13 November 2018

Australia The Victorian High Country

We spent 11 days exploring the Victorian High Country with the caravan before the end of the year.
Our first stop was at Marlay Point on Lake Wellington which has great free camping.  We woke up to a beautiful sunrise with pelicans enjoying a swim on the calm waters. We also enjoyed a couple of walks along the tracks nearby spotting a bit of local wildlife on the way.





 Flushing toilets!



An Echidna
  Good Aussie BBQ







We spent a couple of days at Angusvale Camp in Mitchell River National Park in the company of a large mob of Kangaroos and a very furry wombat.









Our outdoor shower

On our way to Dargo we called in to have a look at Castleburn Creek campsite.


We love revisiting Dargo as we have so many memories from the time Mark was a young boy to some great family times camping at Italian Flats under the walnut trees. 





We had a close encounter with a snake swimming across the river. Luckily it decided we were too big for lunch and turned around.

As the Dargo High Plains Road was closed for grading to Hotham, we had to travel via Birregun Road to Omeo instead. The heavy fog and gravel road made it slow going. We stopped for breakfast at 1300m but the fog persisted. 

As we approached Dogs Grave Camp we could finally see the beautiful forest. We stopped at the Drovers Dog memorial and peeked in the hut.




We then continued on to the historical town of Omeo. We parked in the free overnight spot next to the river and walked through town reading the information boards. Once it had been a bustling mining town, but never really recovered after being destroyed in the 1939 Black Friday Fires.


Later we walked to the Oriental Diggings area learning about the mining that took place here.






As we made our way up the High Alpine Road from Omeo towards Mt.Hotham, we stopped to admire the beautiful view of the mountains all the way to Mt Kosciuszko.


We then pulled up at Victoria Falls Camp and decided to stay.









We enjoyed the high country at Dinner Plain and did a couple of walks. We stayed at the free parking area in this very picturesque village.















The drive from Hotham to Harrietville offered some beautiful mountain views. 






 There is still the evidence of the bush fires.

Harrietville has gold mining history.

We strolled around before settling in at Smoko campsite. It was to be a stormy night.

The next day we headed to the beautiful King Valley. Along the way we stopped in Myrtleford for a walk along the river.





 That night we stayed at Edi Cutting.


We decided to beat the bad weather home. Along the way we stopped off at Powers Lookout which never fails to impress in all kinds of weather.