Day 116 - Sunday 23 April - That was a BIG day

Day 116

Sunday

23 April 2017 –

Bright – Harrietville – Wandiligong – Kings Valley – Taminick

So yesterday was a big day, yesterday because I am writing this on Monday as we travel away from the beautiful Bright on our way to Wangarratta.

The day started early, we were both awake and needing the loo just after 7 and by the time I returned to the van I didn’t feel like getting back into bed. The day was going to be glorious and I wanted to get out amongst it.

We had breakfast, dressed in our warm gear and drove into Bright, parking behind the pub. With our walking shows on, we joined the Canyon Walk that follows the Ovens River. Much of it is through open area before you cross a swing bridge into the bush. We followed the path, ducking out onto the rocks to get a clearer view of the river and the water gushing through the various channels. A small waterfall plunged into a pool below.

We rounded another swing bridge to return to Bright along the other bank. The sun was starting to have an effect, clouds burning off, leaving a bright blue sky above however some low cloud still hung tightly, like a scarf wrapped around the mountains neck.

Once back at the car park, we continued our walk, following the Cherry Trail, but only as far as the first swing bridge, where we again crossed to the other bank and returned to Bright, crossing over the main bridge and back to the car park.

The place was now packed with families, the kids entertained with the large playground or splashing and in most cases slipping into the river and coming up drenched to the char grin and “I told you so” of the parents.

We gave up our car space to one desperate bloke and drove out of Bright and on to the Mountain Fresh trout and salmon farm in Harrietville. This place was also busy with families entertaining the kids, along with those there to genuinely catch their dinner. We wandered the park admiring the grounds, ponds and the MASSIVE trout.

 Paul had seen enough to be encouraged to fish, so we went to the office to find out how it worked. It was free to fish, poles and bait provided, just pay for the weight of the fish you catch, too easy and as it turns out was no challenge at all. I returned to the car to grab the camera only to return to Paul with a fish on the line and one in the bucket.  

I left him to it to take some photos of the farm and was greeted by him shortly after, with his catch of three Brook Trout, gilled and gutted for $14, he was happy with that.

With the trout fishing out of the way in very quick time, we moved on to Wandiligong, a small town 5 min from Bright. We drove right through the centre of town before returning to a large grassed area where paragliders were coming into land after jumping from the mountains behind. Most were tandems, paid customers happy to take on the thrill. We watched the various jumpers float in as I talked to Mum and Dad for a while about the goings on at home.

When the call finished, we drove into Bright, parked in the town and made our way to the bakery for a pie. We took our pie with us and wandered down streets we hadn’t walked before, dazzled yet again by the trees and their rainbow of colours, a train of leaves flowing below like an expensive ball gown. I chose to play in the leaves, throwing them around like an excited child.

Once the sillies were shaken out, we returned to the caravan park to regroup and make a decision about the afternoon. Paul rang Jaden to chat and then we were back in the Getz and on to Kings Valley on the other side of Mount Buffalo. This required us to drive to Myrtleford and take the Buffalo road to Buffalo lake, a dammed watercourse. We drove over the dam wall and looked out to those fishing and boating on the water.

The GPS was constantly telling us to turn back, but we continued onto the dirt road, saw a sign saying Whitfield, our general direction and started the rally car driving. Paul was having a ball through the forest track, I am sure he was wishing he was on the bike. Eventually the GPS said we were going the right way, but would take two hours to get to our destination. It obviously doesn’t realise you can drive at fair speeds on the dirt, especially one in such good condition.

We did eventually pop out onto the tarmac and shortly after we were at the King Valley Brewery, giving the spiel and sitting down to the tasting paddle. The place wasn’t overly packed, which was good as it gave Paul the opportunity to speak to the brewer and try a few extra beers.  

Our next stop was in Taminick, near Glenrowan, the town famous for Ned Kelly’s last stand. Realising the time was getting on and the next brewery was shutting at 5pm we needed to get cracking. The GPS was saying we wouldn’t make it before 5.15pm, but we figured their might be gravel again and the time could be skewed and it was. We pulled into the Black Dog Brewery with 10min to spare.

We were the only patrons, not surprising at this time. Peter the owner of the winery was happy to greet us and talk up the beers his son James has taken up. The winery cellar was a big, old, brick barn built in 1915. Peter seemed quite happy to have someone to talk to and was in no hurry to push us out of the cellar, in fact I think he was happy to have someone to chat to while enjoying the brews.

I wandered the barn and grounds taking photos as the sun began to set. Paul was taken behind the scenes and into other cellars to find more beer.

It was 5.45pm before we made our way home with a box of beers to try, once again Paul was a happy camper. The drive took us from dusk to dark. I was conscious of bounding animals as we travelled unlit roads, but it was incident free and we were back at the van at 7pm. A big day.

We set the trout in the oven, while we got busy with photos and beer reviews, both exhausted. We ate, cleaned up. Paul finished up his first review, but with beers still to try from lack Dog he didn’t complete this one, he was then off to bed. Meanwhile I was up til after 10pm going through the 250 photos I took today. My eyes were seeing double and head was spinning by the time I finally got to crawl in to bed.