The Great Alpine Road

By Jen.

Besides the Great Ocean Road (next on the list after we get our mail back), Victoria also has the Great Alpine Road. Recommended as a road trip, we thought ought to check it out. It was a welcome relief to the heat and you could tell that autumn was just around the corner there.
The road passes through the Alpine National Park, which protects the Australian Alps mountain ranges. Not knowing much about the park (Victoria doesn’t seem to have very good information posted online or on the roads), we just drove through the park and stopped at things that seemed interesting. First stop was Black Duck Hole. I think I managed to pick the hardest short walk in the park. It was a steep walk that wouldn’t have been so bad, except that the gravel kept making you slide. You had to be very careful with each step. The riverbend was very welcoming after the warm hike, though.

The next day, we found Mount Cope. With the clouds amongst the mountains, we thought it might be an interesting hike as well. It was sufficiently rewarding with views.

We also walked up the short trail to Fainter Falls.

At this time, my phone started randomly rebooting and getting caught in the boot cycle. If I kept it cold (stuck it in the freezer), I could get it to finish the boot cycle and actually start up, but it was a goner. So, I backed up my photos and everything else I could and requested warranty support. Unfortunately, that means shipping my phone back to the States and then getting my new phone sent back to me after I ship them mine. So, I will mostly likely be without a phone for a month or 2. After spending a day sorting that out, we kept going.
We really enjoyed our visit to Mount Buffalo National Park.  We, of course, went straight to the top first (Horn Summit Lookout).

 "May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds..." -Edward Abbey

Lyrebird Plain.

The park here has really fun boulders. I think I enjoyed the Old Galleries walk the most, with its maze of large rocks.

Luth family, does this remind of you any of previous exploits in his early childhood?

I think this might be one of the most poisonous snakes in Victoria.

To finish the Great Alpine Road trip, we made a few urban stops. First to Beechworth to view the old buildings; then to Milawa for their cheese factory and to have a pizza made with their cheeses!

The courthouse is famous for its trial of Ned Kelly (the equivalent of the States’ Billy the Kid).

Check out these old advertisements!

Mail and Rest Stop

We are thinking of spending a few weeks in the Perth area, just to get a change of pace. We have also been doing some online shopping and have shipped a few items there to await us. So, if you feel like shipping us anything from letters to care packages, you can also send them there (just hit the Contact Us button and we can send you the address). We are taking advantage of the marvelous Poste Restante system. We will probably be there around mid May, but make sure to contact us to let us know you are shipping something so that we make sure we get all the packages. Just note that it usually takes 2-4 weeks for things to get from the US to AUS.

Gippsland Treasures

By Jen.
It is tax season again, and since we worked last year, we actually have to file taxes. So, we had relatives mail us our W-2s and other tax documents that weren’t available online (such outdated procedures!). While we were waiting on our tax documents to arrive, we decided to explore more of Victoria. Since we had decided to do “The Lap” of Australia in the clockwise direction where we would be heading west first, we instead went to the east. Wilsons Promontory and the Great Alpine Road beckoned to us and we answered.

First stop was Wilsons Promontory. This national park that is only a couple of hours southeast of Melbourne is a popular place. If I had to sum it up, it is like a taste of Tassie, but on the mainland. So, we really didn’t feel like sticking around too long there. We climbed up Mt Oberon and called it good. We might have stayed longer in the area, but we didn’t feel like paying $60 per night to camp in the park and it was a bit too long of a drive in and out of the park to justify it, especially since we had already seen very similar things in Tassie. Plus, the number of people were astonishing, especially compared to Tassie.

View from the summit.

Small bird that was flitting along the trail.

Next stop was Ninety Mile Beach. Yes, literally about 90 miles of unbroken, wave-tossed beach. Great for surfers.

Then for a break from the coastline, we went up to Walhalla, an historic town that was home to a gold mine up through the early 1900s. It is a cute, sepia-colored town that is also home to a steam-powered train and decent walking trails.

Local bird (this is the female).

This is all that remains of the burned bank—its vault that used to house the gold!

A close-up of the sign on the vault! That is a lot of gold/money!

The gold mine.