff to Hinnomunjie Bridge but we finally managed to find the road out and stopped near the bridge over the Mitta Mitta River for some photos and afternoon cuppa.  As you will see from the photos, it is a very picturesque area.



Time for a cuppa at the Mitta Mitta River

Mitta Mitta River




Mitta Mitta River

 




Finally found the road to Hinnomunjie




Benambra Hotel



View from Mt Blowhard

From the Mitta Mitta River we drove back towards Omeo to the Oriental Claims.


Suspension Bridge at the Oriental Claims

Suspension Bridge plaque



Suspension Bridge, Oriental Claims, Omeo


 

Walking Trail at Oriental Claims



Spotted this little bird at the Oriental Claims

After a very enjoyable day of driving and sightseeing we arrived back at our caravans and got the campfire going while we had a well earned drink and decided what we would have for tea.  Decisions, decisions.

On the road to .. Lakes Entrance

Friday 1st May 2015
We packed up the van and left our cosy spot at Rawson and headed on to Traralgon and then Rosedale where we stopped for a coffee and to refuel.  We headed off again and stopped at Stratford for lunch, and then on to our destination of Lakes Entrance and Lake Tyers which is about 10 km out of Lakes Entrance.

lunch at Stratford

Totems in Stratford Park

Elephant in Stratford park

 

   We booked in to the Lake Tyers Caravan Park and found our sites. 

Our site at Lake Tyers

 My first impression was not the best as our site was right next to the Chapel (this was a caravan park run by the Uniting Church) and backed on to the scrub and seemed very dark, but once we got set up we sat outside with our friends under their awning.  For dinner we had a bbq and although it was cold, the men added a side to the awning and we were able to enjoy sitting outside without the wind blowing on us.  There were signs up saying that alcohol could not be used in the public areas but we thought it would be ok to have our usual happy hour behind our closed in awning.  Apparently there was an AA conference on at the park so we were very discreet with our happy hour.



Lakes Entrance

Lakes Entrance



Saturday 2nd May 2015

We drove into Lakes Entrance and looked around the town, walked across the bridge and then continued out of the town and headed to the small little village of Metung.  We  had lunch at the hotel with lovely views of the marina and some great boats.  There were some beautiful apartments right on the foreshore and we thought these would be great for a family holiday some other time.   

 

Nice boats at Metung

Metung

 

Parrots at Metung

 Jeannie and I had a quick look through some of the shops and then we all met up again for another coffee, then it was time to head off back to our campsite at Lake Tyers.



Lakes Entrance from lookout





Lakes Entrance