Christmas Eve - Bright.

I doubt I will forget Christmas Eve 2014. It was a spectacular day that started off like most of the others on our trip so far.

We packed up the van and left Wangaratta with a wave to our friends.  We planned a scenic route to Bright where we had arranged to stay for two nights. This is one of the few times that we had booked a site in advance.

First stop was Beechworth.  It’s  a great little town bursting with history, charm, character and jumping  with  tourists.   Beechworth has lots of boutique craft outlets, delicatessens,  retro style pubs, bookshops and a fascinating historic precinct set amongst the foothills of the Victorian Alps. Just outside the town is a track through a gorge that we decided to motor through. Pretty brave considering we were under tow but Rod was confident and the trip, whilst short, was a taster of the stunning scenery yet to come.

We visited the Beechworth Honey Shop where the children sampled every blend in the range – twice. I reckon they consumed about a kilo of honey between them.  I sampled a flat white from the local roaster and Rod took about 350 photo’s.  One of the many highlights was a visit to the old cells were Ned Kelly and his Mum were detained briefly and also the Telegraph station. This old bloke was sending telegrams by morse code. He told us he used to work for the PMG in the 60’s up until fax’s finally made telegrams redundant.  A few years back someone worked out that you could send a morse signal over a modem line, there is no real reason to do so except that it’s kinda fun.  The kids were fascinated to watch this old guy tap away at a million miles an hour and send Christmas greetings to all the Grandparents on our behalf. In the little display area of the telegraph station was a typewriter.  I reckon it was the same model as the one I typed my Uni assignments on – ahhh how old must I be!  Andrew found it fascinating that I knew how to use it – just like riding a bike, margin set, margin release, carriage return…. He would have typed away all day if it wasn’t time to move on

And move on to Myrtleford we did. A smaller town but just as sweet. We had a lunch break, took and obligatory look at the grass tennis courts, filled our water bottles and then enjoyed a very pleasant drive toward Bright and the Great Dividing Range.

Bright is a beautiful town. We approached from the west along an idyllic tree lined road weaving its way past paddocks full of sleek fat cattle and white sheep. Such a contrast to the land north west of the state.  The Ovens river that dawdles its way through the town is a focal point to gather, swim, picnic or stroll around.

We found our campsite and were delighted to be at the end of a green shady path overlooking the neighbouring farm. The facilities were a “bit dodgy” but serviceable.   There was a few hours of daylight left so we decided to tackle Mount Buffalo.

I wish I was a better wordsmith. I cannot explain nor can the camera capture the majesty of this place. We drove as far as we were able, along the dirt track only open in summer to about 1.5km short of the Mount Buffalo Summit. The final 1.5 km is by foot, which means climbing over huge granite boulders.  Final elevation 1735m (Kosciuszko is about 2230m I think, but nowhere near as exciting)

We experienced Christmas Eve in one of the most stunning places in the country on a glorious summer afternoon and the drive home was equally breathtaking. As we descended the mountain, the afternoon sun dusted everything and turned the already impressive countryside into some sort of Steve Parish print.  I won’t forget it.

And just when we though the day could not get better, we happened upon an evening  carol service at the local Uniting church and sang our little hearts out. The kids were exhausted and even though it was Christmas Eve, they gladly rolled into their sleeping bags. So did I.