An unexpected stopover in regional Victoria proved to be a winner, despite the delay to our planned passage across the Bass Strait to start our adventures in north-west Tasmania.
Due to the recent heavy rains and floods, large parts of Victoria had flooded, including major towns along the Hume Highway. At the same time, an equally dreadful weather front was causing chaos in northern and central Tasmania. TasPorts had ordered the Spirit of Tasmania to cancel several crossings due to problems at Devonport - our trip amongst them.
So - what to do? Due to the risk of flooding along the road to Melbourne, we pulled into a small regional town called Chiltern, to grab a coffee and discuss our tactics. Should we push onto Melbourne and wait for a crossing on the Spirit or stay put until our new sailing date is confirmed?
A quick look around Chiltern and a friendly welcome from the local tourist information centre and caravan park made that decision easy. We ended up staying for 3 nights and had a great time touring the local area and enjoying the hospitality of this lovely village and its surrounds. The Ironbark Inn at Chiltern was a fabulous place to enjoy the local Beechworth Pale Ale and some yummy tucker after a hard days’ adventuring.
Chiltern-Mount Pilot National Park
This place was an unexpected bonus on our travels. The vista from the top of Mt Pilot was sensational, with 360 degree views of the surrounding region. You can even see as far as Mt Buffalo in the Victorian highlands! As we discovered, Mt Pilot is something of a biodiversity hotspot with Ironbark forests and known populations of the beautiful and rare regent honeyeater. Unfortunately, we didn’t catch a glimpse of the elusive honeyeater, but we saw plenty of other lovely birds, trees and flowering plants.
Beechworth & Yackandandah
A short drive from Chiltern is the historic town of Beechworth. Of course, we had to stop at the famous Beechworth Bakery for morning tea! Another treat was the Beechworth gorge, which was experiencing a raging torrent of water and was very spectacular. Another town nearby on our itinerary was Yackandandah. It’s a lovely village with lots of interesting antique and art shops, surrounded by beautiful forests and mountain scenery. The whole region is a great place for cycling enthusiasts with dedicated bike trails winding through the mountains, valleys and townships.
Glenrowan
Just south of Chiltern we visited the site of Ned Kelly’s last stand and enjoyed the atmosphere of the historic township of Glenrowan. The Kelly gang story is an iconic Australian tale that is symbolic of the poor mans’ struggle against oppression and corrupt authority as well as human courage and ingenuity under pressure. Despite the fact that the gang were bushrangers, this story has helped to define the Australian character. You can’t help but admire the bush skills and resilience of the early settlers.
Floods
After getting the green light from the Spirit of Tasmania on a revised date for our passage to Tassie, we made the final trek down the Hume Highway to Melbourne. On the way, we passed by the towns of Wangaratta and Seymour, which had flooded and were preparing for more water in the coming days. Hats off to the resilient townsfolk, SES volunteers, emergency services personnel and the countless animals and plants that have had to cope with this devastation on several occasions this year. We wish them well in getting through this latest disaster.
Comments