Snowy River Country

Following a scenic drive along the Murray Valley Highway and a most delicious stop at a bakery in Tallangatta, we arrived at our destination.  For the next couple of days and nights we would base ourselves in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains in north-east Victoria / southern New South Wales.  At this time of autumn, many of the trees are carrying red, gold and orange leaves making for beautiful sightseeing, while the cool, crisp mountain air makes a cosy campfire a necessity more than a luxury.

We based ourselves just on the NSW side of the border on the bank of the Murray River

Riverside with crisp, clear days & cold nights made a great campsite

Heather enjoying a glass of wine and a warm fire at camp

The town of Corryong, about 13km from our campsite, is the largest township (pop ~1,200) within the Upper Murray district and is the unofficial ‘capital’ of the Snowy River Country.  Corryong was the home of a man named Jack Riley, who’s exploits on horseback gave Banjo Paterson the inspiration to write the poem “The Man From Snowy River” (first published in 1890).

Heather alongside a bronze statue of 'The Man From snowy River'

'The Man From Snowy River', Jack Riley, died at the age of 73 in 1914 and was buried in Corryong.

Jack Riley - Legendary horseman of the High Country is buried in Corryong

His headstone simply states:

In Memory Of

The Man From Snowy River

Jack Riley

Buried Here

16th July 1914

As well as the legendary stockmen and brumbies, the Snowy Mountains region is home to both Australia’s highest Mountain, Mt. Koscuisko (which we did not climb but could have and will do during the warmer days of summer), and the headwaters of Australia’s largest river - The Murray River.

A common trait shared by large rivers the world over is the obvious (but often not consciously realised) fact, that they all start out small at their headwaters.  Many years ago (mid-1990s), I happened to find myself in northern Minnesota, USA, and unintentionally, at the headwaters of the mighty Mississippi River.  It was merely a trickle and just a few feet wide at this point.  I don’t know why, but I took the time to take my shoes and socks off and walk across it to the other side.  I then turned around and walked back.  I could now say that I had walked across the Mississippi River!  With this back-story in place, and now finding myself at the headwaters of Australia’s largest river, I could not resist the temptation to also ‘ford’ the Murray on foot - just to be able to say I had done so!  So, shoes and socks off, and into the frigid stream I went.  Upon reaching the other side I had also walked from the state of NSW into Victoria as the river forms the border between these two states.

Fording the headwaters of the Murray River - it was cold & slippery!

With the feat of fording the largest rivers in both North America and Australia on foot (pun intended), now under my belt, perhaps I have laid the foundation for a worldwide quest to ‘conquer' the headwaters of the mightiest rivers on each continent?  If that is the case, I have only the Nile (Africa), Amazon (South America), Yangtze (Asia) and Volga (Europe) to go!

After strolling across the fast flowing and clear waters of the ‘baby’ Murray near Tom Groggin station, we resumed our 370km driving loop around Koscuisko National Park.  We visited the ski resort town of Thredbo where just a dusting of early season snow capped the top of the slopes, and the towns of Jindabyne and Adaminaby located on the shores of Lake Jindabyne and Lake Eucumbene respectively.  These lakes were both formed by the damming of mountain rivers during the 1950’s as part of the Snowy Mountains Hydro Scheme which is a vast hydroelectricity and irrigation project constructed between 1949 and 1974.

Once back at camp and with a warm fire lit, a check of the weather forecast revealed some cold, windy, wet and snowy weather was on its way.  With 60cm of snow forecast it was easy to decide to break camp the following morning and move on before getting blanketed in.

We had enjoyed our time in this beautiful mountain setting with crisp clear days and cold nights but with so much to see and do we had just scratched the surface of what the region had to offer.  With our departure feeling a bit rushed we vowed to return and spend some more time here during a different season of the year.

Next episode, WTF? - Where are The Farrows?, move on the avoid the snow… but do they avoid the cold?  As it turned out, ‘Out of the refrigerator and into the freezer’, was fair description of the next couple of days. 

