Oh, misty eye of the mountain below…

FROM LIANA:

During our last slingshot trip back to Sydney we passed through the Snowy Mountain region and it was the only direction I wanted to head once we got back on the road. From Wombeyan Caves we spent a couple of nights in Towong to break up the journey. Towong is the heart of “The Man from Snowy River” country. I wish I paid more attention in high school as I might have been able to give a bit more useful information other than “it’s a famous Australian poem which was turned into a TV show”. I’m definitely not doing my Australian roots any justice.

True to our form once again, after being on the road for two weeks we felt we deserved a bit of a treat of renting a cabin. I found a place near Falls Creek which ticked all our boxes. Open fireplace – tick. Outdoor hot tub – tick. Oven to make our much loved roast dinners – tick. Separate bedrooms for the kids – tick. Washing machine to give absolutely everything a proper wash – tick. We justified it by calling it a Mother’s Day present and the big red button was clicked. Within minutes of walking in I was on the phone extending for another night. The place was absolute perfection and I had no idea how we would ever leave. Just as importantly, there was so much to explore in that area. We are definitely more mountain people than beach people so we couldn’t have been happier about where we were.

Spoiler alert – what started as a long weekend treat ended up being a week long stay in this cabin. We somehow convinced ourselves that we were actually saving money by staying there (definitely not the case) but the main message was somewhere along the lines of “shut up and take our money”.  We’ve booked an Air BNB a couple of times on our trip so far and I feel like it will happen a bit more as we head more into winter. I definitely feel like we are cheating a bit when we abandon camp and go back to four walls. It feels like we’re admitting that we just can’t hack life on the road. But every travelling family is different and there isn’t a right or wrong way. For us it gives us a chance to recharge the emotional batteries and spread out a bit. It also gives us a chance to get some jobs done such as repairs or reorganising the camper without still living out of it and being on top of each other.

Our first adventure was a day trip exploring Mt Buffalo National Park. While slightly more than the “around 40 minutes drive” I told Daniel it was, it was easily the best park we’ve explored so far – and we’ve explored A LOT. Any National Park which doesn’t have me hunting around for coins for the machine to pay the park entry immediately wins points, but you could easily spend a week in this park with so many hikes and trails to explore. If hiking isn’t your thing, then it’s probably not the place for you! We ticked off the Ladies Bath Falls walk first, an easy 1.5km return hike. But we didn’t drive all this way for a measly 1.5km hike, so I somehow managed to convince my height fearing husband to drive another 40km across the mountain range to where the road ended above the clouds.

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I wanted to climb “The Horn” – definitely not a euphemism here – the most prominent peak on the Mount Buffalo plateau at a height of 1,723 meters. We stopped for a picnic lunch above the clouds before starting our climb, which was pretty special once I tuned out Daniel’s moaning. The hike itself was only 1km to reach the top and definitely got the blood pumping. The last 100 meters to the very top of the pinnacle was a pretty scary rock climb on all fours, with nothing but a bit of sketchy fencing to stop you falling the full distance down. The wind at that height (well on this day anyway) was the scariest part, making you feel like it would knock you off the mountain quite easily. Needless to say the kids and their quivering father stayed on a bit more terra firma at the bottom. We wrapped up a pretty awesome day by watching the sunset from our hot tub.

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We made a trip to Falls Creek which was around 16km from where our cabin was. Absolutely gorgeous ski town which I didn’t even know existed in Australia – it’s the kind of place I imagined to find in America or Canada. Being off season the place was a bit of a ghost town but you could still imagine the atmosphere of the place during ski season. Skiing in Australia – not exactly the first thing you think of when thinking of Oz. On the list for our trip to Falls Creek was the 5km Heritage Trail. The hike took in the historic Cope and Wallace Huts. The day was clear and crisp – perfect for hiking. There was snow at the top of the mountain which we were hoping to get our hands on. And judging by the car park it looked like we had the trail to ourselves. About 20 minutes in we realised why. All tracks in the park were closed for the next couple of days for an aerial deer shooting trial. I was willing to walk fast and risk it – after all you’d see and hear the helicopters when they were near you, it’s not like they were conducting sniper attacks on the deer. But Safety Dan was having none of it so back to the hot tub it was.

