Tuesday, 11th February, 2020:
We’d had a really wonderful time in Rochester with David and
Jo-Anne but it was time to leave and make our way eastward to Kyabram where they
had a dump point and where we bought ourselves a milkshake, though not at the dump
point I hasten to add, before continuing our trip eastwards. Pulling into a
wayside stop at the bridge over the Goulburn River on the Murray Valley Highway
we had a short walk under the bridge to where people have camped and it was
quite messy with the amount of rubbish just left lying around! It was so hot and humid and the flies were a real nuisance even in the van. Our
next stop was Nathalia for shopping at the local IGA and a coffee. Once on the
road again we continued to notice the build up of storm clouds and the
occasional bolt of lightning, but it went around both sides of us so that we
only had a few spits. Broken Creek, along which we were driving, was full to
the brim though, by the time we reached Katamatite, it was bone dry. We stopped
on the road a couple of times for Val to get some photos of the storm clouds
and then for a mural of fairy-wrens on a shed. We easily found the Lions Park
at Tungamah with its free camping at the rear of the Tennis Club. As I was
setting up there were peals of thunder and a few spits of rain and then patches of
blue sky began to appear. It was very, very humid and the corellas were busily
flying around and squawking in their noisy way. A nearby car had a generator
going. It is a beautiful spot on the Boosey Creek.
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| Boosey Creek, Tungamah |
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| Campsite, Boosey Creek, Tungamah |
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| Silo Art, Tungamah |
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| War memorial, Tungamah |
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| Tungamah Store (erected 1885 at "Melbourne Store", rebuilt in 1887 after fire and substantially unchanged since) |
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| Naked Ladies beside Tungamah Weir |
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| Broken Creek, Tungamah |
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| Pied Cormorant, Broken Creek, Tungamah |
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| Corella, Tungamah |
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| Corella, Tungamah |
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| Corella, Tungamah |
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| Treecreeper, Tungamah |
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| Nankeen Night Heron |
Wednesday, 12th February, 2020:
We drove out at 10:45 am so we could explore the silo art
trail. Our first stop was at St James, which has a population of 91 but boasted
a much larger population a century ago, where GJ Coles Jnr had his first shop.
At that time the town had 3 banks, 5 churches, 2 stores, 2 blacksmiths and 1
auctioneer as well as a host of clubs and organisations. The football club had
many victories and even boasted of having had two Carlton VFL captains. The
silo art depicts a team of four horses carting bags of wheat to the silo; JL
& RI Martin’s Morris Commercial, the first truck to deliver wheat to the
silo; GJ Coles first foray into business in St James in 1910; and Tom and Dick
Wren sewing wheat bags around 1950. The old GJ Coles shop is still standing
but, sadly, it is in a state of disrepair.
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| Four-horse team carting bags of wheat. |
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| JL
& RI Martin’s Morris Commercial, the first truck to deliver wheat to the
silo. |
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| GJ Coles North Eastern Store, St James |
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| GJ Coles North Eastern Store, St James |
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| Old house. |
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| St James' Post Office |
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| War Memorial, St James |
From there it was on to Devenish,
which has a population of around 100, but it does have a primary school, which
St James doesn’t. Their silo art, at the war memorial, depicted the role of our
personnel in conflicts—a Light Horseman, a WWI Nurse and a modern combat medic.
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| Silo Art, Devenish |
We bought ourselves a cold drink at the local shop which was on the market, the
current owner having been there for 24 years. It reminded both of us so much of
the old Wilmot GJ Coles store.
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| General Store, Devenish |
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| General Store's window display, Devenish |
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| Post Office within General Store, Devenish |
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| General Store, Devenish |
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| General Store, Devenish |
We also had a coffee in the local community
owned pub.
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| Devenish Community Hotel |
But, as at St James, there were so many old shops that had closed
down.
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| Former Butcher and Bacon Curer, Devenish |
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| Former Milk Bar, Devenish |
We next stopped at Goorambat, where the Uniting Church had a mural on
their inside front wall that was to depict the female side of the Holy Spirit.
Neither of us liked that idea and we thought it reminded us of Queen Esther.
But
their silo art of a Barking owl and its nesting hole in an Iron Bark were
stunning. On another silo was a mural of a team of Clydesdales named Clem, Sam
and Banjo.