Barmah Brumbies

With slightly overcast and breezy weather accompanying us we stopped briefly in the river town of Echuca to walk through the historic Port of Echuca.  The Port of Echuca was home to a large fleet of wood-fired paddle steamers that moved wool, wheat and timber from farms located up and downstream of the port for onward overland transportation to the big city of Melbourne.  At its peak, the wharf was about 1km in length to accommodate all of the boats.

Paddle Steamers lined up at the Port of Echuca Wharf.  At it's peak, the wharf was 1 km long

We jumped back into the rig and made our way into the nearby (~30km away) Barmah State Forest where we made camp along the southern bank of the Murray River.  It was soon apparent that we were right in the middle of a Kookaburra’s home territory as he was ever-present and watching (supervising?) every move we made from vantage points in surrounding trees and even from nearby on the ground as we went about our business!

We were closely 'supervised' by this Kookaburra as we set up camp

Around 5pm, with the shadows getting longer and the light starting to dim, some slight movement in the distance caught Heather’s eye.  When she looked closer to see what it was she saw a horse a couple of hundred metres away moving slowly amongst the trees of the forest and it was heading in our general direction  As she continued to watch, another horse then another and then two more appeared amongst the trees.

Wild Brumbies grazed their way through our camp - a great experience!

These were wild horses - ‘Brumbies’!  In total, this herd of 5, clearly being led by a cautious but at ease stallion, calmly grazed their way towards and then right through our campsite.  Despite their size you could not hear them at all - their hooves not even snapping a twig as they passed through our camp.  We were able to get reasonably close (5 or 6m) without spooking them and managed to get a few good photos and some video.  This was a truly memorable experience!

A link to the video that Heather made of the Brumbies has been provided below.

https://youtu.be/sg90devYWaE

While exploring in the area we came across some old but large stockyards.  The fencing posts and railings, hand-hewn from forest timbers, was still standing strong!

Hand-hewn fence posts and railings still standing firm form the Barmah Stockyard

Stock loading ramp at Barmah Stockyards

Heather managed to do some metal detecting around the location of the old homestead and managed to unearth a couple of pre-decimal coins (a 1950 Threepence, and a 1943 Kangaroo Penny), and a Jew or Jaw Harp - no doubt used to provide entertainment by station/farm hands for their colleagues as they sat around a fire at night.

Heather hard at work in search of buried treasures from the past!

1950 'Wheat-sheaf' Threepence

Following our magnificent close encounter with some ‘Barmah Brumbies’ it seems quite apropos that the next destination for WTF? - Where are The Farrows?, would be ‘Snowy River Country’, where high country horsemen and their pursuit of wild brumbies were the inspiration for poet Banjo Paterson’s epic ‘The Man From Snowy River’. 

The Golden Triangle - Victoria’s Goldfields

We spent a week and a half in the region known as the Victorian Goldfields’ ‘Golden Triangle’.  The points of the triangle are the towns of Ballarat, Maryborough and Bendigo.

Victoria's 'Golden Triangle'

Immensely rich ‘nugget’ gold discoveries in the early 1850s sparked one of the largest gold-rushes the world has seen.  Fortune-seekers from across the globe swarmed into the area to try and strike it rich.

First stop for us was a quiet shady camp on the banks of a dry creek just 10km from Ballarat (population ~ 120,000).  We based ourselves here for three days, making trips into the city each day to learn more about the place.  I will describe three points of interest that grabbed our attention in/about Ballarat.

First and foremost, of course, is Ballarat’s, rich gold mining history.  So much gold!  Over 10,000,000 ounces in ten years - all dug by hand!  One or two gullies mined by prospectors were so rich that it has been recorded thus:

The Canadian and Prince Regent gullies proved fabulously rich in alluvial gold when they were worked in 1853.  At the junction of these leads near the Canadian Creek were the famed ‘jeweller’s shops’, which yielded up to 500oz (14kg) of bright nuggety gold for every foot (30cm) mined.  This was perhaps the richest patch of alluvial gold the world has known.

