On Tuesday 15th March 2022, 2 years after purchasing our bus, with renovations basically complete we drove away from our block for the last time. The block has been sold, another era to lock away in the memory banks. We always set ourselves a deadline of March 31st 2022 and were chuffed to have beaten that by 16 days.
To be honest it was a bit of an anticlimax – we have been wanting to do it for so long and having dealt with a lot of stuff in that time, that it was quite surreal. We started the morning with hosting the electrician who passed our electrical certificate. This followed the previous Friday when we passed the gas certification. We needed these two things to allow our full VASS certification which was booked for 7th April. We stopped via the weigh station to check the weights of our setup and were surprised to find we were almost on the limit from the get go. I know I could lose a heap of weight but this was crazy and not how we wanted to start out, so over the next few weeks we monitored what we used and what we didn’t and culled. We aren’t missing anything….not yet anyway!
Our plan now is to make no plans – we had 2 dates set in concrete and they were the VASS certification in Ballarat in April which was successful, and BRB2022 in Birdsville in July. So with this in mind we wanted to see parts of Victoria that we hadn’t visited as yet, before heading north.
Our first destination was Lake Eildon and we planned to check it out from both sides. We wove our way up through the mountains on the B360 off the Maroondah Highway. What a beautiful drive, the trees and tree ferns were glorious. It was slow going but well worth it. Our plan was to have a night stopover on the Goulburn River at Brooks River Reserve just outside of Alexandra and that’s just what we did. It was advertised on WikiCamps (our new bible along with the Camps 11 book) as “Big Rig Suitable”. It was a tight squeeze to get in and lucky for us there were only 3 other setups here, a guy travelling on a motorbike in a tent, a small VW camper and one caravan. Needless to say we were the “big boy” on campus. The river was flowing in all it’s glory and we took a small walk around to admire it.
Day 2 and we headed to Lake Eildon via Mansfield camping on the Delatite Arm Reseve at Taylors Campsite. There are 18 campsites along here catering for all shapes and sizes – it stretches for kilometres. We loved our time here as we had the opportunity to explore on our bikes, kayak and 4wd. How’s the serenity? Bloody sensational! There was an abundance of wild life; roos, deer, birds, fish and ducks and even a very healthy looking copper coloured snake that we encountered when kayaking. It was happily swimming across the lake and when we spotted it it was just in front of us. I’m not a fan of snakes so after the initial “ooh how cool” reaction, my brain switched to “holy shit what if it thinks we are an island and decides to come on board”!
Three fun facts on Lake Eildon; the shoreline is 515kms around, it holds 6 times more water than the Sydney Harbour and 25% of Victorians who own a boat have, at sometime, had it in Lake Eildon (not sure who came up with that last fact).
A highlight before heading to the other side of the lake was a day trip to visit Craig’s Hut. This has been on the bucket list ever since we moved to Victoria and was well worth the wait. While there we decided to take the track to the summit of Mt Stirling – a rippa track and an awesome view across to Mt Buller. Talk about a special day – several hut visits, Mt Stirling summit, fantastic trees including the 500+ year old tree planted across from the Mt Stirling summit. This beauty originated from Denmark and is designed to survive in -18 degree temperatures.
In total we spent 9 days on the Delatite Arm, riding bikes, 4WD-ing, kayaking and generally trying to learn that we don’t need to be doing stuff all the time. Being old farts now, we are allowed to spend time do absolutely noting!
It was now time to see what was the other side had to offer; the Eildon side. This is where the house boat population resides. What a drive over, we had decided to take the 61km scenic Jamieson-Eildon Road up over the mountain. We knew it would take longer going this way as it was narrow and winding but we have always been up for a challenge. It took us across Big River State Forest, Mt Torbreck, crossing the Taponga River twice into the Rubicon State Forest. This section took us 2 hours to drive and at times had us on the edge of our seat when rounding a corner finding our trailer wheels right on the edge. Lucky for us (or them) we only met 1 small camper and 2 motorbikes on the way.
