The weather was a lot better today so it was time to head to Mt Hotham. This is the first time back to here after about 25 years. Our previous visit was during winter when there was a whiteout, the lifts were all on wind hold and we couldn’t do any skiing but used a knee board at the back of the chalets which I ended up chasing down to the snow line. We have not been back to Hotham since.

 

Today there was no chance of white out with blue skies and not a cloud in the sky. As we headed north onto the dirt Dargo High Plains Road, the only traffic was the occasional logging truck coming towards us. Luckily as each one approached we were able to get off the road and find a geocache so missed most of the dust.

 

One of the stops was for the Treasures Mt Ewan Huts. These are typical high country huts built back in 1939 for the Treasure family who were famous locals back in the time.

 

Eventually we were up on Treasure Plain which was a large flat grasslands on top of the mountain range which didnt look unlike other large flat paddocks except we were at 1600 metres elevation. These plains were used since the 1800’s to graze cattle.

 

It was into Mt Hotham for lunch but there was not a great deal open today so we found a table with views and made our own. I had always heard of Dinner Plain but had never been there and since it was only 9 kilometres down the road from Hotham, why not.

 

Dinner Plain reminded me of a typical snow field village with the style of homes and chalets but there was also the Blizzard Brewing Company, Australia’s highest brewery at 1550 metres and it was open. A tasting paddle was in order with some that were good and others I could leave.

 

With a bit of a beer buzz going, it was time for a walk before the long drive back to camp. We decided on the Razorback walking trail but only as far as the Big Dipper. Of course there was a geocache there. There was a gentle breeze to keep us cool and views were spectacular along the ridge. You could even spot Mt McKay over at Falls Creek in the distance.

 

There was one more thing on our list for todays travels and that was to drive the iconic ridge-top track called the Blue Rag Track. This track followed the ridge line to the Blue Rag trig point with drop offs on the sides and steep, shale sections and just steep bits. The girls lasted about half way before grabbing their chairs and books to sit out while Chris and I continued to the trig point. It was probably good the girls waited behind as there were a couple a challenging sections, in particular, the last climb to the trig point. Once again the views along this drive were great.

 

What was a little worrying was some cloud starting to roll in and it was dark. We did not want to get stuck out here in the wet but luckily it held out and it remained dry for the return journey.

 

The weather was looking bleak so we decided to do some tracks around Dargo rather than head north to Hotham where we wanted to see the views. It was a good choice as there was heavy fog and misty rain for most of the morning.

 

The Dargo General Store provided some expensive fuel at $1.69 a litre (most expensive so far) but they did sell the Rooftop range of maps and we grabbed the Dargo Adventure map. There was also a geocache here in one of the post boxes. It turns out the store owners were geocachers and had hidden most of the caches in the area.

 

We headed north out of Dargo picking our way through the pea soup fog with no more than 50 metres visibility. This became very interesting as logging trucks came out of the fog at us, most of the time taking up the whole road.

 

We turned off the Dargo High Plains Road and into the Grant Historic Goldfields area. The fog cleared briefly at the cemetery and warmed up but as we walked in to check out the historic graves, the fog rolled in and the temperature dropped considerably – creepy. The forest has almost taken back the cemetery but you can still wander around checking out the old graves and wonder what the pioneers had to put up with.

 

Travelling further down the road and we came along the township area of Grant, well signs and photos of what it looked like during the gold rush. Every bit of the town apart from some broken glass and bits of rusting iron has gone where there used to be upward of 2000 people.

 

The sun stayed out as we continued our decent to Talbotville. There were spectacular views to the mountains of the High Country as well a views to the bottom of the hill straight off the side of the single lane track cut into the side of the mountain. Luckily the girls were on the inside of this track so they weren’t freaked out looking down.

 

Our descent took us 900 metres down to a big open area which used to be Talbotville but is now a campground with its own cemetery and cattle grazing amoungst the tents and caravans. Talbotville was another town that sprouted up with the gold rush but nothing but a few bricks and the cemetery remain. It made a good spot for lunch.

 

After lunch we were going to do the Basalt Spur track circling back on the Brewery Creek Road. To get there involved a couple of creek crossings then onto the track which our map said had a steep section near the start. It started out steep with a few humps and we thought it wasn’t too bad until we turned the 2nd corner and it looked like the track went straight up. Probably a little too challenging for us so we turned around and tackled the Crooked River track with its 24 creek crossings there and 24 creek crossings back. There was only a couple that came up to the running boards and a couple that had steep entries and exits but it wasn’t a bad drive out to Stonewall and back.

 

There was a choice of 2 ways back to camp. Back up McMillians Road with the girls being on the outside looking straight down off the edge or follow the Crooked River out with some more creek crossings. We chose the more sedate Crooked River option. It may have been a little longer but probably the better choice.

