We have left Melbourne and are driving in stages back to Sydney. We started on the Hulme Highway driving across country until we reached Beechworth, our stop for the first night. I had expected the country to be a little like the outback we saw in Uluru – but not a bit! In places it is really fertile and green and quite hilly (like the Peak District to begin with and then moving on to Scotland, and Arizona type landscapes. (Of these references I have to say I have never been to Arizona, but I saw a bit of it on brat camp!). In some places you can see the devastation the bush fires have caused with a lot of land barren, and a lot of trees burnt but still standing. After driving for two hours or so we stopped off in a tiny village – readers it could have been Hampstead – not in looks obviously, it still looks like a wild west town, but the cafe where we had coffee and cakes, tasty and stylish, and the shops! Apart from clothing, there were some lovely home made delicatessen type foods and homeware, what a surprise!
Beechworth itself was a wonderful place. We only stayed one night in a motel and J had warned us it might not be up to much. It was on the outskirts of town and comprised a handful of bungalow type structures with decks. All set apart in lovely grounds, and totally peaceful. After the hurly burly of Sydney and Melbourne it seemed silent at first. But….it was so noisy, but in the best possible way, from the wildlife! The owner showed us around and as he took us through the gardens he gave us a warning about snakes, telling us to be careful and always keep our eyes on the ground to make sure none were around and to place our feet heavily on the ground. Hopefully, I asked him whether there were any dangerous snakes in the vicinity, he replied that they were all dangerous. I started to feel queasy but he reasured me (?) by saying he had rarely seen a snake in these parts – but the other week his wife had seen one at the hairdressers by a tree and called him up and he came and shot it! On the plus side if you get bitten every hospital in Oz has the anti-snake venom…Talking of wildlife, on the drive over after our morning coffee stop, Rose suddenly shouted to J to pull over. When he did she coolly opened the door and batted out a large, blue and hairy spide rthat had crawled in when we stopped. Luckily, I didn’t see it. I haven’t been bothered at all by mossies here, but the flies are unbelievable and I have taken to wearing the Uluru hat at times. The noise I woke to this morning at 5.00 am was a kookaburra! I have never seen one and R says they are quite small, but God it was noisy. How many of you remember the old camp fire guiding song: Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, merry merry king of the bush is he, laugh kookaburra, laugh kookaburra etc etc?? Well it really is a deep, very loud and full throated laugh. None of us had any idea what the other birds we heard were but they are so different. Rory and I agreed that in comparison UK birds are a bit weedy….
So here are some shots of the delightful Beechworth:
It had a brewery which ofcourse we visited! Here are the offspring enjoying sampling the various beers:
After Beechworth we drove through the Snowy Mountain Range to our next stop – Threadbo. This has the largest mountain in Australia and it has snow on the top (just a bit). It is also called the Alps and we are staying in the Alpine Lodge which I think must be modelled on an Austrian ski village. Now J has some fearless buddies I was able to wuss out of going on the chairlift to the top of the mountain. I thought about it but it was one of those that doesn’t stop and is open with just a bar across it. Also looking up it looked way too steep so I stayed in the hotel room writing this blog! Although I can’t post it as the internet is only a dial up connection so the photos won’t upload. Anyhow they enjoyed their trip up 2000m.
Here also are some photos we took on the way, including the exceptionally beautiful ones of the reservoir. Fifty years ago they moved an enitre village to flood the valley. The water level is really low so I guess that’s why you can see the trees. When we first saw it we had no idea what had happened and it seemed surreal. Somehow the photos don’t really do justice to it.