Our destination was Kendall’s Camp alongside the Rubicon River and we were grateful to have planned to arrive on the Thursday picking a great drive though spot which allowed plenty of sun. Only in our second week and we have learnt to hop out and walk around before picking your spot – it saves a lot of awkward reversing (stay tuned for the bloopers reel). After setting up we got Jimny out of the tailer and headed into Eildon to check things out. I’m a sucker for a waterfall so on the way back we took the road to Snobs Creek Waterfall. It isn’t the tallest but was excellent just the same and right beside the road, which itself had excitement to offer – the road that is. We met a log truck on a corner of the narrow road and unlike us log truck driver’s are on the clock so not meandering – certainly got the heart rate up for a bit.
On Friday people began arriving like ants at a picnic and set up wherever space would allow. Not so squeezy! By Saturday morning caravans, campers and tents had popped up all over the place, we were now surrounded like we were being worshipped – hail De Busta lol! It was all over by Sunday afternoon with hardly a van to be seen. It’s a great spot, running creek and bush walking and only a couple of hours from Melbourne for the city-ites. The thing we loved the best was the bike riding up in the mountains. What an awesome 2 days of riding and both so different despite being within metres of each other. Day 1 we climbed up the dirt road and headed off onto a track which lead us to a large tiger snake sunning itself. After politely letting him head his way we reached the top to discover an aqueduct which transported the water down to the power station near where we were camped. Here we followed an old tram track which was littered with history, trestle bridges, old sawmills, even old school houses. Feeling like we couldn’t get a better ride, the next day proved yet again just how wonderful and unexpected days can be. This time we rode up a dirt road which was steep as, so steep that it had woah boys constructed every 50 or so metres. This was a tough slog, 11 km of up up up – even my u-beaut ebike struggled and by the top had run out of a full battery. Lucky for me it was all downhill from here. We discovered the most amazing view from the lookout and then headed back down for the ride of our life. Constant braking, fish tailing in the gravel and then the boggy section which thankfully was short. By the time we reached the bottom we were exuberant, dusty, and full of amazement. Stats for those interested – first day we rode 22kms and climbed 715m, second was 19 kms in total and we climbed 874m in the first 11kms.
It was time to move on but we will definitely keep this place earmarked for a return visit.
Back to the Goulburn River but this time at Seymour. During our stay there was an old car rally sponsored by RACV called the Old Fart’s something or other – I found it quite amusing anyway. What a terrific lineup of old beauties and the cars were pretty good as well! Again we got the bikes out and day one we rode around past the Mitchelton and Tahbilk wineries before finding a small town call Avenel. Here we found an old stone bridge that was built in 1847, opened in 1869. The twist to this bridge is that when it was opened they built a small cottage on one side which served as a toll gate. Unreal, toll roads in the 1800’s! The area has enormous Ned Kelly history and one story was of the spot where he saved one of his mates who fell into the river.
Day 2 we decided to take a crack at the rail trail riding from Trawool to the Cheviot Tunnel just the other side of Yea. We chose this section particularly to see the tunnel and see if the hype written about was correct. It didn’t disappoint. It was opened in 1889 operating until 1979 and still shows off it’s handmade bricks from the local clay, measuring 201m long. Definitely the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, particularly for me as my bike wasn’t charged fully when I left so I rode most of it a-la-Gayle and I must say that I’m not used to that anymore lol!
Well that’s our first 2 weeks in a nutshell. Are we enjoying it? Bloody Oath! Is it taking a bit to get used too not having to work and being able to set our own plans? Well maybe a little; it’s much easier for me as I still work 2 days a week but have the flexibility of spreading those hours if I want. It’s a bit harder for Fred as he has gone from full noise to serenity overload but he assures me he is getting quite used to doing nothing. Would we change anything so far – hell no!
Stay tuned for more De Mazing Adventures……….
Living the dream! Great to read of your adventures and see the beautiful places out there for all to enjoy.