Rally Canberra and the Victorian Alps
Big John and myself set off in John’s Rodeo with the Tray-On fitted from John’s place at around 3pm on Thursday before the Anzac long weekend. The plan was to reach Goondiwindi that night and then meet up with David Bargen in Moree the next morning. After a mild night we set off early for Moree to meet up with David. He was in his well set up lifted H6 Outback towing his rebuilt and strengthened Camp–o–matic camping trailer. His co-driver for the trip was his brother-in-law John Quinlan from Roma, and that’s why we had all met up in Moree as David had cut through from Roma. So for this trip we had two John and Daves. Even from Moree it is still a long way to Canberra in a day. Between Wellington and Molong big John’s speed had crept up to around 115 kph, and unfortunately he was caught with an oncoming camera. He was lucky as he was fined only $75.00 and didn’t receive the double points that had already started for the long weekend. It was his first ticket in over 20 years.
Once we arrived in Canberra we set up camp, then we had to go to the nearby airport to pick up all the rally gear. We were going to be a part of the advance team set-up crews. For the two days of the rally, the job involved early starts we had to get to some stage meeting points, sign people in, distribute the paper work, t shirts and caps, and get the team lined up in order of their jobs. We usually had two stages per day to do, and then for the rest of the day we could go and spectate. It is a very compact rally with stages being about 20 minutes from the city. Subaru sponsored the event, and Subarus finished in all the top places. The rally was wrapped up on Sunday night with a dinner for the officials at a Canberra nightclub.
Monday (Anzac Day) was spent shopping and getting ready for the camping stage of the trip. We also had a look at Cockington Green miniature English village and Mt Ainslie. It’s a good lookout that is above the War Memorial and looks straight along Anzac Avenue to old Parliament House and to the new Parliament House on Capital Hill. For dinner we had a big steak and salad at a $12.00 cook it yourself pub called the Kingston. You cannot beat that for value. We also got word from Canberra based club members Danny and Beth Williams who had planned to do the trip, but unfortunately a last minute hiccup put a halt to their plans.
On Tuesday we started to head south down through Cooma and Thredbo to our first overnight bush camp spot at Tom Groggin on the banks of the Murray River. If we had known more we could have camped for free just over the river in Victoria. We both paid $16 for a NSW National Parks day permit. At least it was a very nice spot with good new facilities. John liked it, being a bushie it was the first night he could light a fire, and he did a moon light walk through a large grassed paddock, with kangaroos grazing and the high mountains as a back drop, just near the camp spot. By now Big John and I had nicked named John, Bushie John. He smoked rollies and at every meal stop he would boil the billy, using Billy tea leaves, and if he had the chance he would boil it on a wood fire.
The next day we were not sure what to expect as we were starting the 4WD section, following the Davies Plains track down to Omeo. We knew we were in for some long steep climbs, but with our info, we were pretty confident we would make it. First we had to cross the Murray River, some how I volunteered to walk the crossing. It was wide, with a good rocky bottom and about bumper bar height, and was also very cold. It was not a problem and we were on our way south. Our first very steep climb was not rutted, just steep (we thought similar to Kenilworth SF in steepness). The H6 ran out puff, with the loaded up camp trailer, it was just a bit too heavy. The tow was not a problem for the Rodeo. Both cars had GPS units fitted and it was interesting reading the altitudes, we reached 1700 metres at one point. We stopped at our first Alpine bush hut called the Davies Plain hut for lunch. The devastating bush fires of 2003 had luckily missed this hut. We had travelled through large areas that had been completely burnt out. Some of the snow gums and mountain ashes had good fresh regrowth, while in other areas where the heat was more intense there was just dead burnt out tree trunks. It will take years to regrow. After more steep climbs and steep descents, where the auto H6 had to take it slowly to conserve brakes towing the camper trailer.
Eventually we reached our next camp spot at Charlie’s Plain Hut at Charlie Creek. It was a nice open spot, we didn’t investigate but some other nearby campers from Murwillumbah told us the old hut was up a side track and had been damaged by the fires. So far we were all pretty impressed by the Victorian N/ P camp areas. Most had fireplaces, tables and toilets and some had water tanks. Now with a bit of altitude it was the coldest night so far. The next day dawned fine; the whole area was white with a light covering of frost. We continued on following the tracks down to Omeo, it was mostly down hill. We had a quick stop at a good lookout, overlooking the Omeo area and back to the mountains. At Omeo we fuelled up, visited the National Parks office for some info and maps and looked over the gift and cuckoo clock shop. Bushie John was pretty impressed with these clocks, so much so he bought one, which he posted back home. We were also chasing a book called 4WD Tracks of the High Country, but the local bookshop was shut until later that afternoon. We then decided to travel south to the next town of Swifts Creek to camp. It was only a few km and some one would come back and buy the book when the shop was open.
Swifts Creek is only a small forestry and farming town and the council run campground was on the side of a creek and was empty except for one other camper. After setting up David said take the H6 for a run back to Omeo to collect the book - yes it is a nice car to drive. The book contained 20 trips in the Alps with detailed notes, distances, and GPS points. We thought it would take some of the guesswork out of navigating. All the maps we had were surveyed back in the 70’s, and our other problem was that some of the signposts had been burnt out. The next day we used the book to travel about 90 km by the back tracks to Dargo. Bushie John decided to have a lay day and stayed back at camp, he was going to have a good look around town. So David was travelling by himself and also did not have the camper to tow. The trip was rated medium – hard and it took us through the old Cassils mining area, up the range above 1500 m, and over the top of Mt Phipps and Birregun, and then down to the Dargo River to Victoria’s most remote town, Dargo. The notes were right about the rating because there was a long steep, loose climb up the range, where the H6, even without towing the camper, ran out of puff near the top and needed a quick tow. Also the descent down to the Dargo River was interesting; it was very steep and long (3 km), with big whoa boys. The Dargo River was an old gold mining area with some great camp spots alongside the River. Today there are a lot of Walnut orchards along the river flats. We made a quick stop at the old Dargo Pub before we set off back to Swifts Creek by a more direct and easier route.
