Omeo/Mt Beauty/Mansfield 2016

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Day 15 (18/11/16)

Dropped Deb off in Bright for most of the day to do what she does best: shopping! That left me free to go & fish the Ovens & Buckland rivers. Whilst I did not manage to catch or see a fish, I did get to see some of the most tranquil & beautiful scenery. The peace I felt standing in these rivers breathing clean air was unparalleled.

After both having a lengthy day, Deb cooked a beautiful leg of lamb roast with veggies. A fantastic end to a cracking day. And who said you have to spend lots of money to have a good time? Sometimes the simple things in life can be the most pleasant.



Day 16 (19/11/16)

Hot day today (at least compared to what we have had). And when you are in the alpine areas, you get sunburnt more easily & the heat feels far hotter than it is. We spent half the day under the aircon before Deb walked up to the Mt Beauty shops & I headed out for a late fishing session.

Whilst Deb again found bargains, my fly fishing rod snapped. Hopefully when I get back from holiday I can get it replaced as it is not that old. As is the case of Murphys Law, managed to see loads of fish, but without my fly rod, they were impossible to catch.



Day 17 (20/11/16)

Another hot day, several degrees warmer than yesterday, for our last day in Mt Beauty. Another late fishing session failed to result in any catches.

As I had failed to provide fish for dinner, Deb & I had a fantastic Asian dinner at a restaurant called Stockpot. Sensational meal & a great way to wind up our last evening in Mt Beauty.

Day 18 (21/11/16)

Left Mt Beauty at 8:55AM. Wanted to get away early due to the 37C maximum expected. Took our time, stopping in Benalla for fuel before arriving in Mansfield at 12:05PM.

Set the caravan & annexe up under cloud cover which was a great release from the hot sun. The sun however came out when we went for a walk in the town, with facilities nice & close to the park, under 1KM away.

We picked up some supplies & made our way back to the caravan & the local Information Centre to get maps of the area & some places of interest to see in the coming days.

After perusing all the brochures, we headed to the Mansfield Hotel for dinner, a short 400M stroll down the road. Deb had Barramundi whilst I had a 350gram Rump Steak. Both were absolutely superb!



Day 19 (22/11/16)

After some rain through the night, we awoke to teeming rain. The huge downpour saw the caravan develop a leak which just happened to drench half of Debs clothes in her wardrobe. Not happy Jan! We managed to mop this up & shore it up before deciding to head to the wineries in Whitfield, 62KM away in the King Valley.

Visited Gracebrook, Dal Zotto, Chrismont & Pizzini wineries. Deb got massive samplings at each of these wineries, also purchasing from each one of them. We headed back into Whitfield, with a giggling Deb in the passenger seat, obviously well sauced, for a light lunch at the Whitty Café. We both had BLT’s on ciabatta bread which was absolutely fantastic.

On the way back, we stopped in at Powers Lookout, named after Harry Power, who taught a young Ned Kelly how to rob people & evade police. Harry used to use the lookout for any police. If he was in danger he would then head to one of several hideouts that were virtually impossible for the police to locate.

Not long after we left the lookout, the rain started to ease off. We arrived back in Mansfield & spent the rest of the afternoon chatting with an elderly couple in the caravan park, before enjoying a BBQ for dinner.

The rain has also returned, so hoping that we have no further leaks overnight.

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