From the Sea to the Mountains

Mt. Stirling

The alternate title for this post would be “Driving on the Left”. We picked up our rental car in Melbourne and headed north for the mountains… very cautiously. As I’m sure you are aware, the convention in Australia is to drive on the left; this should be so simple, but how nerve-wracking it truly is. It’s like trying to learn to drive all over again. Even a week later I was still turning the windshield wipers on when I just wanted to signal a turn. We did eventually get used to it and managed not to kill ourselves or any Australian motorists.

Our destination for the past week was the “Australian Alps”, a modestly mountainous region a couple of hours drive to the northeast of Melbourne. While certainly not of Alps stature, the area does sprout up some respectable peaks – the highest being just under 6000 feet. It was a beautiful drive though winding back roads, quaint mountain villages, and farmstead wineries. It was a large area to explore, so we settled on three hikes along the “Great Alpine Road”, all within the Alpine National Park. 

Our first hike was to Mt. Stirling. We spent the night before the hike in Mansfield, a quiet tourist town at the base of Mt. Buller – which is actually a ski resort – who knew. It was a long winding road up the mountain just to get to the trailhead. In the summer this is a big destination for mountain biking, with a whole maze of bike trails, which totally confuse the casual hiker. We never did really find the trail we planned to hike, but we did manage to climb Mt. Stirling and enjoyed a picnic lunch on top whole taking in the views.

Mt. Buffalo National Park

 Late in the afternoon we continued on our way to Mount Buffalo National Park, the second oldest national park in the country, created in 1898. The park encompasses an unusual massif rising out on the edge of the main mountain chains. It was another long and winding climb to the top of the plateau where we camped at the public campground. We spent a full day exploring this beautiful park… hiking to a historical mountain hotel, the “Chateau”, climbing to the top of Mt. Dunn, and capping of the day with a sunset hike to the highest peak known as “The Horn”.

Mt. Dune

Sunest from the Horn

View from the Horn

The next day was a non-hiking day – it sort of felt like a day off. We spent a relaxing day walking around the lovely little town of Bright. We walked along the river, taking in the local gold mining history, and waiting out heavy downpours drinking coffee in the numerous cafes.

Our big hike for the week was up Mt. Feathertop along the razorback ridge – about a 22 km jaunt. This is one of the most popular hikes in the park, and for good reason. The Great Alpine Road climbs to a pass at Mt. Hotham, another ski resort, and the trail to Feathertop takes off from this high point. The trail follows the crest of the ridge all the way to the top of this second highest peak in Victoria state. There are definitely some ups and downs, but the vertical gains and losses are quite modest.

Our biggest challenge with this hike was the weather. It had rained the night before and the weather had not really cleared by morning. We set off in a dense fog with our full winter attire – down coats, wind jackets and pants, hats, and mittens. The wind was roaring and at times you could only see a few yards up the trail. Luckily the clouds eventually lifted and we were rewarded with some outstanding views in all directions. However, by the time we made it to the top the clouds lowered again and we ate lunch in the fog. About half way back the wind picked up like crazy and we literally struggled to walk upright. It was easily hurricane force winds. We were very thankful to make it back to the car with no mishaps.

After that ordeal we were ready to take it easy for a couple of days. We headed out of the mountains to the coastal lakes district, an area east of Melbourne that forms the largest inter-water way system in the country. We camped by one of the largest lakes and enjoyed the return of sunshine and warm temperatures. A highlight was a visit to Raymond Island to see the koalas. This is a small island, only about 100 yards from the mainland, but you still have to take a ferry to get there. On the island is a captive population to koalas – they are wild, but they can’t get off the island, so it is easy to find them and take pictures.

Oh yeah, we did see kangaroos too – the night before as they wandered into our campsite. Unfortunately they were a little too far away to get a decent picture….

And that was about it. Tonight we reorganize and repack for New Zealand in the morning. We will report again when we find a decent internet connection. Ciao.