Today was one of those days where the argument for travelling about in Australia in a motorhome versus a caravan comes clearly out in favour of the former. This dilemma was one we struggled with before we first came across the Tasman to set ourselves up ready for this great adventure. We had enjoyed travelling around New Zealand in our own motorhome for five years, but also had previous experience with caravans when the kids were still at home, so we could see the wisdom in both sides of the argument. In the end, of course, we chose to run with the caravan and for myself, I have until today, been absolutely happy with that decision.
We set off from the park just after nine, passing through Porepunkah just a kilometre down the road and on to Bright six kilometres further on, where we purchased a newspaper. We wanted to save exploration of Bright for another day, however we could not but note the avenues of poplars already changing colour, the abundance of other deciduous trees throughout the township and the banner announcing that the annual Autumn Festival was still about six weeks away. Our homework had shown us that Bright would be a delight, and the quick visit today did nothing to suggest otherwise.
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| Snow Gums regenerating from past damage |
We continued on south, following the Ovens River up into the narrowing valley, and then at Harrietville, the road turned steeply away from the river and started to climb up into the Alpine National Park. Harrietville is a charming alpine village of about three hundred folk, their residences and the school tucked discreetly behind the rows of trees soon to turn autumn shades.
While the Great Alpine Road is wide and sealed, it is steep and winding, with steep drops on one side. Soon we were passing through mountains of alpine ash, much of it standing tall and dead, killed by the dreadful 2003 fires, and much of it fresh growth struggling to survive on the steep sides of the mountains all around. One stretch of the road marked as “The Meg” rises continuously for 670 metres, this piece of road being the one that caused Chris to comment on the wisdom of having left the caravan at the park.
We were impressed with the alpine ash in the Otways, the National Park accessed from the Great Ocean Road. They are indeed lovely trees, sometimes known as woolybutt and apparently the second tallest trees on the planet after Californian redwoods. They only grow between the altitude of 900 and 1,450 metres where the snow lies about enough for the seeds to germinate. Which does make me wonder about the Otways; surely we were not so elevated there?
As we approached Mount Hotham, 1,867 metres above sea level, the alpine ash gave way to snow gums, stunted eucalypts which can withstand fire, the weight of the snow and the cold driving winds. These too had been severely affected by the fires and with the regrowth at the base of each tree, they appeared as bouquets of white, wrapped in green crepe paper.
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| The ski village of Hotham Heights |
Hotham Heights is situated at 1,750 metres and as such is the second highest resort village in Australia. Chris had been here before, about thirty years ago, but found little familiar. The lodges and hotels which cover only a small area, are modern and open only for business in the ski season. The chairlift structures run on well into the distance, but the actual chairs were all piled up at the resort waiting for the seasonal staff to install them for the masses who will surely arrive with the winter.
Just ten kilometres down the road, we came to Dinner Plain which is also a purpose built ski resort village, with a population of less than one hundred but with over two hundred lodges. Its tradition of hospitality dates from well over a hundred and fifty years ago when drovers stopped by. When the horse drawn coaches were running between Omeo and Bright, they would also stop here for their midday dinner, hence the name. Today it hosts the likes of us travellers and those who come in the summer to enjoy walking and similar pursuits in the National Park, and in the winter, to enjoy snow play.
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| Sad Alpine Ash |
Immediately on from Dinner Plain, the landscape changed to open wooded pasture land, not as steep as the western side, and then a little further, more open valleys with beautiful farmland. We were now in East Gippsland which is famous for pastoral farming. Before descending too far, we turned up a track marked “Mount Kosciusko”, curious to say the least. Of course Mount Kosciusko is Australia’s highest mountain and is situated in New South Wales: from the vantage point here in the Victorian Alps, we were able to see this just fifty kilometres away as the crow might fly.
Omeo is just over forty kilometres from Dinner Plain and sits on land a far cry from the mountainous majesty we had travelled through earlier in the morning. Gold was discovered near Omeo in the early 1850s at Oriental Claims. This name had nothing to do with the Chinese miners who mined here, they were just a small proportion of those who worked the claim. The claim was named so because of the European company named Oriental Company, who worked the mine from 1876 to 1904. The practice of water sluicing was the downfall of any mining here; in 1904 the Sludge Abatement Board prohibited further washing of gravel and silt into the creek. This was in part the reason that extraction of the gold became uneconomical and the mine had closed by 1912.
Omeo suffered as a consequence, then there was an exodus of able bodied men when the Great War broke out in 1914, and then if this was not enough, fire destroyed huge parts of the town in January 1939. In fact in that one day, 1.6 million hectares of forest and grazing country were destroyed, and seventy one lives were lost. Despite all this doom and gloom, today this small rural service town appeared a pleasant little place. We drove into the Oriental Claim historical area and ate our lunch on a rather dilapidated table under gums beside a charming creek, with just a kookaburra in attendance. One could have freedom camped here quite easily, and stayed on to enjoy the many walks on offer.
The road goes on south of Omeo, on down to the south coast at Bairnsdale. We plan to do this section of the road from there at some future date. Instead we turned north back up the Alpine Discovery route, otherwise known as the Bogong High Plains Road. We continued to travel through beautiful hill country, over high ridges and into valleys carved out by equally beautiful rivers. It was interesting to note a sign advising that English Broom Control was being undertaken. This was the first reference we had seen to this plant that grows so prolifically on the east coast of New Zealand’s South Island, south of Kaikoura; gloriously golden in flower but the bane of both farmers and councils. We did not however see any broom here, but were back amongst the more common variety gums, until at Shannonvale we turned steeply up on to the Bogong High Plains. These plains cover 120 square kilometres and are the largest area of alpine grasslands in Victoria. Sheep were grazed here right through to the 1946 but cattle grazing continued on through to 2005. Just recently there has been controversy about the rights of graziers here in the high country, about their carrying of this old age tradition.
At Trapyard Gap, where the 650 kilometre Australian Alps Walking Track crosses, we came upon several busloads of scientists and walkers, all looking the part; all rather surprising after having encountered so few on the road. These wombles and walkers seemed undeterred by the spots of rain and the cold wind. We could understand their interest in this landscape, home to what seems such a fragile environment.
As we drove on past the two mountain top lakes, the Rocky Valley Storage and the Pretty Valley Pondage, the fascinating rocky outcrops, the stunted snow gums, we were tempted to stop and join the other outdoor types, but there was still a long way to go. Had we been travelling in a camper, we would have parked up and spent several days enjoying the many walks on offer.
The ski resort of Falls Creek is here on these plains, lower than the others at 1,100 metres but no less patronised. It, like the other two, seems to be mainly made up of very modern buildings, compact and offering little but specialist services for skiers.
Soon after Falls Creek, the road follows the Kiewa River, down a narrow valley, descending sharply to each of the four hydro-electricity stations, the first at Bogong. The scenery was stunning, but no more so than it had been for the whole trip. Finally we arrived at Mount Beauty, built in 1947 by the State Electricity Commission expressly for the construction of the hydro-electric scheme. From Mount Beauty we turned west and climbed up over the Tawonga Gap, from where we had magnificent views back over the Kiewa valley, and then back down toward Bright, and on home.
We were back after a wonderful eight hours journey, one we joked about redoing tomorrow but in reverse. Apart from the frivolous waste of diesel, it would be a most welcome way to spend yet another day.
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