Days 298-300- ITA Weekend- Carpé Diem
Melbourne-Wodonga-Mt. Hotham-Sale-Melbourne: Friday, October 19-21
The local ITA (International Teacher's Association) had planned a weekend in northeastern Victoria in Wodonga, which is on the Murray River. Not wanting to miss another chance to see a new and different part of the state, we left Melbourne on Friday afternoon and followed the Hume Highway northeast to the border region.
Wodonga is a border city, and lies opposite the Murray River from Albury, New South Wales.
We were given directions to the home of Gavan, Margaret and Charlotte Brown, who have twice been on exchange, to Alberta and Birmingham, England. Once out of the city, it was a 3 hour drive to our hosts' home south of the town. Arriving in the dark, we were not able to appreciate the wonderful surroundings that awaited us.
We were instructed to meet the other attendees at the visitor centre on the causeway across the Murray that links the two cities. Colleen, Kevin and I, along with the Brown's teenage daughter Charlotte, arrived in time to explore the farmer's market that was already underway.
Shortly, we met up with Kim and Marlene Norsworthy (Edmonton) and Jeannie Whitehead (UK), who were the only other attendees (Jeannie by default, as her exchange is in Wodonga!).
The turnout was disappointing, but we more than made the best of it! Having Jeannie as our senior tour guide and Charlotte as our junior guide, we quickly planned out our day to include visits to the Murray River, the War Memorial, the Albury Train Station (very beautiful and historic architecture, and having the longest platform in the southern hemisphere), the Hume Dam, the Hume Reservoir (sadly only 25% full) and an original post-war immigrant village. And this was just the morning tour! The problems this area is experiencing with water are so apparent when looking at the reservoir. We drove the boat ramp 250 metres to the bottom and were still 500 metres from the water. No significant rain has fallen here in the last 6 months, whereas south of the Alps, just a few hundred kilometres away, severe floods were experienced this past winter.
We drove off to the historic gold mining village of Yackandandah for lunch and were joined by Charlotte's parents. We also visited Beechworth, where Ned Kelly was captured. This gold town was so rich that all the buildings were constructed with very resilient local yellow coloured granite, and so they have all survived, and the town has an amazing 19th century feel. The shops were quaint, the bakery and candy shop were worth the line ups and the Ned Kelly history palpable. Colleen even sent a real "telegraph" to her Mom and Dad from the old "Telegraph Station."
Later, we drove back to Albury and enjoyed a lovely BBQ at the home of other former exchange teachers. It was too bad that our contingent was so small as they missed a wonderful day and a great party!
We awoke very early on Sunday with the goal of returning to Glen Waverley by the Great Alpine Road. This route winds its way through the hills south of Yackandandah, through Bright, over the top of the Alps at Mount Hotham Ski Resort, and south down to the ocean near Sale, and back to Melbourne. This route is significantly longer and slower than the Hume Highway and would take over 7 hours. Our reasoning was that this would be our only chance to see the eastern Alpine Country and Mount Kosciuszko, the highest mountain in Australia (in the NSW section of the Snowy Mountains).
An interesting aside to the drive was that it was already quite warm when we left and along the road, we expected we might see a snake or two sunning on the black asphalt. We did! The first one already had the Michelin imprint still left on it, and the second, a large black snake coiled in my lane, also received my Michelin tread design, despite me swerving to miss it.
We had been on the road since 7 a.m. heading for Bright, where we enjoyed croissants and lattés. Then came the steep, winding climb to the top of Mount Hotham village (1,750 metres ASL, just 100 metres below the summit). The hairpin turns and blind corners would be a nightmare in winter! It was almost +20 C at the top with a gusty wind and most of the snow at the summit was gone, so the ice and chain warnings were unnecessary.
The descent through Dinner Plain was much more gradual down to Omeo. Then we followed the road along a beautiful river valley for many more kilometres, arriving at Bairnsdale, on the A1 "Princes Highway" near Lakes Entrance just after noon. It was worth the extra time and sometimes slow going to enjoy this wonderful alpine area.
The next part of the drive we had done back in January in our rented motor home and was easy. Just a 3 hour drive, which Colleen and I shared, and we were home.
It was another excellent weekend! Thanks to the ITA's who planned it, our gracious hosts who provided bed and breakfast, and for those who were able to particpate, it was worth the drive. We enjoyed making new friends and seeing fellow exchangees.