 

Arriving back in Dargo as it was getting dark, a meal at the Dargo Hotel sounded good as it had been a long day and no-one felt like doing any cooking. The place was full but we soon had 4 meals that you couldn’t jump over in front of us and most managed to get through them and the drinks were cold as well. It was then time to head to camp and relax by the creek before hitting the hay for the night.

With the threat of rain today, we wanted to be packed up and out of our camp before the roads got too wet as the tracks in both directions looked like they would be slippery when wet.

 

Our packing up didn’t take too long but Chris and Sue had their camper trailer and everything that goes with that.

 

We managed to get out to the bitumen before any big drops hit the windscreen. In fact the wipers didn’t even turn on.

 

Morning tea and refuelling was at Buchan and replenishment of water in the Taj tanks was in Bairnsdale.

 

Finding a spot to park in Bairnsdale near the shops was not all that easy so we continued onto Lindenow for lunch at the local takeaway / post office.

 

With only 60 kilometres to go, we thought we had missed the rain but as we approached Dargo it not only rained hard but was accompanied by lightning hitting the hills around us and thunder.

 

Our campsite was only up the road another 6 kms on the Upper Dargo Road. There were a number of different camp areas along the road and we chose the first one we came along at Two Mile Creek.

 

As soon as we stopped the storms stopped and the sunshine came out. We picked a great spot next to the flowing Two Mile Creek.

 

I had already had one of the front tyres scrubbing out due to the wheel alignment being out and swapped it out last night for the spare. After checking the other tyre, it is also scrubbing out on the inside. With 1000 kms to home and no spare left, I needed to move it to the rear and in order to do this it took 6 changes of tyres to achieve it.

 

By the time I had made all the moves, there was a good deal of sweat so the creek was looking very inviting. With a bucket in hand and stripped down to board shorts, I was soon refreshed with the very cool alpine water.

 

The thunderstorms had not left us alone but we managed to finish dinner before lightning started striking around us with heavy rain which lasted about 20 minutes.

 

After playing cards and watching the thunderstorms passing to the north,  it was off to bed.

There was one last track we could try to get to the Murray source and on Chris’s map it showed some extreme sections. We would probably not get through but we were willing to give it a try to see how far we could get. The track was called Cobberas Track.

 

It wasn’t too bad for the first 5 kilometres to Playgrounds camp area, in fact, I didn’t even engage 4WD. It was the next 5 kilometres that we started to get some steep and ledgey sections. There was some banging and scraping underneath but not too bad and we got through OK and shouldn’t have any issues getting back. We then came to a show stopper slope down into the Suggan Buggan River valley. If we got down, and there were some pretty big ledges, we were not going to get back up. Remember we have to still get back to South Australia pulling a caravan and camper trailer. This was definitely the extreme section shown on the map.

 

We returned to the top of the mountain for lunch where there was service on the phones with all 3 carriers, very unusual for Vodafone out here.

 

After lunch we returned back out to Limestone Black Mountain Road with still plenty of daylight. Suggan Buggan sounds interesting so off we went to check it out. Suggan Buggan is on the Snowy River Road that heads through to Jindabyn. We had thought about coming in that way from New South Wales. As it turns out, it is good we didn’t. The Road wasn’t too bad at first with gentle turns in rolling hills but then going around a corner we found ourselves on one of those “worlds worst roads”. It dropped back to just wider than a single lane, cutting into the mountain side with no barriers on the downward side with straight drop down. One of those white knuckle roads with an overtaking area every third bend. Luckily the only car coming in the opposite direction was at one of those overtaking areas.

 

Sue did not travel too well with Jenny having to massage her fingers off the Jesus Bar. They had clamped shut and were not coming off on their own.

 

There wasn’t much to Suggan Buggan with an old timber schoolhouse and flowing river complete with local kids swimming. It was in the high 30’s. There is not much else there.  We spent a little time here so that Sue’s fingers could recover, after-all we had to go out the same way we came in.

 

Once again on the return journey there was no traffic encountered and I think both girls kept their eyes closed as the drop off was on their side of the car.

 

It would appear that the road we would be coming out in the morning was due to be graded with 2 graders and 2 water trucks staged at a couple of locations. It might make it easier or harder in the morning depending on their progress.

Back at camp, it was time for some calming beverages and some more cricket. It seems there is a Big Bash League match every night we are away.

 

The brumbies must have felt a bit more at ease with us as they ventured towards camp before it got dark and got within 40 metres of the van. I had seen them around 3am just at the back of the van but they moved on as soon as there was I got close. At least it gave an opportunity to get some photos.