Before we headed west, going from hot weather to more hot weather we spent time in the rather beautiful northeastern corner of Victoria. From the water eroded granite of Woolshed Falls, the promise of gold and gemstones at Reedy Creek (yes we did find flecks of gold!), quirky places like Mount Big Ben - ding dong!, the gourmet delights of the Milawa region and King River Valley, through the tranquil almost hidden delights of Dederang Valley, Happy Valley and the Ovens Valley - the whole region is a delight. Echoes of times past marked by oasts - kilns used once for drying tobacco but recently used to dry hops. Flash back to the 80s and this region grew masses of tobacco.
We try to travel on roads we had never driven on before. A challenge sometimes, but very interesting - you never know what you were going to discover. We drove along roads lined with beautiful pink and mauve crepe myrtle trees big and small, and blowsy walnut and chestnut trees. All the while bright yellow grasshoppers leapt about like crazed wind-up toys.
We travelled beside rivers and creeks - the King, Rose, Buffalo, Ovens, Kiewa and Hurdle, past Bread and Butter Gap, the long Buffalo Lake. We were in the high country and were surprised at the number of Highland Cattle chewing their cud under eucalypts. A bizarre sight after Scotland! Some places we would never have found had it not been for my Hema map app - it works even when there is no ‘signal’ by tracking you with GPS. I love it!
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| Woodshed Falls. Be lovelier in cooler weather |
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| The vacated home seemed tethered to the tree with spiders web |
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| Outside Myrtleford |
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| Oasts now used for hops which are widely grown in the area |
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| Whitty Café in Whitfield. It was like stepping back in time. Quite delightful. |
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| Lake Buffalo dotted with pelicans and many other waterbirds. Quite tranquil |
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| Idyllic hideaway in the mountains |
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