Albury/Dubbo/Bathurst/Canberra/Myrtleford

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Day 28 (1/5/21)Temps: Max 24C, Min 6C

Departed Canberra at 800 AM. Stopped at Albury to pick up the wheel chocks we left behind at the start of the trip!

Had lunch at Beechworth before arriving at Myrtleford at 200PM.

Set up the van & walked 2 minutes to the main street & familiarised with the town.

In bed early absolutely exhausted!



Day 29 (2/5/21)Temps: Max 22C, Min 10C

Drove up to Lake Catani, altitude 1300M at Mt Buffalo. The lake is meant to be full of trout & was crystal clear. The water was like ice & could feel it through the waders. No fish sighted.

Left & battled the cyclists hogging the road on the steep descent. Headed to Lake Buffalo but fared no better. No wind & water way too still. Did not sight any fish.

Heavy rain & thunderstorms predicted sometime overnight.



Day 30 (3/5/21)Temps: Max 20C, Min 7C

The thunderstorms hit at 11PM overnight & heavy rain fell. Today was the coldest day of the trip so far.

Drove 45km to Wangaratta to do some bargain shopping through rain, lightning & loud thunder. And some bargains we did find!

Left to head to Milawa 20km away to visit the cheese factory, King Valley Wood Park winery & Hurdle Creek gin distillery. Had lunch at the Milawa General Store; best steak sandwiches & hamburgers!

Came back via Gapsted Wines where Deb did even more tastings & purchases before Plum Chicken & pasta for dinner.

Day 31 (4/5/21)Temps: Max 18C, Min 8C

With more rain expected & closing in from Canberra direction, we decided to stay in as weather from that direction is usually more severe.

Met up with a local from the Prospecting Forum we are part of & chatted about gold panning whilst in a cafe enjoying scones, jam & cream. We got some tips on where to go panning when the rain ceases.

2PM & the wind is picking up, but as it is swirling from multiple directions, the storm front is slow moving. It eventually arrived at 5PM as we were enjoying a pork roast with roast potatoes, pumpkin, carrots plus peas & beans. Absolutely delicious!



Day 32 (5/5/21)Temps: Max 21C, Min 8C

Headed to Mt Beauty to try & find the trout as we have had good success there in the past. Landed a nice 13” Rainbow Trout in the Mt Beauty Pondage. It took the Sunset Fly ahead of the lure. This fish was landed in the first 20 minutes, but did not see any more fish.

The wind was strong & very gusty, and even the normally reliable Kiewa River yielded no fish as water from higher up was being releases. The current was too strong for wading & the river higher than normal.

After a quick bite from the Tawonga General Store for lunch, headed up the Buckland Valley while Deb was shopping in Bright. The Buckland River was extremely low & unfishable.

Returned to the caravan & filleted the trout which was delicious for dinner along with fresh scallops, sweet chilli prawns & fish cakes.

Met the possum family living in the tree next to the caravan; mum,dad & baby.

Day 33 (6/5/21)Temps: Max 25C, Min 7C

Went for an hours drive to Eldorado to see the historic gold dredge from the early 1900's. A magnificent piece of machinery & structure in it's day, finding some 6000 ounces of gold.

Drove along Woolshed Road following Reedy Creek looking for places to do some gold panning. Came to within 4' of a Brown Snake at one spot before beating a hasty retreat.

Further along we found Woolshed Falls which was quieter due to lack of decent rain. 5Km down the road into Beechworth we had lunch at the Hibernian Hotel. We then walked a couple of main streets, tasting some honey which was so delicious we had to buy a jar!

Headed home via Kerferd Lake & Stanley; a beautiful scenic drive with lovely countryside & Autumn colours on show.



Day 34 (7/5/21)Temps: Max 25C, Min 7C

Drove to Yackandandah & walked the streets of the town amongst the plague of European Wasps.

It was then a slow drive along the Southern side of Reedy Creek, looking for spots to pan gold. All the best spots were taken by either people with highbankers, campers or other gold panners. Of the spots that were left we checked out 3, with only one producing 3 tiny flakes of gold. These flakes were smaller than the ones we found on the Shoalhaven River earlier in the trip.

At least we did not encounter any snakes today, but did come very close to a bunch of kangaroos, about 14 in total.

Decided to head back to the van for a well earned 3PM Happy Hour, followed by Chicken teriyaki stir fry for dinner.

Day 35 (8/5/21)Temps: Max 22C, Min 7C

Being the last day of the trip, decided to go fishing at Lake Buffalo as the conditions were perfect for trout. Managed to bag out on the catch limit for Brown Trout, all of them were 14” long. This was my best ever day trout fishing by way of number caught & their frenzied feeding activity & acrobatics jumping out of the water.

We have fresh trout for dinner & some scallops.

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