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| Silo art of Clem, Sam
and Banjo at Goorambat. |
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| Silo art of nesting hole in Iron Bark, Goorambat. |
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| Silo art of Barking Owl, Goorambat. |
We pulled into the Benalla Showgrounds for the night and, after
lunch, walked around town looking at their murals, some of which I thought were a bit on
the hideous side. Some of them were hard to get a good photo of because of their positioning behind fences, down lane-ways, etc. Here is a selection of some of them for you to make up your own mind about them.
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| At the local skate park. |
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| This one I appreciated. |
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| I loved the contrast between the Joker/Clown and the old advertising for Goodyear tyres. |
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| This really took my fancy as I was able to get the reflection in the window of the Hair and Beauty Salon of the young boy with his multicoloured hair from across the street. |
As usual in any town, be it rural or city, there were numerous businesses that had closed down.
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| Abandoned businesses. |
We also drove down to the Botanical Gardens and did a freedom
parkrun around a beautiful course alongside Lake Benalla and through bushland
as well as through part of the Botanical Gardens.
Thursday, 13th February, 2020:
We called into Bonnie Doon and spent a lot of time walking
the bridge that is part of the Great Victorian Rail Trail over Lake Eildon and
then photographing the three churches that didn’t have to be moved and the base
of the War Memorial that had to be moved as it would have been below water when
the lake was at 85% capacity. At the moment it is only 38.2%.
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| Great Victorian Rail Trail over Lake Eildon, Bonnie Doon |
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| Great Victorian Rail Trail over Lake Eildon, Bonnie Doon |
From there it was
a quick trip to Euroa where we booked into the caravan park (and we were given
a number of discount vouchers), put through two loads of washing and drove into
town for a coffee at Burkes Bakery (one of which was free) and some shopping.
Later on I did a freedom run and was dripping in sweat even from slow jogging,
such was the heat and humidity.
Saturday, 15th February, 2020:
Today I was both Marshal and Photographer at Euroa parkrun
and both roles were recorded. We had breakfast and a coffee, one of which was
free, by ourselves at Mely & Me. On our walk back to the van we went
through the Farmers’ Market and Val bought a garlic bulb and a bottle of
magnesium cream. We then drove along the road to Strathbogie until we reached
the turnoff to Mt Wombat. It was a bouncy road, especially the last bit, which
brought us to the lookout. Perched atop Mt Wombat was a fire lookout as well as
communication and navigation towers. We had a wonderful 360
o view
that was hazy in some directions.
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| From Mt Wombat |
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| From Mt Wombat |
Back in Euroa we did a freedom walk so Val
could do the course and have some walking for today.
Sunday, 16th February, 2020:
We made our way out to the little Presbyterian Church at
Balmattum for their afternoon service and were surprised at the number of
people in attendance, and they weren’t just all old people. The church building
was located in the middle of paddocks just off the main highway. Not only were
there 14 of us but quite a number of others were away today on family matters.
It was a great service on what Christians can expect in this life from Acts
28:1-16. Stephen McDonald is the son of Neil and Jenny who were at Rokeby many
years ago. After the service I thanked him for coming to a country parish and told
him of our concerns for rural churches. The service started at 3:00 pm but we
didn’t get away until 5:30 pm because of the large amount of time spent talking
over afternoon tea. What a great congregation of God’s faithful people. The
opening prayer reminded me so much of John Lillico’s approach based upon
seasons, etc. The pastoral prayer, incorporating an open prayer time,
demonstrated that this congregation saw people’s primary need as being
salvation and not just health issues.
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| Balmattum Presbyterian Church |
We loved our drive along back country
roads that had overarching gum trees lining them.
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| Tree-lined back road, Balmattum |
We refuelled on the way home
and also had a coffee and fries at Maccas in the service Centre on the edge of
Euroa.
Monday, 17th February, 2020:
We left Euroa at 10:30 am and made our way to Seymour where
we parked away from the Town Centre and walked for a coffee, but firstly took
some photos of the murals on the railway underpass.
As the car was parked
opposite Pioneer Park we wandered around this beautiful setting that had been
the town’s original cemetery. The headstones had been rearranged along pathways
so that the whole area was now being looked after in a far better way.
We
stopped near Kerrisdale on the King Parrot Creek, though not a spot where we
could access the Great Victorian Rail Trail. We had a salad lunch before
leaving this spot where a couple of lounge seats had been dumped near the
creek.
