Friday
Finally got everything sorted by 1100h and departed Albury heading east along the southern side of the Hume Weir. The weir is still holding a fair whack of water, but not as much as earlier this year. We turned off and headed over Lockhart’s Gap, successfully passing a random breath test on the top of the hill.
Climbing down the other side we turned right onto the Omeo Highway and stopped in at Eskdale quickly to have a look where the memorial site was for ANZAC Day. It’s quite easy to find as it’s in the same location as the information booth as you come into town.
Continuing on we arrived at Mitta Mitta for a quick toilet stop and picked up some supplies before turning north towards Dartmouth. A quick bite to eat at Dartmouth and we pointed the Prado towards the boat ramp at Six Mile.
The road is still bitumen at this stage, but it does get narrow and windy in places. There’s a lookout as you climb up the hill, but it hasn’t been maintained and now all you get is a heap of trees in the way of what would be a great photo.
Arriving at the boat ramp there is a toilet block and a public telephone, however no camping is allowed in that vicinity – contrary to what the Hema High Country map states. We stopped and got a few photos although they haven’t turned out the best due to the overcast nature of the day (and my abilities no doubt!).
From the boat ramp we turned left onto Six Mile Rd. Now whilst it may be listed as a road, it’s more a gravel track and I certainly wouldn’t want to be caught on it when it rained as it’s primarily clay based.
We climbed up until the three way intersection with Razorback Spur Track and Hollaway Log Road (again a track more than a road). We turned down Hollaway and started descending down the hill. Due to the sun not hitting some parts of the track throughout the day, there is a number of spots that can be quite slippery.
These are primarily around the u-turns as you climb down the southern face of Granite Peak.
Down the bottom of the hill you meet the Snowy Creek, where there is room for a camp either side of the wooden bridge. Unfortunately they had been taken this time, but I would highly recommend them for anyone wanting a camp close to Mitta Mitta.
Not long after the Snowy Creek camping area we turned south (left) onto the Omeo Highway. This is where the first 10km’s of gravel starts, and there are still other sections of the highway that are gravel. For note anyone planning a trip in these areas please allow extra time. The highway is quite windy in places and the 105km’s from Mitta Mitta to Omeo takes around 2 hours to complete – without stops.
We continued approximately 3km’s down the highway to The Walnuts camping area. As expected every man and his dog were crammed in like sardines so we didn’t even bother stopping. Thanks to a hint from a member on the forum (thanks!) we found a great little spot right next to the Snowy Creek by ourselves. Setting up camp we had some tucker and retired for the night.
Getting a help setting up - although I'm not sure it was helping!
Overall the Prado did quite well towing the trailer again today. Whilst there wasn’t anything overly difficult, the conditions were quite moist and we found that 20psi in the AT’s (Maxi 751s) gave us the most grip when needed.
Saturday
We were on the road after our morning routine by 0830h heading south towards Omeo. Along the way Benjamin found a little hut on the right hand side of the highway. Looking at the maps it doesn’t show any ‘hut’ as such and whilst it has inscribed ‘Mt Willis’ it isn’t the actual Mt Wills Hut as that’s off the highway further south.
We arrived in Omeo to find it quite busy. Unbeknown to us it was the same weekend as the rodeo and there was also a market in progress. We topped up the gas and petrol tank, grabbed a couple of supplies and then started climbing the Great Alpine Rd.
Now I’ve travelled both ends quite extensively, but I’ve never down the part between Omeo and the Dargo High Plains Rd. Whilst it’s a bitumen road it is very picturesque and I’m glad that we took the time out to have a look. It would certainly look great in winter and hopefully I’ll get up there one day to have a look.
As you might have gathered we turned onto the Dargo High Plains Rd and aired down at the entrance to the Blue Rag Range Track. Whilst airing down we got a few looks that we were going to take a Prado up there, and there were a number of sly remarks about how it wouldn’t make it…..
Well to cut an hour long journey short, it not only made it but it did it easier than a number of other vehicles in the vicinity – and first time on everything as well!
Lunch was ate whilst again looking at one of the best views in Australia, with the missus now understanding what she missed out on in January. Whilst at the summit we met up with a group from 4×4 earth who seemed like a good bunch of blokes having a good time.
Hey fellas - hope your having fun! I'm sitting on top of Blue Rag - remember that stir.....
Best of three worlds - a feed, being fed by someone else and a great view - what else does a bloke need!
After consuming lunch we headed back down towards the Dargo High Plains Rd. It was starting to become like Pitt Street as we counted nearly 20 vehicles on the track going both directions at one stage. I’m certainly glad that we left when we did.
What a great set-up. The best vehicle to tour in next to the Defender!
Front drivers side wheel up a little bit
Lack of clearance means knowing exactly where the wheels are running
I need a torque convertor lock - I spent a fair whack of time on the brakes descending the steeper sections of the track.
Airing back up we headed back to the Great Alpine Road and stopped in at Bright for some supplies. Again everyone was packed in like sardines in a can and we were certainly glad that we weren’t part of it. It was bad enough going into Woolworths to get some supplies.
I noticed that the rear left tyre was down a little so I stopped into the service station to top it up. It was down alright – 12psi. Something to keep an eye on I suppose!
Now a few of you are probably wondering why the hell we turned towards Bright when we had a base camp just outside of Mitta Mitta? Well I’ll let you in on a little secret. Most can see on a map that you can get from Bright across to Mount Beauty quite easily through Tawonga Gap.
What a lot of people don’t know about is the short cut across to Mitta Mitta. Mountain Creek Road starts off as bitumen but quickly turns into a narrow windy little track just after the camping area at Mountain Creek itself. You then turn left onto Trappers Gap Rd and follow it through to Scrubby Creek Road – again both narrow gravel tracks. This brings you out approximately 2 km’s north of Mitta Mitta.
It took us just under two hours from Bright to Mitta Mitta with a couple of stops, and it was made more enjoyable listening to the Gold Coast Suns win their first game on the radio broadcast. Bet Port Adelaide supporters are pissed!
Arriving back at camp it was a quick dinner and into bed. Overall it was a very enjoyable day with a mixture of 4WDing and touring.