Victorian Alps, then Tassie.

After a quick study of the map I decided to follow Wayne's (Corryong Information Centre chap) suggestion and go along the Murray River, then head south along the Omeo Highway back into the mountains.  Setting out along the Murray, the first stop at Clarke Lagoon Wildlife Reserve and a camp spot right next to the River!  Bright, warm and sunny, so a lot of gear got a good airing, as well as using the solar hot water heater to have a bit of a cleanup myself in my shower tent.   For such a great spot there were not many other campers. From the Upper Murray Parks & Reserves information sheet, a plan for the next few days  included a walk up to the Kurrojongs Lookout, only 1.5Km one way, but all a strenuous uphill climb.  The view was certainly spectacular , looking out over the Murray River Valley, which was green and lush. 

Then  south along the Omeo Hwy, initially going through a beautiful valley of green paddocks complete with very contented cows.  After about 60Km the valley ended and a winding road up the mountain commenced; crossing over and dropping down the other side, I stopped for the night at Anglers Rest, a campsite along a mountain stream.  In the mid-afternoon a group of  about 15 grade 10 students walked in and set up camp.  Talking with one of the leaders, they were from a Melbourne school and this is part of the year 10 curriculum:  They were walking & rafting from Falls Creek to Mt. Kosciuszko, quite an ambitious undertaking.  The weather broke up and it rained all night, but they were off by 8am the next morning.  I, however, decided to sit another day as it rained all day as well.  According to the radio, it was the most rain received  in the period for a number of decades (which makes me wonder why the weather bureau totally got it wrong, predicting fine warm weather only two days before). 

Leaving on the assurance of "improving conditions" I then climbed another mountain before dropping into Omeo, filling with petrol and commencing a climb up to Mt. Hotham.  Just before reaching the top, I took a few photos of the mountains, well, the bits below the clouds.  On setting off, the clouds dropped, the rain set in and it was rather unpleasant descending along a very steep road with visibility perhaps 10m with speed about the same KMH - and even then came uncomfortably close to the rear of  a caravan being towed by a 4WD, almost invisible in the fog.  Finally reached the bottom, visibility normal again, great to travel along a reasonably flat road - until the turn off to my next stop Lake Catani, which is in the Mt. Buffalo NP.  Now, what looked like a slight distance on the small scale map turned out to be a 26Km winding narrow road up a dirty great mountain!  But what a great place!  Camped at 1300m elevation during a southerly change - it got cool but fortunately no rain. 

There are some great short walks so off I set to check out The Chalwell Galleries, only 750m but the sign stressed only to be undertaken by fit, agile people with sturdy walking shoes.  All went well until the summit, where a large rock blocking the way needed more agility than I could muster, so I turned around.  A lookout was 2km away so off I went, and what a great walk - alpine marsh, woodlands and a lookout perched atop a rock with panoramic views.  Returning to do the Lake Catani walk I turned too early and ended up on the 2km track to The Gorge, a lucky accident as it turned out, because this is another grand feature which I hadn't planned to visit.  Having covered about 10Km on returning, the Lake Walk was left for later in the day.  The walk to the top of The Horn, the highests point in the park, was done first thing the following day.  A 1.5km uphill trek to another great lookout!  It was cold and windy, real winter weather but no snow and the view was truly stunning, a fitting finale for the few days in this gem of a park.  The days travels took me through Beechworth, where there was a Gaelic Festival in full swing and included bagpipes on every corner! There were also many classic cars & hot rods driving about indicating a rally in one of the nearby towns.

All that remains now is to travel to Shepparton, clean and tidy the van and stock up with goodies from the SPC Ardmona Outlet before driving to Melbourne and crossing on the ferry to Tasmania.  A great 6 weeks through new country for me, certainly a good look at the mountains along the East Coast and meeting new people.  So all that remains is to say "auf Wedersehen" and await commencement of travels again in the new year.  Happy Holidays!

Snowy Mountains Part 2

From the Bullock Hill Campground I headed for Jindabyne, in the southern part of the Snowy Mountains, the ones with snow on them.  The excellent Information Centre at Jindabyne was my first stop, then off to the Kosciuszko Mountain Retreat - which claims to be Australia's highest holiday park - for two nights.  This is on Kosciuszko Road, which goes thru Perisher Ski Village and terminates at Charlotte Pass Village.  Guthega Road turns north off this and goes to Guthega Dam & Power Station (completed in 1955) on the Snowy River.   I  traveled to the ends of these roads, with short walks at the Charlotte Pass end and off Kosciuszko Road to Rainbow Lake, created in 1902 to provide water for a nearby resort, since burned down.   The walks were easy as the van had done most of the work trundling up the hills, often in third gear, and the views were terrific!  And there was snow!  Much of it had melted but large patches still remain, however, the ski season was well and truly ended. 

Touching back to the Snowy Hydro Scheme, some photos of other Stations were also taken as I passed and will post the photos of them in a contiguous segment of the web album.  I never could quite take in the magnitude of the scheme.   Between 1949 and 1974 some 100,000 men and women worked on the development, living year round in villages near construction sites.  It certainly must rank among one of the most ambitious schemes undertaken at the time, if not in modern history.

Then off to walk up Mt. Kosciuszko, however, that particular day was foul weather, so I sat out the winds and rains at Ngarigo campsite.  The next morning was a stunner - clear blue skies with very light winds, so after a breakfast of pancakes, shared with a German tourist also on his way to Mt. Kosciuszko, off we went!  The chairlift was about to open so timing was excellent and off to the top, a difference in 460m vertical.  The walkway to Mt. Kosciuszko is excellent, a gradual climb up another 291m vertical over a distance of 6.5Km.  It is an interesting meander over the top of the Range, with creeks, lakes, valleys and snow drifts providing a unique vista of Australian scenery.  Then at the top - at 2,228M the highest point in Australia!  The compulsory photos, a good look at the panorama, and then back along the same track.  Australia's highest restaurant is located at the top of the chairlift, so lunch and a coffee at 1937M was in order!  And from here on it is all downhill (metaphorically speaking - in reality it is up and down through the mountains):  The Alpine Way is a narrow windy road and is a favourite of motorcyclists which were plentiful.  That nite was spent at Geehi Campground, situated along a mountain stream and I slept well!

Geehi is a lush valley in the National Park and thus the happy home to quite a few 'roo.  Up until the 1960's it was used as a base for cattle, which were driven up from lower down to graze in the valley itself and also in the surrounding mountains.  There is a lovely stone cottage used as the summer camp in the lovely setting of the valley and stream.  Being such a lovely setting you would think that as I had one more day on my Parks Pass I'd have spent it there, but having to see what's around the next hill/bend I traveled up to Bradney's Gap Campsite, just north of Khancoban, which was very ordinary.  During the night, I heard a small critter scrabbling along my roof and the fabric sides of the poptop:  This has happened on other infrequent occasions also.  Now, since my unwelcome rodent companion, I awaken instantly to sounds such as this, and happily, they were outside but I've wondered what they could be - gliding possums, bats, birds?  Well at Bradney's Gap I happened to see the shadow of a small bird alighting on the roof, though in the moonlight I couldn't tell anything more than it was about starling sized.  Curiouser and curiouser. 

The following day - 3,485Km since leaving Brisbane - I crossed the NSW/VIC border; as I passed through Corryong, I stopped into the Information Centre and the kind gentleman talked me into altering my plans from going through the Victorian Alps to along the Murray River.  It actually looks as if I may have time to do both - we shall see.