Day 11
Staying in a motel room ended up being a good decision. Yes the rain came in the early hours of the morning but by the time we lazily decided to wander up the road it was only overcast. A short run across to Porepunkah resulted in a coffee stop and a stretch of the legs.
The weather forecast wasn’t the best for this part of the world so we decided to head straight to the top of Mount Buffalo (well the top part you can drive to) and then work our way back down from there. We met up with a heap more crazy buggers riding 1,000 metres up the road on their pushbikes. Have they never heard of motorbikes – now they are fun 🙂
The drive up was quite pleasant and any vehicle would have no worries at this time of year. An AWD would still be fine in the snow if they had chains – it is a really good constant climb with only the last little bit being gravel. The weather was slowly being a pain and we decided against walking up to The Horn Lookout, instead enjoying the views from the picnic area.
We wandered back down the hill past the Ski School and Lake Catani before turning off to the Mount Buffalo Chalet. The Chalet was built by the Victorian Government in 1910 after the first road opened to the summit and has been subsequently listed in the Victorian Heritage Register. Either way between the gardens, the building and the views it is a pretty spectacular place to visit – even in overcast conditions. I can only imagine it covered in snow on a clear winter’s day.
We walked to the Crystal Brook Falls lookout, albeit one at a time as it has started raining by now and Ellie was enjoying being in the car for some reason 🙂
The run back down to Porepunkah was a mixture of rain, bikes and stopping for photo opportunities. You could spend days in this area with the amount of walks and lookouts available. Oh well, just a reason to come back I suppose 🙂
The run across to Beechworth was fairly uneventful although the Jackaroo did not like the climb through the Buckland Gap – it was back in second gear hating life. In good news going so slow allowed us time to see the turnoff / sign to Murmungee Lookout, which itself was a good (high range) climb on a gravel road.
A light rain continued to fall at times but it really wasn’t detracting from the day that much. We made some lunch at the playground in Beechworth whilst Ellie had a play (it’s just water) before wandering around the town. Again you could easily spend a couple of nights here without running out of things to do.
Heading out of town I saw a sign to a scenic drive at the last second so I hooked left and found ourselves on Gorge Road. Certainly worth the diversion. Please ignore the rain spot on one of the pictures – I was having a hell of a time keeping the lense dry today!
We swung through Woolshed Falls on our way past the Hume Highway to Chiltern and then on to Rutherglen. We noticed that Chiltern really embraced Christmas with the main street covered in different decorations.
Rutherglen was worth a quick stop at the Information Centre and they had enough quirky things to pike our interest.
I swear this trip has been the poor persons wine tour, because wherever we go we are finding some amazing wineries. Come on Lotto – you can do it!!!
Anyway De Bortoli aside, we wandered through Wahgunyah (home of Uncle Tobys) and over the one-lane John Foord Bridge back to the land of the cockroaches (or so the Queenslanders tell me).
We grabbed an unpowered site on the banks of the Murray River at Corowa and enjoyed a nice quiet night. Did I mention that the weather had cleared up as we headed west of the Hume Highway.
We did 216km’s with an average moving speed 45.9km/h. Climbed 2988 metres and descended 3154 metres.
Day 12
Another slow start to the day (damn holidays are good) packing up and then heading out to have a coffee whilst Ellie enjoyed herself at the playground.
We travelled north up the Riverina Highway and then onto Federation Way with a stop at Daysdale for some photos.
Continuing to follow Federation Way we arrived at Urana which again provided a good opportunity to stretch the legs, look around and grab a drink.
The harvest is in full swing out this way – wherever you look there are dust plumes from machines working the paddocks. It was surprising to find some parked up in town but guessing they wouldn’t sit still for long.
The run across to Lockhart was uneventful where we stopped to grab some fish & chips whilst looking around at the sculptures and the water tower
I had been carrying 30 litres of fuel because of our original plan to travel off-road through the Wonnongatta Valley. Figured it was better in the tank being used than in the jerry cans so a quick stop at the water tanks in Collingullie provided a good opportunity (other than the fact I was about to run out of fuel).
We dropped in to see JB at the Fire Control Centre (always good to catch up) before going out to the Murrumbidgee River up the back of Forest Hill.
The rest of the afternoon/evening was made up of checking into accommodation (no swag tonight), Loryn & Ellie had a swim and then we had an enjoyable evening with Janet and her parents who always make us feel at home. As per normal a rush trip through Wagga and we did miss catching up with other friends – I do apologise as this wasn’t originally a planned stop (last minute change).
We did 253km’s with an average moving speed 62.3km/h. Climbed 908 metres and descended 858 metres. A very flat day for us.
Day 13
Today was all about just getting to Sydney. Nothing fancy, straight up the highway to the carpark called the M7. As you can see by the elevation graph it does climb quite a bit through the highlands and it is very easy to see why it can snow through this area.
We did 461 km’s for the day, climbed 3,711 metres and descended 3,751. The fuel economy was horrendous (>20 litres per 100km’s) into a 20-30km/h headwind and quite frankly teleportation would have been preferable. The power issue with the car was also becoming more of a problem – it will be good to sort it when we get home.
Anyway eventually crap things start looking better and that was the case when we finally arrived and enjoyed a few Bundies, some good food and good company.
Day 14
We went nowhere, the car didn’t even move. Found out we had a problem with the rear power supply which ended up with the battery pack being flat and the fridge going warm. Luckily there wasn’t much in it but that will teach me not to check when we stay in accommodation for a night.
The day basically consisted of me getting fat(ter) with great food, too many drinks and as per normal it was good to catch up with everyone.
Day 15
Fuelled up early and then headed out mid-afternoon to the Hunter Valley. We think the issue with the car is related to the little black tube that connects the fuel sensor to the exhaust manifold. It wouldn’t surprise me if there is a blockage that’s causing the problem. Then again it could be the catalytic converter blocked which would also cause the same symptoms. Either way that’s a problem to sort out when we get home.
Why did I mention that – because the drive to the Hunter Valley was nearly painful. I literally just followed a few b-doubles up the highway as I wasn’t going any better than they were. And the fuel consumption still was the wrong side of 20 litres per 100kms. Oh well, could have been worse – it still kept chugging along and got us home after a hell of a trip.
We arrived at the Hunter Valley Gardens for their Christmas Light display. Must say it was pretty good and will certainly let the pictures tell the story. Had a good storm smack in the middle of the evening (Ellie and I didn’t get wet) that will be a laugh for years to come.
The drive home was quiet with a stop at Coolongolook for fuel, milk and bread. The light bar & spotlights still do the job nicely. Getting up for work sucked but that’s life. We did 432 km’s for the day, climbed 3,138 metres and descended 3,245 – it is “hillier” than you think.
Overall
I could wax poetry (well maybe not) and use a whole heap of words to say how great the trip was. But if you’ve read this far, or just looked at the pictures, you will know it didn’t suck. The weather made for quite a few diversions but we generally got away with it. The trip had everything bar snow (bugger) and featured some of the higher points of the country.
We did 4,233kms and used 791 litres of fuel – gotta love a 6 cylinder petrol motor. In it’s defence it wasn’t running right and you don’t buy an older petrol 4WD with fuel economy in mind. We averaged a smidgen under 19 litres per 100km’s for the trip which equated to around $30 every 100km’s travelled. Funnily enough it was worse on the highway than off-road, and we weren’t pushing it on the highway (95-100km/h).
Again it would have been great to get to Tassie or South Australia but COVID restrictions are proving very hard. Even now as I type this there are a bunch of Queenslanders stuck up here who can’t get home, because they can’t get a test.
Anyway until next time…..