The Man from Snowy River

Corryong, 80kms east of Tallangatta, over the top of Mt Lawson state forest. We first went to Khancoban dam, on the way a young rabbit crossed the road ahead. The Snowy river project starts on this side of the mountains. In summary, large pipes bring water down the mountain to the dam, the water exits thru a small hydro-electric generating system, and this forms the beginning of the large Murray River. I fished this part of the river, but no takers. We went to the town centre of Khancoban and visited the "Queens Cottage" up the hill where HRH stayed in 1963 to open the Snowy project. We were invited in by the lady owner (it's now a B&B) and she showed us all the memorabilia and even the Queen's bedroom- bit of an unexpected treat. Had coffee at the shopping centre and drove back to Corryong. There was a shop with flyfishing gear and I was rapt. Got my birthday present early. Went to the information centre in the main street for directions to Jack Riley's (the man from Snowy River) grave in the local cemetery. The chap there was married to a kiwi and was also a fly fisherman - not only that but he has a property on a prime local trout stream ! but wait there is more - he wants us to bring the van up to the valley where he lives, park it on his place (with power) and help him catch fish in one of the best trout streams in Victoria !. How could we refuse but it will be a little while before we can get back - but get back to this lovely part of the country we will. Got the directions to the Corryong cemetery and we found Jack Riley's grave. Buried there in 1914 - I didn't realise it was that long ago. On the way back to Tallangatta we diverted into the valley of the perfect trout stream and drove 30kms to the bridge circled on the map he gave us. Excellent large free area to camp, right on the stream. Saw 2 small trout in the shallow water below the bridge. Being a lovely warm afternoon, I dropped a line into a pool downstream but again no takers. On the western side of Mt Lawson we came across an old disused railway tressle bridge and stopped to get some photos. Animals we saw today - 2 rabbits, a hare, a small brown snake on the road, two red parrots, a dark bush wallaby near the tressle bridge, a couple of wombat burrows and a blue fairy wren bird.

Yackandandah - Beechworth - Albury

A gold rush town from 1852. Being heritage listed, it has retained its original charm. Walking down the street is like walking through history with all the original store fronts, Bank of Australasia, halls, pubs etc. Yackandandah is about 25kms SW of Wodonga, in a pretty green valley. We had a good look around and then a coffee in a quaint courtyard of the local bakery before returning back to Tallangatta. Just before leaving we met an elderly man who was visiting the local cemetery to try and trace his relatives from the 1800's. He found two - 2 1/2 yrs and 6 yrs - child mortality was pretty high in those times. Late this afternoon we drove up to the lookout and took some photos of Tallangatta.You can make out our van in front of the shed at the showgrounds, centre of photo.

Wed 28 Oct
Visited Beechworth today, famous for its courthouse where Ned Kelly appeared and was
charged with receiving a (stolen) horse and later indicted for the murder of two policemen. We stood in the dock where he stood, before being transported to Melbourne goal and hanged. The prison at Beechworth was used to contain family members and sympathisers of the Kelly gang, and is still in use today by the corrections dept. We also went to the Beechworth honey factory outlet at the top of the main street. Our usual expresso coffee at one of the several bakeries in town and then back via Wodonga. The main street of Beechworth is all heritage shops, antiques and the like. On the intersections are preserved buildings like the old post office, telegraph office, gold offices, several banks and as many pubs. It is easy to imagine the wide dirt road and horses tethered to rails outside these back in the gold rush days. Pics: Beechworth courthouse where Ned Kelly was sentenced. Post Office and Telegraph office in main street Beechworth.
ALBURY: large town on NSW side of border. Biggest WW1 war memorial in Australia.

Tallangatta - the town that moved

True. When Lake Hume was filled for the first time, the town of Tallangatta was shifted up the hill to its present location.

Tallangata 19 Oct
Left the BIG4 at 9:30 and arrived Tallangatta 10am. Found the perfeck spot on the sunny sheltered side of a storage shed, with water and power on tap. Unobstructed view over the lake and cricket field - there is a game here on the weekend and that should be fun - we have ringside seats and will be flying the AllBlacks flag. We like showgrounds, the one we stayed in at Mitchell (Birdsville trip) was a beaut, lots of space, power water and brand new ensuite toilet/bathrooms. And only half the price of the local overcrowded Major Mitchell caravan park. There is a 50's music festival in town (5 mins away) on the weekend which we will attend, and we can expect more caravans here over the weekend, but that doesn't matter because there is tons of room to spread out. The countryside is very pretty, the town is pretty, the hills are green. There is a large IGA in town, and a useful hardware shop where I bought two x 2kw fan heaters for $18 total. Our old fan heater finally seized up and has been binned. For the first time since leaving Qld, took the boat off and chained it with security chains and locks to the drawbar, along with the outboard. The wagon looks undressed now. This is dairy country with large herds. There is presently enough grass to feed all the cows in China. I'm reminded of that wise old adage "To err is human, to moo is bovine".