In today’s money, 500oz @ US$1,300/oz, is worth US$650,000 - this value was being extracted from every linear foot that was mined!

Second, and directly related to gold, is the Battle of Eureka.  The Eureka Rebellion took place in 1854.  It was the culmination of gold miners’ objection to the cost of a miners licence (as a form of taxation), imposed by the government of the day and the heavy handed manner in which the police and military went about their enforcement of compliance.

Photo of a painting depicting the Battle of the Eureka Stockade with Red-Coated soldiers storming the stockade established by the miners 

For many, the Eureka Rebellion is identified as the ‘birth of democracy’ in Australia.  Nowadays it is common to see the Eureka Flag, which was the flag of the 1854 rebellion, as a symbol of Australian independence, of freedom from domination (foreign or otherwise).

Replica of the original Eureka Flag 

Is this a possible future Australian Flag?  Stylised Southern Cross 'Eureka' on Aboriginal Flag background. 

Third, is the magnificent tribute to servicemen and women that served in WW1, known as the Avenue of Honour.  This avenue stretches for 22 km and was established to honour each and every serviceman and woman (not just those that fell), from the Ballarat area that enlisted to serve their country in World War 1.  3,801 trees were planted along the sides of the avenue, each tree representing an individual serviceperson.  At the base of each tree is a brass plaque bearing the person’s name, rank and battalion in which they served.  At 22km in length it is one of the longest such Avenues of Honour in the world.

The 'Arch of Victory' marks the start of the 22km long tree-lined Avenue of Honour

After our time in Ballarat we moved on to spend some time in the Maryborough area and then further onwards towards Bendigo.   As with Ballarat, Bendigo (population ~ 100,000), has plenty of gold mining history on display with numerous impressive old buildings and parklands right in the centre of town.  With no disrespect to Ballarat, we felt Bendigo to be more ‘stately’ and 'liveable' than it’s more ‘gritty’ sister city of Ballarat.  We enjoyed our time in the area very much.

Next, WTF? - Where are The Farrows?, leave the goldfields behind (without any gold to show for Heather’s detecting efforts) and spend some time in the Murray Valley camping along the banks of Australia’s biggest river - The Murray River.

The Grampians - Great Hikes and more Bites!

It was now taking three long cranks to get the ute started in the morning.  We were having no problems once it did start and some heat was in the engine but the mornings would only be getting colder as we get closer to winter.  With that in mind I took the vehicle into the closest Ford dealership to get the second-hand crank sensor replaced with a new one and have this issue dealt with once and for all.  With the repairs made and confidence now restored in the vehicle we proceeded to enjoy our next destination.

While not particularly tall as far as mountains go (the highest peak in the range is 1,138m / ~3,800ft), The Grampians provide considerable relief from the surrounding flat farmland.  Quite steep in parts they contain many rocky outcrops and thickly treed gullies and creeks (when there has been rain to feed them).  The many hikes, walks, scenic look-outs and waterfalls kept us busy for 4 days.

Heather at the base of Mackenzie Falls

 

Rocky canyon traversed on one of our hikes

Great view of the area was the reward for a strenuous hike to 'The Pinnacle' 

Birdlife is abundant here (Kookaburras, Parrots, Cockatoos, Ducks & Emus) and they are well accustomed to people being around so it was pretty easy to get them to come close and be fed by hand.  The parrots and cockatoos were most enthusiastic and would even land on your arm if they thought they would get a feed!

Adult Crimson Rosella parrot

Juvenile Crimson Rosella parrot enjoying some free seed

To protect the reputations of the innocent, I must point out that the parrots pictured above were 'non-biters'.  It was a Cockatoo and an Emu that provided bites #2 and #3 to complement the bull-ant bite I received a day earlier.