From Swifts Creek we set off for Falls Creek ski field, stopping along the way at the historic old Anglers Rest Blue Duck Pub, it had been saved from the fires and had all sorts of old interesting photos on the walls. We climbed up on to the Dinner High Plan for lunch at McNamara’s Hut. Along the way we saw an unusual sight - a farm fence that had about 8 or more dingo carcases hung up. They were serious about the wild dog problem. Not long after we spotted a lone dingo on borrowed time in a nearby paddock. David decided to unhook the camper for the last bit to the Hut, which turned out to be pretty easy. By late afternoon we reached Falls Creek, which was just about deserted except for some builders getting ready for the snow season. It was very cold too, so we took refuse in The Man pub for a quick beer before we backed tracked a bit to a N/P camping area. It was also cold and misty, David and John said later in the night there was some very light sleet.
From here our aim was to travel to Mitta Mitta following the track notes again through the old Wombat Creek mining area, its rating was medium. At our lunch spot at the old Wombat Creek Hut we came across a group of 4WDs from the Albury 4WD Club whom we got a bit of info from. In places there were some tight turns and the long steep climb (about 1.5 km) up the Razorback Spur was interesting. We had the setting sun in our eyes and had to tow the H6 for the last bit, there was some guess work where the track went, and David had the added problem of the dust. We all made it up and the views along the spur were great. Soon after our progress was halted by a big fallen tree. It made us back track a bit to the main dirt road to Mitta Mitta. We were sort of expecting it sooner or later as we had seen many signs to warn about burnt out fallen trees. Locals later told us you don’t travel anywhere there without a chain saw, which we didn’t have - we only had bow saws. There were stories of people being stopped by a big fallen tree and when they back-tracked another tree had fallen down to trap them - not a good situation to be in.
The campground was right on the Mitta Mitta River; it is a big trout fishing area. It was interesting looking at the dozens of caravans that were owned or rented out, with all sorts of home-made shelters and verandas built on to them. We decided to stay there for two nights to catch up on some house keeping. Also the manager once owned a pest control business in Redcliffe. Overhead we saw some amazing multiple level jet trails as we were right under the flight path to Melbourne. From here we visited Lake Darmouth used for irrigation, hydro and fishing and then followed the track to Mt Benambra over 1,400 meters high. From this point we had 360 degree views to the Kosciuszko range, Lake Darmouth, and Victoria’s highest mountain Mt Bogong at 1986 meters.
Our next planned overnight stop was Bright. Again we travelled there by the back tracks, which followed along the base of Mt Bogong. At a hard to see turn off that we overshot, we were waiting for David to turn around, Big John found a wallet full of cards and $70. We did the right thing and phoned the owner in Melbourne, who was very grateful for the find. He had already cancelled the cards. He asked us to post it to him and he would send Big John something back, now months later still no sign of anything yet. From this turn-off, a zig zag track, that David just managed to make without unhitching led down to a picturesque tree fern lined shallow creek that we crossed dozens of times. We had a quick stop in Mt Beauty, which is a gateway town to Falls Creek ski fields. Bright was a busy centre as it was having its Autumn Colours Festival. Its multi coloured tree lined streets looked great. I was surprised to see some giant Bunya Pines, growing so far south, in a square just off the main street. We set up camp at a caravan park on the outskirts of town; again it had a section full of permanent vans and huts.
From Bright we set for Mt Buffalo, but the back track we wanted to use was shut, so we kept on the main road heading north towards Myrtleford. We thought Bushy John would like this area, as the main crops are hops and tobacco. It is now the main tobacco growing area of the country. We still tried to stay on the back tracks towards the next town of Beechworth, this time a big mound of dirt blocked the track. Beechworth is a historic town known for its old stone buildings, jail, and it is also bushranger country, mainly Ned Kelly and his gang. We spent a few hours looking over the old Murray Brewery, which is now a museum and specialist cordial factory, we bought some unusual flavours like chilli punch.
From Beechworth we were in get home mode, following the main highway north through Albury – Wodonga. We stopped for the night at the small town of Culcairn. As it was the second last night of the trip we decided to eat out, and had a good old-fashioned roast of the day at the nearby Pub. For the light sleepers it was not the best spot to camp, as it was right beside the highway and railway line. You were just about shaken out of bed by every semi and goods train that passed through town. From here we stayed on the Olympic Way passing through Wagga Wagga, West Wyalong, Parkes and at Dubbo joining the Newell Highway again. This whole area looked brown, and was bone dry because of the bad drought. Our last night was spent in Coonabarabran. The next day in Moree was where we said our goodbyes, David and John turned off for Roma, and we continued on to Brisbane.
Interestingly both cars used a similar amount of fuel so the costs were much the same. We travelled over 4000 km and the highest price for diesel we paid was $1.25.9 in Omeo, unleaded was a similar price. Also the cars suffered no damage, no flat tyres, or even stone chips on the windscreens. The only casualty was David’s rear full car’s width rubber flap bracket that stopped flying stones breaking the rear screen, it was bent on the big whoa boys, so he decided to remove it. It was a great trip with good company to an interesting, scenic 4WD area that needs more exploring one day.