We pulled into Yea Caravan Park on a smallish site with plenty of shady trees
beside the Yea River. Around us Bellbirds were happily ringing out the tinkle sounds. After a cuppa we made our way to Cheviot Tunnel, the longest rail trail tunnel in Victoria, on the Great Victorian Rail Trail. This tunnel was
constructed in 1889 and lined with some 675,000 bricks that were handcrafted on
site. The ceiling is stained black. The tunnel is straight so you don’t need a
light to walk through it.
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| Visitor |
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| Great Victorian Rail Trail, Cheviot Tunnel |
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| Great Victorian Rail Trail, Cheviot Tunnel |
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| Blackened ceiling of Cheviot Tunnel |
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| Cheviot Tunnel |
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| Safety Alcove, Cheviot Tunnel |
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| Tunnel Vision |
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| Great Victorian Rail Trail from above Cheviot Tunnel |
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| Spider, Cheviot Tunnel |
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| Camouflaged Spider, Cheviot Tunnel |
We enjoyed our walk and, as I emerged from the tunnel
on our return I spied two Wedge-tailed Eagles soaring not far above me. There
were plenty of birds chirping away and spiders in their webs to delight us. On
the return we stopped at Cheviot—at least where the Cheviot Station used to be.
Not much remains of an old shed of some type. The fading sign said “Gisborne
Building”. There was a toilet block here, one of 12 that have been built as
part of the Rail Trail.
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| Cheviot Railway Station |
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| Crimson Rosella, Cheviot Tunnel |
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| Cheviot Tunnel |
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| Great Victorian Rail Trail |
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| Yellow-banded Day-moth, Cheviot Tunnel |
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| Trail Rider, Cheviot Tunnel |
Having had an enjoyable afternoon exploring this
section of the Rail Trail we headed back to the van for the night.
Tuesday, 18th February, 2020:
Wednesday, 19th February, 2020:
Thursday, 20th February, 2020:
This morning we stopped at Cockatoo, the scene of disastrous
fires some years ago, for the toilet and a coffee break. As we were leaving I
saw some beautiful murals of cockatoos on a tank, but we didn’t take any
photos. After we reached the Princes Freeway we managed to find a spot for
lunch on our third attempt. The first spot was full and the second was
overgrown and looked like it hadn’t been used for ages. We made it to Rosedale
and pulled into Wellington RV Park, also known as Willow Park, and set up the
van. It was pretty much full, such is its popularity. We had a wonderful visit
from Noel and Gail over tea and pikelets.
Friday, 21st February, 2020:
This morning, in a bit of misty rain, we walked into
Rosedale for a coffee at our favourite place, but only after Val had been into
the craft shop looking for some material—but they didn’t have what she wanted.
From there we drove to Sale so Val could get what she wanted from Spotlight.
Rather than return to the van for lunch we walked down to the course used by
Sale parkrun. I thoroughly enjoyed the course that started in the Sale
Botanical Gardens and went around Lake Guyatt. Not only was it an exercise
course but, because it followed the Cultural Trial as well, it was educational
in regards to the Indigenous people who inhabited this area. I learnt that they
had needles made from bone! It was a great out and back course, reasonably flat
for most of it, as it wound around the side of the lakes. I found that I was
able to jog the whole way even in street clothes, though I did have to take my
top off was it was just too hot. After a quick sandwich we drove to Bairnsdale
to do some shopping. As we drove out to Clifton Creek we were absolutely amazed
at how luscious and green everything was following the heavy rains since the
fires. It was only as we drew closer to Doug and Ruth’s that we began to see
the damage done to the countryside by the fires that ripped through this area.
However, blackened trees, some marked for removal, stretched out on either side
of the roads. New growth was sprouting from most of them and even some that had
been cut down still had the new growth sprouting along the fallen lengths along
the ground. Fences had been decimated, though in some places blackened posts
still remained standing with the wires attached to them, but even the star
posts and wire must be replaced because the heat has so affected them that they
are soft and are no longer viable for fencing.