Don't miss this corner of the country if you have a chance to go!
The local ITA (International Teacher's Association) had planned a weekend in northeastern Victoria in Wodonga, which is on the Murray River. Not wanting to miss another chance to see a new and different part of the state, we left Melbourne on Friday afternoon and followed the Hume Highway northeast to the border region.
Wodonga is a border city, and lies opposite the Murray River from Albury, New South Wales.
We were given directions to the home of Gavan, Margaret and Charlotte Brown, who have twice been on exchange, to Alberta and Birmingham, England. Once out of the city, it was a 3 hour drive to our hosts' home south of the town. Arriving in the dark, we were not able to appreciate the wonderful surroundings that awaited us.
We were instructed to meet the other attendees at the visitor centre on the causeway across the Murray that links the two cities. Colleen, Kevin and I, along with the Brown's teenage daughter Charlotte, arrived in time to explore the farmer's market that was already underway.
Shortly, we met up with Kim and Marlene Norsworthy (Edmonton) and Jeannie Whitehead (UK), who were the only other attendees (Jeannie by default, as her exchange is in Wodonga!).
The turnout was disappointing, but we more than made the best of it! Having Jeannie as our senior tour guide and Charlotte as our junior guide, we quickly planned out our day to include visits to the Murray River, the War Memorial, the Albury Train Station (very beautiful and historic architecture, and having the longest platform in the southern hemisphere), the Hume Dam, the Hume Reservoir (sadly only 25% full) and an original post-war immigrant village. And this was just the morning tour! The problems this area is experiencing with water are so apparent when looking at the reservoir. We drove the boat ramp 250 metres to the bottom and were still 500 metres from the water. No significant rain has fallen here in the last 6 months, whereas south of the Alps, just a few hundred kilometres away, severe floods were experienced this past winter.
We drove off to the historic gold mining village of Yackandandah for lunch and were joined by Charlotte's parents. We also visited Beechworth, where Ned Kelly was captured. This gold town was so rich that all the buildings were constructed with very resilient local yellow coloured granite, and so they have all survived, and the town has an amazing 19th century feel. The shops were quaint, the bakery and candy shop were worth the line ups and the Ned Kelly history palpable. Colleen even sent a real "telegraph" to her Mom and Dad from the old "Telegraph Station."
Later, we drove back to Albury and enjoyed a lovely BBQ at the home of other former exchange teachers. It was too bad that our contingent was so small as they missed a wonderful day and a great party!
We awoke very early on Sunday with the goal of returning to Glen Waverley by the Great Alpine Road. This route winds its way through the hills south of Yackandandah, through Bright, over the top of the Alps at Mount Hotham Ski Resort, and south down to the ocean near Sale, and back to Melbourne. This route is significantly longer and slower than the Hume Highway and would take over 7 hours. Our reasoning was that this would be our only chance to see the eastern Alpine Country and Mount Kosciuszko, the highest mountain in Australia (in the NSW section of the Snowy Mountains).
An interesting aside to the drive was that it was already quite warm when we left and along the road, we expected we might see a snake or two sunning on the black asphalt. We did! The first one already had the Michelin imprint still left on it, and the second, a large black snake coiled in my lane, also received my Michelin tread design, despite me swerving to miss it.
We had been on the road since 7 a.m. heading for Bright, where we enjoyed croissants and lattés. Then came the steep, winding climb to the top of Mount Hotham village (1,750 metres ASL, just 100 metres below the summit). The hairpin turns and blind corners would be a nightmare in winter! It was almost +20 C at the top with a gusty wind and most of the snow at the summit was gone, so the ice and chain warnings were unnecessary.
The descent through Dinner Plain was much more gradual down to Omeo. Then we followed the road along a beautiful river valley for many more kilometres, arriving at Bairnsdale, on the A1 "Princes Highway" near Lakes Entrance just after noon. It was worth the extra time and sometimes slow going to enjoy this wonderful alpine area.
The next part of the drive we had done back in January in our rented motor home and was easy. Just a 3 hour drive, which Colleen and I shared, and we were home.
It was another excellent weekend! Thanks to the ITA's who planned it, our gracious hosts who provided bed and breakfast, and for those who were able to particpate, it was worth the drive. We enjoyed making new friends and seeing fellow exchangees.
Don't miss this corner of the country if you have a chance to go!
posted by Rod Murray | 7:20 p.m.
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