AFTER THE MOTO GP - NORTHEAST OF MELBOURNE

We stayed at the Island until the Monday and even though we left after lunch it still took us about 15 minutes to get from the track to the Anderson turnoff. We headed north and took a right turn at Lang Lang up to Drouin as we had decided to keep away from Melbourne until next Monday when we would have to be close enough to get into the ferry on Tuesday. After a quick stopover at Warragul for fuel etc. it was north again to Neerim South where we decided to make a stopover at the caravan park and do some washing. The owners of the park were really helpful but the park itself, while nice, was a bit tired. The three dogs barking every time you went to the office put a bit of a dampener on the serenity of the place as well. In Neerim South we discovered that we could get documents printed, scanned etc. at the local regional library so this will be handy to know in the future, as it is often difficult if travelling without a printer.

On Tuesday we continued up through the Latrobe Valley to Powelltown and then Warburton. This whole area is really beautiful, with colourful wildflowers and verdant green hills. There are huge trees everywhere and of course a strong timber milling industry as well as lots of dairies. We were going to stay at the Upper Yarra Recreation Reserve as there are lots of places and things of interest around Warburton. Unfortunately, there was no mobile coverage there and the camps were not on the dam but a fair way back from the river so we decided to go further north. Warburton is one place we would certainly like to revisit eventually though. The Yarra Valley is just as beautiful as the Latrobe and it is easy to see why Melbournians love to get up there for weekends.

The helpful lady at the information centre in Warburton assured us that the road from Cambarville, north of Reefton, which runs through Matlock  to Woods Point was definitely bitumen, so we decided to continue on that way to our preferred camp near Jamieson, at the southern end of Lake Eildon. The journey from Reefton to Cambarville is spectacular. It winds through steep mountains covered in dense forest with thousands of huge tree ferns beneath magnificent tall straight trees. Evidence of recent extreme bush fires can be seen in several areas where the living trees are dwarfed by hundreds of much taller but dead trees. It must have been a very hot fire to kill such large trees. The forest seems to be recovering though.

Reefton Spur road

Some of the dead trees.

We were a bit taken aback when we discovered that the road was NOT bitumen but gravel. However, it turned out to be a really good road although it does narrow up and get rather steep in places like the Jordan Cut.

 

Woods Pt Road.

 



The Jordan River flows under the road.



Tree ferns are in abundance here.

We were glad to have gone this route though as the scenery continued to be really spectacular, and we thoroughly enjoyed the chat with the publican at Woods Point, who had some great stories to tell. Woods Point is an old gold mining town where a couple of modern companies have gone back to have another look. The A1 Mining Company still has an operating mine in the area but the Morning Star Gold unfortunately spent a lot of money there and then went bust.

 

Woods Pt pub.

Woods Point

There are still lots of old buildings in the valley including the remains of a huge furnace and I spotted lots of old rusting pieces of machinery on the banks of the Goulburn River and Gaffneys Creek, which meander through the valley, with the road adjacent.

Gaffney's Creek

There are any number of lovely campsites, both official and unofficial along this road and the river is stocked with trout so potential fishermen should enjoy the area. We spent Tuesday night at Snakes Reserve and then moved up to Doctors Creek Reserve the next morning as it is the only one with mobile phone coverage and even there it is patchcy. The camps at the Woods Point end were all empty so it is a great place to get away from it all. Skipworth Reserve was the only one where there were several camps. We had Doctors Creek all to ourselves and Leo certainly enjoyed the freedom after 5 days at the kennel in Cowes. There is an abundance of firewood at most of these reserves as well and most have terrific fire pits and barbecues.

The Goulburn River at Snakes Reserve

Unbeknown to us the weekend before the Melbourne Cup is a very important long weekend in Vic. – second only to Easter, so by Friday afternoon we were engulfed by other camps. We were probably lucky to get there when we did.

There were plenty of things to keep us busy around this area. On Thursday we took a drive across to Eildon where we got a great look at Eildon Dam and Lake Eildon. The Eildon-Jamieson road winds through the hills at the bottom of the lake and must have at least 100 bends. It would be a great bike road at the right time of the year – just now there is a lot of leaf litter and bark after recent storms but it is still very picturesque. We also dropped in at the Jamieson Brewery where I tried their raspberry beer. It wasn’t too bad but what would I know about beer. John was not overly impressed with their brew but everyone has different taste and the view out over the lake is lovely. Their home made fudge looked nice too but I held my nerve and didn’t indulge. When we returned to camp there were several more arrivals and it was obvious the place was going to fill up.

Eildon Dam

Looking back to'The Pond' and  Eildon from Mt Pinninger Lookout.

Lake Eildon from the loolout - they are houseboats moored in the second bay.
You can have your very own for $500 000 to $800 000.

The Pond at Eildon - looking back to the traffic bridge. This is downstream from the spillwall.

