October 22 and 24 Taking to the forests again and .....

We’ve driven many roads through seemingly countless forests; some tracks pretty rough and a wee bit precarious and others fine - unless they’re wet!

These days were no different but everything seemed washed clean after a fair bit of rain. Tracks were running little rivulets of mud and puddles were alive with dancing bubbles. At times the world shrunk to a small cosy cocoon around us with the rest, the world outside, shrouded in light mist and often thin curtains of mizzle. Tree and mistletoe skeletons alike loomed dark against a misty pearly grey sky. Here and there roadside banks were spotlighted with patches of white and yellow daisies and pretty blues. Trunks dark, black or red stood out in stark relief in the green vividness of wet shiny regrowth under the trees and climbing up their trunks like soft fuzzy warmup leggings. 

But where were we? Heading to Raymond Creek Falls, (Snowy River NP). Wouldn’t you know it the path in to the Falls was closed because they were doing aerial shooting of deer in that part of the National Park. Disappointing but what can you do - look for flowers of course! We found quite a few some of which I might post at the end of this. 

Not to be done out of a day’s adventure, I found is a track that would get us to Woods Point, a picnic and camping spot on a huge loop downstream in the mighty Snowy river. 

Not a soul anywhere and the weather was rather lovely by then. It was an idyllic spot where we wandered along the river listening to the birds and the gentle lap of water along the sandy river’s edge. I was so itching to get into the water but the thought of sitting with damp skin and sand the remainder of the day convinced me against dipping in to that gorgeous treacle-coloured flow. A wonderfully gentle day. 

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Two days later we aimed at another giant loop further upstream - Long Point (Long Point circled in yellow). That was not to be! 

The day was dizzily and there had been a bit of rain over night but our absolutely awesome beast and star driver managed to get us to within a 100 or so metres of our destination to where the last bit of road plunged steeply down to the river. With more rain looming and ever increasing slippery surfaces we sensibly backed up the track until we could turn around - these are very narrow tracks often with soft and, this day, very boggy edges.  

That track was simply a side trip along  the Stringers Knob-Mottle Range loop, Route 1 on a local tourist map.

Back on track we drove on bumping and crunching through flora reserves, forests where the only naturally growing stand of Spotted Gums (the trees above with pale trunks) in Victoria is; they are endemic to SE Australia. Very special. 

There are quite a number of rail trestle bridges evidence of a bygone era. A couple have been restored but must are falling down. This one for instance is half gone. 

It’s amazing what a bit of rain can do to a dirt road very quickly. A number of tracks were a bit dodgy but we managed, after dodging and diving into ruts and huge potholes, to end up at the wild coast at Pettman beach and eventually at Ewing Morass Wildlife Reserve - in the drizzle. 

And it was indeed a morass in fact it was more than a morass in parts with tracks were completely under water! Morasses skein along the east and central Gippsland coast, this one sometimes drains into Lake  Corringle and eventually into the Snowy estuary. I simply love this vista!

We headed for home along the Old Orbost road - the operative word being ‘Old’. It was a physically challenging and bone shaking day but wonder-filled. We are getting a good feeling for this part of the world, the internal parts and back blocks - the real Gippsland - and loving it!