Saturday, 22nd February, 2020:
We were up at our normal parkrun time for our cuppas before
heading into Bairnsdale where Val was Timekeeper and I was Marshal. However,
since we were here last time the council has changed the route of Mitchell
Riverside Walk because of the bats in the forest. There are exits both before
(an old bitumen track) and after (a new zigzag concrete track with handrails)
back down to the old course. This change still hasn’t been shown on the parkrun
map and times are now much slower because of the hillier nature of the course.
I was Marshal at the top of the downhill zigzag and found myself wishing that I
was able to run this new course. We had a coffee at the Wooden Squirrel with a
few others before returning to DARAH for the rest of the day. This included
helping out around the farm with a bit of work that needed doing.
Sunday, 23rd February, 2020:
I had a little bit of a stroll along the driveway and
noticed innumerable dragonflies hovering everywhere. At least they have
survived the onslaught of the fires. But the bird life was pretty quiet. There
were lots and lots of Superb Fairy-wrens hopping and flying around the house. I
had heard plenty of Cockatoos, one kookaburra and a couple of Magpies but, apart
from these, the rest have either been wiped out or migrated to another area
that wasn’t burnt out. We attended Bairnsdale Baptist Church this morning and
the service was led by a group of interns from Camp Coolamatong.
Monday, 24th February, 2020:
Bairnsdale Scrap Metal came this morning so, after some
photos and a cuppa, we headed off around midday and arrived in Lakes Entrance
not too long afterwards following an uneventful trip. After setting up I put a
load of washing through the machine and then we walked downtown for a freedom
run, which was preceded by a coffee and followed by an ice cream.
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| View from Lakes Entrance parkrun |
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| Beside Lakes Entrance parkrun this warning sign about drug testing? 😁 |
Val suggested
that I might like to run tomorrow after all, instead of walking with her. I
decided to take her up on that option.
Saturday, 29th February, 2020:
Sunday, 1st March, 2020:
We were away at 9:30 am to make it to Eden tonight, having
been told that the road was very slow due to speed limits. We began to drive
through burnt out areas of bush—the burning was very erratic as it jumped here
and there from spot fires. But as we continued to drive on the damage became
more severe. By the time we had reached Orbost we could see smoke on the hills
and wondered where it could have come from, given that the fires had all been
put out. By the time we reached Bellbird the devastation had become greater and
many trees lining the road had been cut down because they were too dangerous to
leave. No wonder the Princes Highway had been closed for such long period of
time. A tree, long since removed, had fallen over a small bridge and damaged
the guardrail, so it was down to 40 for that spot. But there was an eerie
beauty about the scenery. Blackened trees, now bare of their original leaves,
had begun to sprout new growth all along the trunk and branches so that they
looked like giant spectres writhing their agonising way through the bush. And
yet there were nearby trees that retained some of their old leaves. The
sunlight filtering through the leaves and treeferns was just so beautiful as it
highlighted their light greenness against the black and darkened background. We
had decided that we would pull into Can River for our morning break, even
though it was about 11:30 am when we arrived there. We refuelled at United, and
the young man there said that business still hadn’t returned to normal. We
chose the Cann River Cafe for our coffee as they advertised gluten free
pies—and Val wanted one. After ordering our pies and coffee we talked with the
owner for some time. He lost between $150,000 and $200,000 in turnover during
those few weeks, which was a large proportion of his annual turnover and on top
of that he had so much that had to be thrown out because of contamination and
spoilage. We then wandered down to the supermarket, with its sparsely filled
shelves, to get a cold drink and support another local business. He had lost so
much stock, to the tune of about $50,000, when the power failed and then the
diesel generator ran out of fuel while he had to evacuate and he was so
grateful that, through the “grace of God”, the town had been saved and people
were slowly beginning to return. He was happy to be able to pay his wages.
While the devastation between the border and Eden didn’t appear to be as great
as that on the Victorian side we know that it will get a whole lot worse as we
travel to Bega and beyond.
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| Roadside tree felling |
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| Regrowth |
We pulled into the Eden Gateway Holiday Park for our
three nights. We passed this sight on the way to the caravan park:
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| The Blues Brothers singing the praises of this 1935 Oldsmobile! |
After setting up and having a light lunch we went for a walk
along Lake Curalo. I saw my first Bellbirds along with many other birds. The
lake level was low so it was very smelly in places and there was,
unfortunately, a lot of litter that had been carelessly dumped by people. It
was a longish walk on concrete, gravel and boardwalk.
L.p.
