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| Arriving to Mt.Hotham,snow level indicator |
3rd. Day after Tasmania, the return thru ideal highways. Bairnsled to Yarrawonga.
I did not know how much I could advance in the mountains, therefore I made a reservation at a Motel in Yarrawonga, which put me at the shores of Lake Mulwala which is a dam on the Murray River, by the way this river does not have crocodiles except for a very small segment, I will have to check if it is at its beggining or at its end, I have followed in my previous trip this river from Mildura to Adelaide where it empties in the Gulf of St. Vincent, it is very long and very important source of water for an area measuring thousands of kilometers that has become very rich in agriculture, besides is very historic and it can be navigated by sternwheelers which atracts lots of tourists.
Out of Bairnsdale around 8 am, I followed the famous Alpine Road that after going thru beautiful hilly farm country with several lakes, it started to climb, the morning was very cold, the highway being a Tourist road, is very well mantained and it has many curves which makes it attractive to motorcyclists, but it keeps you in your toes, otherwise it is dangerous, fortunately in spite of repeated warnings I did not encounter any animals on the road, whether domestic or wild life.
The views of the farms and ranches (cattle stations) along the way are spectacular, it is a beautiful country.
In the second climbing leaving behind Bruthen, Swift Creeks and Omeo, one passes thru Dinner Plain and the spectacular Alpine type village and popular ski resort of Mt. Hotham, it is something to see in the middle of South East Australia, it makes you feel as if you were in the Alps and again its height provides stunning views of different valleys and mountains in the surroundings.
You go down again, this time to a very nice valley that after going thru many small villages it takes you to Bright, where I filled up my gas tank and then took the option to follow the highway to Mt. Beauty, another small ski resort in the middle of a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains, you will see that in the pictures. Again the road takes you up and down thru many curves therefore you can never get bored or complacient.
You go thru Wodonga and I had lunch at Rutherglen that together with Chiltern are historically important because gold was discovered here in 1860 and it became even a bigger rush that the one in California and their buildings reflect the style and the opulence of that era.
The Murray River starts in the mountains of the area and from now on until Mildura and beyond the road follows the river. Now I am following the Murray Valley Road and in 45 km I arrived to my hotel in Yarrawonga which is located at the shore of Lake Mulwala as I mentioned before and it is very well appointed and at the reasonable price of 105 dlls aus. (equivalent to about 72 dlls US)
Outside of my room there are several large trees full of the always present australian birds that make a tremendous rucus each evening when roosting and each morning when they wake up forcing everybody else to do the same, some people have told me that when they have bought farms or houses in the country side many of them have decided to sell them because they could not stand so much bird noise, which for the ocasional tourist like me I like it and I identify it as a unique Australian feature not found anywhere else, like many of the things that you see in this country.
Tomorrow I will try to get to Mildura. Victor.
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