Speaking of bite #1 - a quick update.  The hand upon which the ant had bitten me, while no longer aching had started to itch a little.  So I rubbed and scratched at it - as you typically do when you experience an itch.  I probably should not have done that!  The rubbing must have stimulated whatever juice he had spit into me which resulted in some considerable swelling such that I now had one normal sized hand and one bear paw!  Anyway, back to the story of my latest bites…

Bite #2 was delivered by a Sulphur Crested Cockatoo while I was hand feeding a whole flock of them.  These are pretty big birds and their beaks have some serious power behind them.  Luckily it only gave me a nip to encourage me to open my hand to get at the seed I was holding.  I duly complied and gave it what it was looking for - it was readily apparent that these birds have worked this scam before!

Biter # 2: Sulphur Crested Cockatoo.  Fortunately I was spared the full power of that beak!

Bite #3 came the next day courtesy of an Emu.  It thought I had food in my hand, which was quite reasonable of him as I had extended an open hand towards him as if I had something in it for him to eat.  Being bitten this time around was my fault entirely as I did in fact offer an empty hand in order to get him to come close.  Well, he did come close (as I had hoped), but when he saw nothing was there he gave me a sharp nip for duping him so.  There was in fact quite a loud 'snap' to be heard as his beak pinched the softer flesh of the ball of my thumb along with some more 'kiddie-unfriendly' utterances from me!

'Freeze frame' from Heather's video capturing Bite #3 at the moment of impact!

No broken skin but the pinch-mark is easy to see

Heather got both bites #2 & 3 on video and had a good old laugh at my expense both times.  She has since named the whole 3 bites in 3 days episode as “The Great Australian Bite”.  Video of each of the bites is contained within videos that Heather produced during our stay in The Grampians.  They can be viewed by following the attached links to Heather's YouTube channel:

Bite # 2: https://youtu.be/j23pCbxvAGY

Bite # 3: https://youtu.be/YSEe8cFbt7U

That is all for now.  Next report to be issued here in WTF? - Where are The Farrows? should see us return to the Victorian Goldfields.

PS: For those that may be concerned about the state of my bitten hands, all swelling from the ant bite subsided after four days.  The Emu’s ‘pinch-mark’ was gone after two days. 

Bull-ant (Ouch!) & Camp Oven Dinner (Yum!)

We woke to a brisk morning and shortly after a much appreciated hot coffee we jumped into the ute to make our way further east.

1. Key into the ignition.
2. Heat the glow plug.
3. Turn the key and crank the motor

Didn’t start.  It normally starts after a second or two at most.  WTF and Oh-oh!

Repeated the process and only at the end of a second long crank did the engine come to life.

Phew!

We talked about heading back towards the Ford dealership in Bordertown but as the vehicle had run without fault the previous evening after leaving the service department we bravely (or foolishly?) chose to press onwards in our preferred direction.  Long story short, we did not experience any of the issues of the previous day and made it to our next campsite nice and early in the afternoon.

Site location and set-up was quick and easy at a nice level spot overlooking a water reservoir with some mountains in the background.

With the campsite set-up, Heather gets ready to go metal detecting.

Dinner for the night was to be a camp oven meal so I set about collecting wood and getting a fire started to make a bed of coals to cook with.  In the process of gathering wood I unknowingly (but not unknowing for long) had disturbed and picked up some bull-ants that had claimed the wood that I had in my arms as their own.  One of these ants in particular had a real problem with me disturbing his home and proceeded to vent his anger by latching onto the outside of my right hand with all of his might, which for this individual was considerable - I can certainly attest to that!

I said a few words that you wouldn’t want little kiddies to hear, dropped my wood bundle in a hurry and searched for whatever had bitten me.  I saw this 3cm beast clamping down on my hand with his pincers and quickly brushed him off while at the same time looking to see whether there were any of his friends about to join the assault on me.  Fortunately he was a lone soldier but he had made his point and left his mark!  I retreated from his area shaking my hand and still uttering a few profanities under my breath because I was sure they would help the ache go away.

