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Published: December 30th 2013
Monday 23
rd We heard it rain all night and woke to grey skies and more rain. We drive to Stratford on River Avon and it stops as we get there. It’s a small township and there’s not as much there to see as our guide book suggests. Well nothing really.
So we continue onto Sale as it’s a much larger town and call in at tourist info. They suggest a river cruise at 2pm. We’re very early so we call in at a small gallery and see some wonderful bird paintings.
Around 1.50 we pop along to the boat for our cruise and are told by the guy on the boat that he’s decided not to run it today. I say we’ve been waiting over an hour to which he tells us to “go away” or words to that affect and thus claiming the prize for most unpleasant person we’ve met since leaving the UK !
With nothing else to see we drive to nearby Maffra which boasts a small motor museum. We arrive to see an unpromising size building but are pleasantly surprised to see it crammed with vintage cars and motor cycles. It’s a really
nice little museum and they give us free tea/coffee afterwards, thus restoring our faith in the locals.
We go back to Stratford to park up for the night and go for a walk along the river. We discover a Shakespere walk lined with modern statutes. The meaning of them is too obscure for us, but some of them are nice.
The weather has brought out the flies and they buzz around us annoyingly all day.
In the evening we watch a Steven Seagal film in the camp kitchen, things must be getting desperate in the van at night !
Tuesday 24
th A short drive back to Bairnsdale our Christmas site for the next three nights. As we drive through the fairly large town Christine sees lots of shops and her eyes light up at the prospect of going shopping at last, until she sees that most of them are for fishing, camping and boating ! We do manage to buy a box of chocolate truffles.
We park up on our site next to the Mitchell River and get a plot over looking the water. It’s an attractive site. As we check in there are
two Christmas cards waiting for us from our friends Carol & David and Phil & Sonya. They form our Christmas decorations.
We take the 5 K riverside walk and see thousands of fruit bats in trees, a few canoeists and a lot of flies.
We spend the rest of the afternoon around the pool soaking up the sun at last.
In the evening we visit the RSL Club for dinner.
Wednesday 25
th Christmas morning ! We wake and find our site as dead as a dodo. The few people that are here are going about the morning as normal. No sign that Christmas has arrived or any merriment !
We get ready and at 11.50 we go off to the RSL Club for Christmas lunch. As we arrive at 12 they announce that dinner is served ! it’s a three course carvery and is ok but more like a traditional Sunday roast lunch. No turkey or Christmas pudding.
Christine’s seated next to a little old lady who seems to have forgotten her teeth and I’m next to a woman who looks like Mrs Slocombe ! By 1.45 most people have finished and are
leaving. Christmas is over !
We’re back on our site by 2.30. It’s still dead and we can’t work out where everyone’s gone. Christmas here is really low key. No ads on TV, hardly anything special in the shops and no Christmas carols or Christmas pop songs played.
We spend the rest of the afternoon around the pool before taking a short walk.
Later in the evening we see lots of new vans arriving and it seems a lot of people spend the day driving. Odd.
Thursday 26
th First thing we, that’s Christine, sorts out the laundry before we take the short (in Australian terms) 25 mile drive out to the Mitchell River NP. The last section’s over 5 K of dirt road and I’m a bit nervous as we’re not supposed to be on unsealed roads.
We park up with dozens of Japanese tourists and walk the 5 K Den of Nargun trail. It’s through the southern most temperate rain forest into a gorge along the river and to a small cave. The cave is part of Aboriginal folk lore about a half stone, half creature who stole children. Like most things Aboriginal
you need a furtive imagination or a few drinks to see what they’re on about. Still it’s a nice walk except for the flies.
We drive back to site and sit around the pool for the afternoon and slowly get surrounded by more and more children as more vans arrive. They can really generate a lot of noise with such little lungs !
Friday 27
th We head inland this morning on the Great Alpine Road with lots of corkscrew bends up and down the mountains until we reach Omeo. It’s a small Pioneer township formed around the gold mining in the 1850’s. There are many of the original high street buildings left and it looks a bit like the place time forgot.