Beyond that we took advantage and enjoyed having space. We did a roast dinner every night just because we could. We washed everything at least twice just because we could. We were in the hot tub morning, noon and night just because we could. We planned and booked in our travel for the rest of the month because we couldn’t afford to stay at the cabin any longer.

We packed up once again and we were all sad to be leaving the luxury of the last week and going back to living in the camper, but we were excited to be getting back on the road. Our first stop was Shepparton. The site that we stayed at was the worst we’ve stayed in so far – and considering one of our stays ended up in a police matter that is saying something! We stayed at Victoria Lake Holiday Park where the sites are small and crammed in, facilities are old and dirty. There is a train track which was about 20 meters from all the sites so you have the noise of this going from dawn until late at night. There’s no fence or barrier so it’s completely unsafe for kids. After our 4 days in Shepparton I left with only two good things to say about it.

1. It is one of the few places in Australia to still have a Pizza Hut all you can eat restaurant. Anyone who was around in Australia in the 90’s will immediately know how good this is. And yes, the soft serve dessert bar is still the same and just as awesome.
2. Victoria Park is one of the most amazing parks we’ve come across. It has everything you could possibly want with kids – countless playgrounds, a massive adventure playground, water park, skate park and probably more that we didn’t get to discover.

From Shepparton we headed to the big city of Melbourne. It felt weird being back in a massive city again. Our plan was to generally avoid the big cities – we’ve seen them before and don’t really feel they offer the kind of travel experiences we are after on this trip. But it was Kaia’s birthday and all she wanted to do for weeks was to go to the Zoo with her best friend Harry who lives in Melbourne. At the same time we had a few friends who also lived there who we wanted to catch up with so it became a necessary stop. We had an amazing meal with great people at the Vigilante house. I discovered Australia’s most stunning and amazing indoor playground (The Rabbit Hole). We caught up with good friends. And most importantly we gave the birthday girl the day she wanted at Werribee Zoo.

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Kaia and Harry have been friends from Brazil to Australia and who knows where else in the future. I love their connection. They have epic meltdowns at each other and half an hour later they are hugging and kissing – perfect future marriage material.

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FROM DANIEL:

Heading into the Snowy Mountains the weather took a turn for the worse as the rain set in Liana had booked a site which I had been told was a little bit different but had all the bare necessities including good amenities. Turning off the main road onto what appeared to be along an abandoned campsite we were greeted by the owner who pretty much remained by our side for the duration of our stay. We set up camp in the rain just across from the “amenities block” and I was looking forward to a nice warm shower. My heart sank when I opened the door to find a bucket hanging from a piece of string. All was not lost as the camp kitchen had a raging fire going 24/7 with countless folk stories and poems from our host.

I was told our monthly budget had been spent on a cabin for a few nights. For once she didn’t disappoint and at least it got me out of thinking of something for Mother’s Day. Fantastic walks and terrifying mountain drives – took us so high at Mount Buffalo that I was sure we’d collide with an aircraft at any moment. Would love to go back to that area a little later in the year when the snow had set in.

Pushing on towards Shepparton – I’m still not sure why “we” selected this as a destination. Along the way we headed into Glenrowan to check out the site of Ned Kelly’s last stand. Fascinating little place with a small museum, tack shops and all the sights set up around the town as a self-guided trail. Goes without saying the Ned Kelly movie was purchased forthwith for that night’s entertainment. Not much to say about Shepparton. Dodgy site where the camper aerial got stolen, a pitch the size of a postage stamp and noise the whole time. Even the Pizza Hut buffet didn’t do much to make up for the railroad going right through our camp. At least for once the kids weren’t the noisiest thing around. We’re bound to stay at some dodgy places on a trip of this extent but I was definitely happy to be moving onwards.  

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On to Melbourne for Kaia’s birthday. Not a fan of any big city but had an enjoyable few days catching up with good friends and giving Kaia her birthday wish of going to the zoo with her best friend. Took the opportunity to sign up for an annual pass to the Zoo which at about double the normal entrance fee gives us access to all the Zoos around Australia for a year. With at least another 3 on our imminent route we’ll make sure to get our money’s worth.

From Melbourne it was on to the Grampians. Never really heard much about it but the wife seems pretty excited about it.