Now far more aware of what may be lurking in the wood and leaves I completed my wood collecting, got the fire going and released my ‘Inner Chef’!

With the fire lit & the coals ready it was time to add the ingredients

The plan was to cook up some Braised Beef with Chunky Vegetables.

After browning the cubes of beef, in went the vegies then some beef broth

Time to surround the oven & cover the lid with coals and come back in couple of hours!

Once all of the ingredients were in the pot and coals had been placed around and on top of the camp oven it was time to sit back, crack open a can of beer and relax while the magic happened!

The finished product looked, smelled and tasted great!

After cooking slowly for a couple of hours dinner was served and I must say it turned out very nicely indeed!

For a detailed ‘How to’ description of the meal, click on / follow the link below to Heather’s YouTube channel where my camp oven cooking exploits were captured on video.

https://youtu.be/U40frxp-c84

Next up on WTF? - Where are The Farrows?, we find ourselves in The Grampians, in western Victoria, where I happen to get bitten again - not once but two more times.  Each time by a different kind of critter!

Our CODDIWOMPLE Begins

A while back I came across a word that was new to me that almost perfectly describes the journey that we are about to undertake.  That word is ‘Coddiwomple’.  According to the dictionary it is defined as follows:

Coddiwomple (verb): To travel in a purposeful manner towards an unknown or vague destination.

With no fixed end date to our tour or any specific destination in mind, we have taken to referring to our journey as ‘Our Coddiwomple’!

Free to set out in any direction, we decided to initially head east and eventually turn onto a northerly heading seeking more tropical conditions as the cooler southern winter takes hold.

So it was with much excitement we locked up the house and drove away down the street to start our latest adventure.

The first day on the road was not without some minor vehicle drama.  Shortly after setting off with the caravan in tow, the engine of our ute stalled for the first time in it’s life as we coasted to a stop at some traffic lights.  It re-started right away so we weren't too concerned.  

A bit later and a few kilometres out of town the diesel engine ‘skipped a beat’ much like a petrol engine might have one cylinder misfire then continued as normal.  Now we were thinking we may have an issue with ‘dirty fuel’ and became a bit concerned but we continued in the hope that as we burned through the diesel in the fuel tank our ‘issue’ would also burn away.

No problems for a couple of hundred kilometres so we relaxed a little and began to think we were out of the woods.  Not so!

The engine started to miss once or twice every 10 - 20kms.  Things were getting worse rather than better!  At this point we thought it would be really nice if there happened to be a Ford dealership in one of the larger towns we were approaching that we could pull into or at least breakdown close to!

We must have earned some 'good karma' points recently as the first thing we saw on the side of the highway as we approached the town of Bordertown (near the South Australia / Victoria border), was a big Blue Oval FORD sign.

A great sense of relief when a Ford Dealership sign came into view

I pulled into the back of their lot, caravan and all, and went into the service desk.  Fortunately they said they would take a look right away and if necessary (or possible) they would get to making repairs as soon as they finished the job they were working on.  They plugged our vehicle into their laptop computer which revealed the engine to have a faulty crankshaft position sensor.  They did not have a new one in stock but they were able to cannibalise the necessary part from a wrecked vehicle that had just come in.  All-in-all, we were off the road for just two hours.  Great job by the Ford folks in Bordertown to get us back on the road so quickly.  All work was done under warranty so there were no out of pocket expenses for us.  The technician did say that if we happened to have any more issues or if we wanted to get a brand new sensor installed rather than continue with the second hand part (it had done 75,000km of work in the 'donor' engine), we could drop into any Ford dealership and they would sort things out for us.

It was now getting late with only about half an hour left before dark so we made tracks for a nearby free camp to set up for the night.  It was a great little spot located just off of the highway only 20 minutes down the road in a place called Western Flat.

With an eventful day one now behind us hopefully vehicle troubles would be a thing of the past.  Only future instalments of WTF? - Where are The Farrows? will reveal whether this would be the case...