Sunday, 12 January 2025
We enjoyed a peaceful night last night and no return of the rain we had yesterday afternoon so, fortunately for us, we didn’t have to pack up wet camping gear. I was over-awed this morning observing Magda doing her hand weight routine beside their vehicle. That is why she may be 70 but could pass for 50! It was all I could manage to roll out of the swag, get upright, pull on some clothes and prepare a bit of food. I need to stop making excuses and be inspired by her disciplined example!
Once we were all packed up it was time to continue south on Kellys Lane. We almost went astray on a track that I think was taking us west towards Scrubby Hill Track? But we had not ventured far before John called it and had us all turn around and make our way back to Kellys Lane. At the T-intersection with Tamboritha Road we turned left sort of re-tracing our route south on Kellys Track but now heading north along the border between the Alpine National Park and Carey River State Forest.
At Arbuckle Junction we turned right onto Moroka Road to enter the Carey River State Forest. Our convoy headed east and then south before entering the Avon Wilderness Park a couple of kilometres west of the McFarlanes Saddle Car Park from where hikers set out on the 16km Wellington Plains Walking Track.
However, in 4×4 vehicle you can continue to the Mt Wellington Track and drive to the summit of Mt Wellington at 1650 metres. This is a spectacular ridgeline drive which culminates at a huge rock cairn where it’s possible to enjoy 360-degree views over the Victorian High Country. Our expert guides were able to point out to us the landscape in which we were immersed yesterday and trace the route that we had driven this morning from last night’s camp. Fantastic to get the two perspectives. Up close and personal surrounded by the bush and then the overview of the countryside we had traversed.
With elevation came a barrage of phone pings with some members of our group having received multiple text messages last night (when we had no reception) expressing concern that a bushfire in Dargo had been reported and wanting to know if everyone was safe. As we climbed the track to Mt Wellington John and Ross had noted a small column of smoke over towards their homes at Valencia Creek (Dargo slightly further east) and had described it as looking like someone had a BBQ going. And THAT was probably what the fire-fighting aircraft were buzzing about for last night?? Of course, during the Australian summer there is always the very real threat of bushfires, and we weren’t being blasé about that risk, but we were confident that our local guides would not lead us into danger.
We cobbled together some lunch atop Mount Wellington and ate it in the brisk breeze blowing across our elevated position. On the plus side the wind did seem to reduce the number of flies around. On the downside, we were in this incredibly beautiful and remote location and someone who had been there before us had left half a dozen wet wipes strewn across the summit. Just – Why?? I couldn’t leave them there so picked them up in small bin bag and added it to our garbage bag that we will be taking out of the wilderness with us.
After eating we continued south to Millers Hut enjoying more amazing views of The Sentinels and the Valley of Destruction along the way. Millers Hut was built in 1916 and is considered to be the second oldest on public land in the Victorian High Country. Although we couldn’t see it, Ross told us about Lake Tali Karng, the only natural lake within the Victorian Alps that is nestled deep within the Avon Wilderness.
We returned to the summit of Mt Wellington from where we could see storms brewing. We sat atop the mountain for at least an hour (?) watching the weather fronts coming from the west. It was really interesting (and possibly just a little bit insane?) watching mere threads of drizzle coalesce into black curtains of rain all around us. Despite all the weather around us it remained dry atop Mt Wellington. Unfortunately, we could see that the route that John planned to take next was well ensconced in a huge black cloud that was just hanging around drowning the countryside.
We continued back along the Mt Wellington Track until we reached the Moroka Range Track where we turned right. As we descended towards the Moroka River the weather deteriorated until we found ourselves driving along a very wet track in teeming rain. Before the weather deteriorated the plan had been to visit (in our case revisit) Moroka Hut the scene of the November stump parking incident which John may have mentioned once or twice to our new group of 4×4 tag along mates. However, and perhaps fortuitously, the weather put paid to that, and we bi-passed Moroka Hut in the hope of finding a better camping proposition.
Ross and Magda pulled in at the campground at the bridge (over Broad Gully?), but they deemed it far too wet. We continued to Horseyard Flat/Horseyard Hut where it was hoped the hut might provide some shelter we could use. Magda deemed the hut entirely unsuitable (badly vandalized), so other options were examined. It came down to driving all the way back to McMichaels Hut in the hope it would not be occupied today or drive to The Dingo Den at Valencia Creek. Eventually the call was made to spend another hour and a half on the road driving to The Dingo Den as that seemed a better proposition than hoping McMichaels Hut would be available if we drove back to Shaws Creek.
We backtracked a short distance to turn southward onto Marathon Road. Despite the weather Marathon Road was good proposition – more an unsealed road that a 4×4 track making it an easy drive. And knowing there would be some decent shelter (and a flushing toilet!) at the end … priceless. So, it was Marathon Road all the way until we cut across Gillios Road to Moroka Road to find some welcome shelter in John’s ‘Hay Shed’.
No campfire tonight, but the pot-bellied stove in the middle of the shed was a good substitute. It was decided that Belinda and her grandkids would set up their mattresses and sleeping bags on a ground sheet in the shed while Bernie and I and David and Thomas would set up our swags under the eave of the shed. And, of course, no sooner had we set up than the rain cleared! Still, it would have been very soggy trying to make camp in the bush after torrential rain all afternoon, so I was happy to be at The Dingo Den … and the flushing toilet, well … luxury that is, even if it was down the yard a bit from the shed!!
Tonight, we were able to cook ‘indoors’ and the fly situation was much improved which made eating our evening meal much more pleasant. We purchased 18 soft white hamburger rolls thinking that we would just slap filling in those for lunch and dinner avoiding the need to use plates and cutlery. Hmmn, we are not huge bread eaters and especially not soft white bread so after we’d done that for lunch and dinner on the first day, we were a bit over soft white hamburger rolls which meant that we reverted to plates and cutlery. Some of the other meals being prepped made us realise that we need to plan our meals much better when/if we do this again! With the fridge to store food we can bring some more interesting pre-prepared food and reheat it in a pan on our gas cooker. Just because we don’t have a microwave doesn’t mean we can’t eat more varied camp tucker!
