Monday, 13 January 2025
After the torrential rain yesterday afternoon we had not a drop more during the evening or overnight. The night was dry and mild, and I even survived a middle of the night walk to John’s outhouse. Today it has dawned all blue sky and sunshine so looking good to explore a bit more of the high country before we head back to the city.
We headed out from The Dingo Den travelling north on Moroka Road through the Valencia State Forest. Not far into this morning’s journey we crossed a concrete bridge and pulled up beside a potential trout fishing pond on the river. We may have been at Paddy Lees Crossing on the Valencia Creek, but I’m not certain. While Thomas got his fishing rod out, the ladies ventured up the hill to use the drop toilet. Ugh! The last person there had not closed the lid, so it was FILLED with huge black flies. Oh well, needs must, but it was … unpleasant. Mission accomplished without being bitten on the bum by anything, ha, ha. Although Thomas’s attempts to catch some trout were unsuccessful, we enjoyed our interlude by the the river/creek in the early morning sunshine.
This morning’s route was confusing because we (eventually) headed west on Stans Track even though it wasn’t where it was supposed to be? Even Ross with his local knowledge was confused because apparently today’s Stans Track is not the Stans Track of old. Access to the original Stans Track was withdrawn by the landowner so now the track heads west from a point further north along Old Moroka Road. I think?!
After making our way west we arrived at the junction with Mt Angus Track. From this elevated section along Mt Angus Track, we had fantastic views to the north back over Mt Wellington where we were yesterday. When we reached the Avon Track we started heading down again towards the Avon River where we stopped for morning tea. Undeterred by his complete lack of success so far (only a couple of carp from the creek at John’s place) Thomas unpacked his fly rod again and tried to coax some trout to take the bait. Nothing … again!
We crossed the Avon River several times heading north towards Wrixon. After this it was time to start climbing again out of the Avon River Valley and towards Ben Cruachan which, standing at 836 metres, towers over this section of the Victorian High Country. We were treated to ever changing vistas of its distinctive peak. Eventually we drove around the flank of Ben Cruachan (the summit could be a destination for another day?) before continuing southwards on the Ben Cruachan Road, Millers Road, Fairs Road and Hodges Road into Coongulla. From Coongulla we drove along Ryans Road before picking up Weir Road, driving over Lanigans Bridge and eventually into Heyfield where we started from on Friday morning.
The gang parked up in front of the Heyfield Bakery just in time for lunch. John had been talking up the bakery’s steak and kidney pies to another group of potential customers since last night! Fortunately, there were still pies in the pie warmer when we arrived. We opted for salad rolls for lunch and bought steak and kidney pies (from the fridge out the back) to go. That was an easy option for dinner tonight sorted.
After lunch it was time to say our thanks and farewell to our Trax expert guides and say goodbye to another great group of 4×4 enthusiasts. We are truly fortunate that all the people we have travelled with so far on our Dingo Trax tagalong adventures have been remarkably easy to get along with.
Next, it was time to venture, with some trepidation, to the RV Dump Point. It’s all very well to have the PortaPotti BUT what goes in must come out! It seemed crazy to transport our waste back home and deal with it there when we knew that there was a dump point around at the Heyfield RV Park at the Alan Lay Oval.
Gosh, it really wasn’t nasty at all. When we opened the dump point it wasn’t smelly and when we opened the PortaPotti neither was it. All we could smell was the enzymes/chemicals with which it had been primed. Bernie swiveled the outlet pipe around and drained the waste into the dump point. We rinsed the tank with the hose provided and tipped a bucket of water in as requested to make sure everything was properly washed into the dump point. All for a gold coin donation. Easy!
Before we commenced our journey home, we popped around to the Timberline General Store where we put air back into the tyres for highway driving, topped the truck up with diesel and bought ice-creams for ourselves since we’d only had salad rolls for lunch! We motored home without incident. With it still being school holidays the traffic seemed lighter than usual which we were happy about. All our gear was dragged off the roof rack and out of the truck and into the garage or house. We needed to air the awning and swag but … not tonight. Before we could think about dinner, we both decided that we really, really needed a shower. Nothing like a hot shower after three days of wet wipes!!
Only 23 days and we’re off to Norway to cruise the Norwegian coast aboard the Hurtigruten MS Trollfjord. Our first travel experience with TripaDeal on a 2 for 1 Norwegian Arctic Expedition. Should be interesting and quite a contrast from four-wheel driving in the Victorian High Country!