Tallangatta Tues 20th
Went up the Mitta Valley to Little Snowy Creek and had a fish. Water in great order but didn't see a fish nor hooked one. Saw a dead fox (vixen) on the road in. On the way out at Eskdale, a black snake crossed the road ahead of us. Called in to a camping spot on the lower Mitta Mitta river and saw a large fish there which could have been a perch. No fish for tea.

Lake Hume

In simple terms, the Murray River runs into it at one end, and out the other. The northern end past the dam is NSW and southern end is Victoria. Parts of it are covered in the remains of a long dead forest and it twists and turns like a politician caught out in a lie. ( I did not have sex with that woman ). It's a spooky looking lake if there is such a thing.
Anyway, we are here at Ebden on the Vic side, at another BIG4, until Monday. We'll use this time to investigate the Kiewa river up to Mt. Beauty, and have another look at Tallangatta. Tallangatta was our first choice but the caravan park there is best described as rundown and yucky. Rang them 3 times from Shepparton, left mobile number for return call which never arrived. Called in at their office, rang the bell, rang the bell, rang the bell, nobody showed up so we did a U turn thru the camp and left. There is a showgrounds there where you can apparently camp for a small fee so we'll check that out tomorrow.
It's still raining and cold - it has rained all day - all the way up from Shepparton. It's snowing in the nearby mountains of Mt Beauty so don't know if we'll be camping up that way. The local rivers which I had hoped to flyfish for trout are flooded, so that only leaves the lake which I guess we will put a line in before we leave. It's the middle of October and still in winter - unbelievable.
Meanwhile David & Helen are sunbathing up at Inskip Point Qld..............grrrrrrrr

Friday 16 Oct
Went back to Tallangatta in the sun this morning and had a look at the showgrounds. Nobody camped there but it looks promising with showers fresh water and toilets. Waiting to hear back from the caretakers. Went on further east to the Mitta Mitta river valley and had a look at free camp up there called Pigs Point. That has promise too as it is right on the river (slightly high and discoloured at the moment) and there are two longdrop toilets. The hills are unbelievably green, and the topography reminds me of the King country North Island NZ,around Taihape. From Tallangatta we will go towards the alpine region of Eskdale and Mitta Mitta, Mt. Beauty. This afternoon we took a short drive to the Hume Dam, crossing into NSW to do so. There is some heavy cloud around but it has stayed fine and sunny, but not what you would call warm.

Saturday 17 October
Went to Mt. Beauty at the foot of the mountains. Even saw snow. Mt. Beauty is an alpine village very similar to Hanmer Springs. It serves the skifield of Falls Creek. Had coffee there in the main street and then drove back through the Murray River valley. Very pretty countryside. It was fine and sunny.

Sunday 18 October
Laundry in the morning and sorted out fishing gear. This afternoon we drove back to Tallangatta showgrounds and met up with the caretaker who is activating the hot showers and toilets for us on Monday. $15 per day is the tariff and it's a lot better than the local caravan park which he described as an utter and complete disgrace to the district. We found a spot on the sunny side of one of the buildings which faces the lake. Power and water close by. Late in the afternoon I went and fished the Kiewa river for a while but it was high and discoloured. Pics at top
Happy birthday David Waldron and Anne John.

Shepparton

We are thinking about advertising our new business "Drought in your area?, need rain?, invite us to your caravan park!" Since leaving Queensland it has rained two out of three days. I don't think it has rained in Shepparton for months if not years - it's bucketing down at the moment, and the locals are cheering - can't complain, it keeps the fire danger down.
Shepparton is a pretty big town, the usual indicators, KFC, McD's, Red Rooster, Burger King are all here. Also the home of Campbells soups and the biggest brand supermarket in Australia, SPC. This part of northern Victoria is very lush (irrigation from the Murray and other rivers) with huge crop paddocks and a good scattering of SHEEP!. There is not a lot of bush, and it reminds us of parts of south Canterbury. We will be here until Thursday and today we are going to one of the local malls to do a bit of shopping and browse around out of the wet.

Wednesday 14 Oct
Well here we are still at Shepparton (in between showers). Went to the Campbells Soup factory shop just out of Shepp with our begging bowls, and bought 14 pottles and cans of our favourite soups at $2.20 each. This afternoon returned to the nearby mall and phoned home to grandad. That's the day gone. Leaving here tomorrow and going back north on the Hume highway to Tallangatta on Lake Hume. One very odd thing about this area is that there are no kookaburras, crows, parrots, rosellas, but instead, sparrows, blackbirds and willy wagtails (fantail).

Corowa Pastoral Show & Fair

Some pics from Sunday. Heavy thunderstorm arrived mid afternoon. Our site turned into a stream termporarily. Went and said goodbye to George and Maree - will see them again at Caloundra on their next trip up north. Leave here tomorrow for Shepparton

Rutherglen

At the lower end of the Murray River valley, Rutherglen is a delightfully quaint town deserving of its post. Only 8kms into Victoria from Corowa, it's a wine growing area and the streets are full of antique shops and little cafes. We had coffee and a muffin at one of the cafes in amongst a lovely garden of ghost maples, geraniums, lavenders, roses, lilys and green vines over red brick walls.