Day 4 Glenrowan to Chiltern Wed 20th October

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October 22nd 2010

Published: October 22nd 2010

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shufflewing

Moonlight Track Waterfall

A nice Easy Day
Not up at ‘sparrow fart’ but still got cabin spick and span, ate breaky, made morning tea and had time to chat with Carmen my cabin neighbour and fellow bird watcher (she says parrot watcher, she’s into flamboyant colours!) She and her partner are over from Switzerland (again) casing down with camera and video all our lovely parrots. Left at about 10.15am to look for a good smoko stop in the Warby Ranges, after passing through the vineyard area, over the Taminick Gap and around on to Warby Range Rd I found the turn up to Granite Quarry walk.
Well the drive up was a bit challenging for me and the Camry! All the rain from early spring left a big puddle at the start of the track and then there were some interesting washer ways to negotiate. But slow and careful go us to the top and I think the bloke that turned up when I left was left scratching his head in his four wheel drive about the little white car he found when he got to the top. It is an excellant area for a stop and walk, plenty of flowers and

Morning Tea Stop

Granite Quarry (camry went 4*4)

birds. Best were all the Wax Lips Orchids and Yellow-tufted Honeyeaters.
A quick trip into Wangaratta for a coffee and cake to go with my ham roll, to eat at the Wangaratta Apex Park beside the Oven River, saw me hit the Freeway to Chiltern. I made detour to get off the Hume Freeway, at Springhurst. I turned south and headed towards Mt Pilot NP. I had seen on the new Vicmap North East Region guide a BR (Bird Reserve?) marked on a road that would loop me around to Chiltern a get away from the Freeway.
After a stop at the Springhurst Transfer Station to capture a pic of an interesting building, which lead to a little bird watching when Southern Whitefaces and White-fronted Chats made their presence known. I left the tarmac and travelled into a lovely granite woodland reserve where I found a lovely picnic area dominated by Red Box, Euc polyanthemos.
A short back track down the hill got me to Rocky Creek Rd and then onto the side rd beside the Hume Freeway. Where I felt much more comfortable driving at 90km not 110km (it’s ok in small bursts) competing with all

Wax Lip

Granite Quarry walk

the other fools on the road. It was then a careful crossing of the freeway, under the railway and into Chiltern. And all in time to catch up with Irene & Don for happy hour on my cabin veranda (after doing some cloths washing!)

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