Thursday
Well we found the 40A fuse to the ARB High Flow compressor blown – hint for newcomers – carry a couple of them. Thankfully Phil sourced one in town so we threw it in – nup blew that one too.
So the problem is in the switch wiring = home problem.
We packed up nice and early and bade goodbye to Wheelerdog & family (Overlander forum) and Jason, Michelle & kids. As per normal it’s always hard to say goodbye, but we always know that we’ll catch up again sooner or later – we always do.
The others had taken off earlier up to Bright, so Phil (who stayed back with me) and I headed up the road and stopped at Bright for some supplies. We had decided to go up through Falls Creek/Bogong High Plains and on through Omeo to our eventual camp at Native Dog Flat.
So what was a mainly bitumen/gravel road like – well quite simply it was brilliant. The day was full of slow ascents/descents and lots of corners, but the views were unbelievable. I found myself at times stopping every 20 minutes to get photos (which certainly didn’t do anything for getting into camp early!).
I certainly want to go back and set up camp on the high plains one weekend and spend the time exploring that area. It reminds me of the lakes in Tassie and it holds that same beauty that makes you want to return time after time.
The other thing we found is I really need to get that brake controller fitted to the Landy. I started to overheat the brakes when we dropped down onto the Omeo Highway. Even though the Trak Shak has the proper treg hitch which allows you to still have brakes without a brake controller, it is nowhere near as effective as having it done right. Another job to do I suppose!
The Omeo Highway is one of the windiest slow roads that I’ve ever drove. To compare it, it would be like driving the West Coast of Tasmania. For the approximately 50km’s to Omeo it took over an hour and I barely got out of 2nd and 3rd gear for the length of it.
Arriving at Omeo we got to catch up with Richard (Overlander forum) who I hadn’t seen in quite a while. The kids had a play at the park and we grabbed some supplies whilst we were in town.
We were starting to debate whether it was worth going back home before the next trip, or to just continue on. The preference was certainly to continue on and I started diving into the maps and looking at potential tracks/campsites.
From Omeo we headed out to Benambra stopping at the lookout for some photos, and then turned onto Limestone Rd for the run out to our campsite at Native Dog Flat. This run takes just over an hour with a trailer on as it starts of as bitumen, then turns into a typical forestry road with quite a few corners and hills.
Upon arrival at Native Dog Flat the guys had started to already set-up as we were running behind them. I was quite surprised at how dry the area was, and the lack of water in the creek – especially considering the fairly recent rain we copped at Albury. I’m guessing they missed out and it went further south?
We struggled to find a flat enough area to set up the trailer so we suggested moving down to Limestone Creek instead. Andrew and I went down for a look but even there it was still dry. The area was certainly flatter and easier to set up camp, but it wasn’t worth asking the guys to pack up what they’d already set up.
We ended up setting up a few metres away from the rest of the guys and we trialled a quick set-up for an overnight stop to see if it was any quicker. Basically we cooked dinner and washed up straight out of the back of the trailer, then set up the tent in its basic form for sleep.
The next morning we cooked brekkie then packed the tent away. It certainly was a quicker way of doing it, and it was good to trial it when there was no time constraints as such.
The rest of the night we spent relaxing around the campfire and then off to bed.
Friday
We had spoken about various ideas of routes in the area due to Davies Plain still being closed (kinda confusing since word was the track was fixed just before Christmas?). In the end we stuck with our original plan and headed of towards the Cobberas Trail.
The track itself is quite slow due to the rocky nature of the terrain. The first half is certainly easier than the second half, where we had a couple of really picturesque creek crossings, and a gnarly little downhill drop (where I took the wrong line and got crossed up after sliding!).
We turned onto the McFarlane Flat Track and continued onto until the crossing of the Ingeegoodbee River where we stopped to have a feed. Unfortunately Andrew and a tree came together and that was the end of his rear drivers’ side window, so a quick fix followed before we watched three bikes come down the track (one of whom took a spill).
Heading up the hill behind Andrew I came to an uphill bit that had opposing holes on the left hand side. It was just enough to have me spinning so I did a stall start and reversed back down the hill (it had a few anxious moment with the drop off to the left!). On second approach I took the right hand line over the rocks and it crawled up fairly well – I’m still wishing the lockers were working at the moment!
A bit further on up the hill and we turned right onto the Ingeegoodbee Track and headed up the hill towards the helipad. Just before the final climb I stopped so the kids could go to the toilet.
Long story short my eldest son decided to ignore his mum and try to shut the rear door – the pram was in the way. First time didn’t work so instead of checking he decided to slam it again. Result = shattered rear window! I was happy – yeah right!
Anyway after some running repairs we continued up to the helipad and grabbed a group shot (some cheeky bugger took one of the back ends of the vehicles too!). A quick run from there downhill to the Snowy River Rd followed.
Turning right we headed down to Suggan Buggan and had a quick dip in the river near the bridge, We had decided that we’d have to head home now and do some running repairs (brake controller, lockers & now rear window) so we bade goodbye to everything and headed back to Native Dog Flat to pick up the Trak Shak.
The run down the Snowy River Rd was absolutely brilliant and talk about scenic. It’s also windy and hilly but damn what a great drive. And when it opened up into the valley near the turn-off to Limestone Rd it had me very jealous of however owns that property – what a place to live.
Limestone Rd is narrow and loose gravel in places so it took a while to get back to camp. However upon arriving we hooked up the trailer and booted it along to Benambra – I needed to get some air for the tyres and other supplies before heading home.
Unfortunately I must’ve really walked under a ladder so to speak, as the air compressor at Benambra wasn’t working. This meant that I had to head into Omeo instead of going out through Corryong as I planned.
So a quick drop into Omeo for some air and we headed up the highway to Mitta Mitta. It really is a great drive but it takes ages. I had just less than half a tank in the Landy at Benambra which is normally good for around 400km’s. But by the time I got into Mitta Mitta at around 2030h, I was down to under ½ tank with nearly 100km’s to go.
A quick stop at Mitta Mitta for the kids and we continued on over the gap and back to Wodonga – to find all of the service stations closed! Still holding my breath I got over to Albury and threw a few litres in it to get home (lesson learnt).
Getting home it was showers/baths and then onto bed.
Overall we had a great time but found that it felt a tad rushed at times. There is still so much to see in this area and we certainly plan on going back very soon. The company as always was brilliant and I’d certainly like to say thanks to Phil, Andrew and his wife for their patience with the children – in particular Phil for his chocolate cakes etc that he kept making!
This trip has given me a good look at some tracks that I haven’t done before and that was the idea. Next trip will hopefully be around the Snowy River country and I hope to do that over the next two weeks if I get the Landy up and running right.
Cheers
Chris