We find the local museum but haven’t brought any money with us. It’s not a problem as the curator says to just go on in ! It’s open air and made up of the original timber gaol, stables and court house. It’s well worth a look.
We then drive round the corner and park up before taking a 5 K walk along the river and up into the remains of the gold fields.
We visit the Chinese gold workings of Ah Fongs. There are incredible land workings where the hills have been washed away by power jets leaving 30 m high clay cliffs. The whole landscape has been changed and is unstable.
We walk back in 35 degree heat with more flies to contend with. They are starting to get really annoying !
We check in at the site in Omeo. It’s down by the river and very attractive but the amenities are all past there best. I check out the showers and am confronted by a very old man with no clothes on. I make a quick exit !
Saturday 28
th We continue our drive on the Great Alpine Road and more twists and turns takes us to the top of Mount Hotham. The drive and views are wonderful. We can see for miles over the Great Divide. The journey down is a real corkscrew and takes 45 mins to the bottom.
We stop in Harrietsville to allow our brakes to cool down. It’s a small township and originally a gold mining town. It’s very pretty but there’s not much there.
We continue to Bright,
a fairly busy little town on the banks of the river Ovens. We are lucky to get a spot in the camp site as it’s almost full of families and this is the first time on our trip where we’ve had trouble finding somewhere.
We walk back into town and watch lots of children and adults swimming in the river and diving off boards and slides.
We take a walk along the river into a small gorge and watch children and parents canoeing and donutting down the river and over small rapids. It looks fun and we wish we could hire a donut to have ago but they’re not available.
By the time we get back from the walk we’re really hot and we go and change into our costumes and go back to the river for a swim. I go and try the water slide but as I get to the top they close it !
It’s been the hottest day since we arrived in Australia and we are able to eat outside for once.
In the evening we take a walk back into town and find it really busy. The Australians do come
out after dark !
Sunday 29
th We wake to another sunny day and the temperature soon rises about 30. It’s the weather we have been expecting since we arrived.
We continue our drive along the Great Alpine Road and then turn off for the town of Beechworth. It’s a real Pioneer looking town and many of the buildings are original. It grew up in the gold rush days but we also find it’s famous for the trial of Ned Kelly. We take a walking tour to learn more from a lively guide who tells us all the facts of Ned and his Gang but he goes on so long that he runs out of time before finishing the story ! We visit the holding cell before his trial and the court house where he was tried. We also see a replica of his famous amour he was shot in. It’s a great afternoons entertainment.
We later visit the museum again for a better look around and several of the other original buildings. Beechworth was never on our places to visit but has been a real pleasure to see.
We walk back to our site on
the banks of Lake Sambell, another lovely location. It’s a pity that the water has almost drained out of the lake due to a leak in the dam. There’s no fish left for me to catch !
Monday 30
th We drive a couple of minutes into town and stop at the town gaol to book an afternnon tour. We then take a walking tour of the town with yesterday’s guide who explains about the history of the town and the gold rush days which really created it. Some of his talk is a repeat from yesterday but generally it’s pretty interesting. The town’s gone from 45,000 to today’s 3800!
It’s hot by the time we finish and we call in at the local micro brewery for lunch. It’s possible to taste upto 10 different beers of your choice. Lunch is a long time coming and we drink a bit more than normal. I manage a cat nap before our tour round the goal.
The gaol opened in 1856 and closed in only 2004. It’s again an interesting tour and we see Ned Kelly’s cell and the hanging trap where 11 were executed. There are also some
fairly gruesome crime scene photos of actual murder victims on the walls. The guide explains that in winter it was -2 in the unheated cells. They appear to treat their criminals harder than we do.
We then take a short drive out of town along a scenic gorge “road” and I’m worried about getting the van back on the main road. It’s pretty narrow in places and only one way, which nearly becomes a problem when emergency service vehicles are coming the wrong way to attend to a fallen man.
Finally we drive to the cemetery to look at the Chinese Burning Towers and graves. There are over 2000 gold rush Chinese buried there. They don’t take up as much room as we thought as they are buried standing upright !
It’s been a full day and we go back to our site for a BBQ dinner.
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roger smith
non-member comment
Aussie beer?
That beer looks like it's been watered down!!!