Our Friday was very eventful. We drove into Mansfield hoping to get Leo fixed up with all his annual injections plus the worming tabs we were required to get before going down to Tassie. It was a bit of a surprise to us that both local vets were all flat out and we couldn’t get him in until Saturday so off we headed up to Mt Buller. This was an old stomping ground for John who had been sent up there a couple of times for courses while in the army. The road up was awesome and again would be fantastic on a bike. There were some pushbike riders on their way up. Glad it was them and not me although I’d like to be that fit. It was quite a hike walking up to the summit but the views were outstanding – it was like standing on top of the world. John even managed to find the old army chalet which is now for sale – a bargain at around $500 000 – but this is only for a lease apparently. Of course he found all the old pubs as well but they weren’t open so we couldn’t stop in for a refreshment. I personally was really impressed with Buller. I l think it would be a great place to be in the snow. Some of the slopes even looked gentle enough for me to consider giving skiing a go. Maybe one day.

Waterfall beside the Mt Buller road.

The learners' slope.

From the summit.



Looking south.



Nearly there!

Looking down rom the summit to Mansfield.

Let's go guys! What are you waiting for?

Urban Buller.

After Buller we opted to take the road less travelled – how unusual for John! – and go back via the Howqua Hills through Sheep yard Flat and past Fry’s Hut. Both of these are lovely bush camps with lots of room and the old hut at Fry’s is a real treasure.

Frys Hut today.

 

The road into these is dirt and windy but good quality. However, not far past Fry’s Hut there is a sign saying 4x4 only. We soon learned why. This “Howqua Hills Track” is one of many purpose built 4 wheel drive tracks which have been pushed through the bush specifically to cater to those who want to do some full on 4 wheel driving. We were a bit perturbed at first because we weren’t sure if we were on the right track but once we met a young couple with a U-beaut tablet with sat nav on it and were assured we were going the right way it became quite an adventure. The track eventually joined up with Steiner’s Road which brought us out just north of Howqua, a few kilometres north of our camp. Needless to say, we arrived back a bit later than planned and again, more campers had arrived.

The Howqua Track - it's steeper than it looks!

Saturday morning provided us with a real look at country Victoria as it was the culmination of Mansfield’s annual spring festival, with a huge country market, art and flower exhibitions and a grant parade down the main street, complete with cannon fire in the town square. The vet was right across the road from the market so we took a stroll and soaked up the atmosphere, then checked out the glass art display and the parade. It reminded me very much of the Coral Coast Festival in Bowen when I was a kid.

The cannon started the parade.

It was all very colourful.

 

With a little bit of history.

 

One thing that we noticed all along the way in Victoria, from up near Tallangatta to Mansfield and surrounds were the “Rail Trails”. The powers that be have decided that instead of just ripping up the old railway lines and leaving the structures to fall into disrepair, they have turned many of the old lines into bicycle tracks. We saw people riding them everywhere up near Bright and down near Mansfield as well. What a great idea. I will certainly try to do some of them next time we come down.

Instead of rushing into Melbourne and the rat race, we decided to spend a lazy Sunday at Doctor’s Creek and then spend Monday in Yea at the caravan park to catch up with washing clothes, car, van etc. and generally get organised to get onto the ferry. This worked really well as we had a great run into Melbourne on Tuesday and despite the Melbourne Cup being on we managed to bypass any traffic and got to the pier with four hours to spare so we parked up, took Leo for a run on the beach and relaxed until 5 when the ferry started loading.



Leo having fun on the beach!



A very busy pier!

The crew loading the ferry are very efficient and although it took over an hour to actually get onto the ferry it was relatively hassle free. A word of warning though. Don’t listen to anyone who tells you not to worry about fuel in jerry cans. Just have them empty before you get there. Otherwise it has to be emptied out which is inconvenient as they fill them with water and it also takes time. John also had to declare his spear gun which they took and promised to return when we got to Tassie. Station Pier was really busy that day with two cruise ships, the ferry and a navy destroyer, the HMAS Warramunga. It was interesting watching the cruise goings returning to their ships after the Cup. All were dressed to the nines, but some did not look so glamorous as they had obviously had a few and the high heels had taken their toll.



HMAS Warramungal



Into the ferry!

We were on the bottom deck because of our height.

What do I do with this dear?

This is cosy!

I think I'll need my scarf and beanie!



Gateway Bridge

Port Melbourne

The sunset was beautiful from the ship.

 

 

Leo’s kennel was cosy to say the least and we both felt a bit lousy having to leave him down there in the hold but he had some other dogs to keep him company. That didn’t stop us from worrying about him all night though and John was very eager to get down to set him free next morning. The cabin we had was cosy too but it’s only to sleep in – not that we really got a good night’s sleep. Worrying about Leo and whether John would get his very expensive spear gun back, combined with the sway and noise of the ship meant we probably didn’t really sleep much at all. The on-board meal at $25 a head for a large plate was hardly value for money. The food was pretty bland – John equated it to average army fare. So we will be bringing on our own food on the return trip.

All in all though the trip over was relatively easy and Leo survived to further his travels in beautiful Tasmania.