Day 113 - Thursday 20 April - The Victorian High Country

Day 113

Thursday

20 April 2017 – Began my next book “Tears of the Moon” By Di Morrissey. I haven’t read of this Aussie author’s books so shall be interesting to see how it reads.

Lakes Entrance -  Omeo – Hotham - Bright

Big day ahead for today. We slept in until 8 before the moving jitters got us up and motivated. Like clockwork we went through the routines of packing up and preparing to move out. It was a gloriously blue day and I so wanted to go for a walk one last time by the water, knowing it will be a while before we see the ocean again. However Paul was keen to get on with it, so we finished the pack up and began the journey ahead.

The drive took us firstly back into Swan Reach and then on to Bruthen where we turned onto the Great Alpine Road. This is one of the top 10 tourist drives of Australia and we were about to find out why.

Omeo was our intended lunch time stop, an hour and 45min from Lakes Entrance and about 110km away. The road was generally easy to manage, with a few ups, downs, twists and turns. We stopped at a rest area in Ensay, checking the vehicle over and then walking down the steep bank to the edge of the Tambo River. It wasn’t as picturesque at this point as it had been in some places we had already passed but couldn’t stop at.

With everything all good, we continued down the road, stopping at Connor Hill Lookout for a view over the Tambo Valley, near Swifts Creek.

We then drove in to Omeo, finding a parking area and getting out to stretch our legs and do an explore of the tiny gold rush town, now a gateway to the ski fields and you could tell with the signs stating ski hire and snow chains available. So gad we weren’t needing the chains for this trip.

We checked out the old buildings along the main street before walking into a park along the river and popping out near the bakery. We stopped in for a pie, eating it out on the veranda. When we had finished with lunch, we returned to the car ready for the next part of the journey on to Bright, 108km away and another hour and 45 min.

This part of our journey was the most harrowing. We wound our van up and up and up. It just kept on climbing and twisting and turning. Steep sides slipped away beside us. Signs warned of falling rocks or ice and snow on the road, animals ready to spring out from the road’s edge. Everything seemed fraught with danger and we were travelling it on a clear sunny day.

We passed through Dinner Plains and into the Hotham Heights. All around us were chair lifts for snowfields, but they were nowhere to be seen today. Thick scrub clung to the sides of the mountains and we wondered where on earth people skied. I guess the snow gets thick enough to cover the trees.  The poles on the side of the road certainly indicated a snowfall of some significance.

We stopped at a couple of spots to take photos of the spectacular views and to chat to Jaden, who happened to call when we were in Hotham. We were now an hour from Bright and the fun of the drive was still to come. 

We reached a height of 1600m before we began a descent, steep and windy. Trucks use low gears was bellowed to us from the yellow signs and we did, but the van didn’t appreciate it much, the acrid smell of a burning clutch entered the cab and we both gave each other a sideways glance. Eek.  

Brakes on, we continued to be pulled by gravity down the hill, now the tyre guage was going nuts and the temps were pushing the 110 degrees. Eek again. The van was certainly doing some work today. We were relieved when we finally entered the Oven River valley, where the plains emptied out and offered us some respite, now only 20min from our destination.

We passed plenty of chestnut farms as we made our way into Bright, also passing a brewery. We shot out the other side and continued on to Porepunkah, five minutes further along and at the foot of Mt Buffalo. We then drove into the gates of the Porepunkah Bridge Holiday Park, booked in for 2 nights with Cameron before being shown our site by Andrew. 2.30pm, ahhh made it and I wasn’t even driving.

Into set up mode straight away and then it was time to relax with a stiff drink and a phew we made it. I got busy loading photos onto Facebook, with 10 days to catch up on. Thankfully the park had fast net coverage, so it wasn’t taking long. Paul spoke to Damon, catching up on the goings on at home.

At 4pm we drove back into Bright to checkout the info centre and then do a walk around the town centre. So many of the trees had their autumn outfits on. The yellow, orange and red hues were dazzling, leaving their trains of leaves sweeping across the road.

After completing the lap, we stopped in at Bright Brewery for a drink. Paul let them know he would be back tomorrow to do a tasting and review. We enjoyed the time to unwind and relax. The town has a real New England feel to it, reminding us of places we visiting when in Maine and Massachusetts. Quite a typical alpine village look and feel, just need the snow and the mulled wine.

When Paul had finished his pints, we walked along the edge of the Ovens Rives admiring the water and the slides that had been built in to the banks for the kids, along with a diving board. It seemed like lots of fun, but would be too damn cold to use right now.

We followed the road back to the car and returned to the van, both of us hungry and chilled. When the sun began to set it took the warmth it was offering as well. I continued to load on the photos to Facebook and to cook dinner. We ate, cleaned up and then I went through the pics from today. Paul read for a while, but was obviously spent after his day at the wheel and was happy to head to bed at 8.30pm. I finished up what I needed to do on the computer and then I joined him.