28&29/1/17 Walks & Golf

 Saturday dawned and another year ticked over , number 58 ticked off !! Deciding what to do today was the big decision - golf was the answer , I hadn't played since Gundagai , so wasn't sure what would happen . Arriving at the golf club , I looked around for someone to let me know what goes on - this is a volunteer run golf club , so there are no employees . There was a group of 3 about to hit off on the first hole so I went and saw them , sure you can play with us - quickly rushing back down & put the shoes on & get organised . Then there was a second group of 2 , so I was put with them . Today was going to be hot - forecast for 35 degrees - and I got rid of the buggy to push my clubs around , so I had to carry them - it was going to be interesting !!
  As it turned out I carried the clubs for 15 holes , and was given a lift in a motorised cart for 3 of them .  By the 16th hole my feet were screaming at me - hot & sore from the golf shoes ( probably wouldn't have mattered what shoes , it was just the fact they were shoes ) only 2 holes to go and the golf was going well - much to my surprise in the heat !! I finished with a Nett 75 - par is 72 , and 34 points , so it was a reasonably good round considering - 7 shots better on the back 9 than the front 9 .
  Meanwhile , Lyn had gone down to the Goulburn River Walk . It's as described , a walk along beside the river with some historical sites , swimming hole , fishing platforms and a boat ramp , also the old bridge we visited a few days ago . There was a also a sculpture of a koala in a tree - one of a series around town - there's a judge , a policeman , a traveller , olympic torch bearer , and a few others .

  What was left of the afternoon was spent relaxing , before we went down to the Royal Hotel for dinner . We had the pleasure of eating in the beer garden , as the dining room was full - fortunately it was now in the shade , an hour earlier and we would have been just as cooked as dinner !! We were told the meals were large , so we had a garlic bread and shared a main meal - and that was huge !!! 3 pieces of fish , 3 prawns , 3 scallops , 6 calamari strips , lots of chips and half a cup of salad !!
 After dinner we felt like the michelin man - way too much food .



 29/1/17


  Today we headed off to the Light Horse Memorial Park just outside of town . Seymour was the base  for the Light Horse Brigade - they lived and trained here before being deployed in the war . There was also quite a large contingent of American troops that also trained here .
  We had a nice surprise on the way out , Karen & Paul whom we met in WA and are now in Darwin , rang and we chatted to them for half an hour or so - it was nice to hear from them !!
  Arriving and parking the ute , we grabbed some water , our hats & camera and headed up to Anzac Hill Lookout - only 1.3klms up the hill . Along the way were several monuments - laser cut steel . The year was cut out and finer detail was cut into the numbers - impressive display !!

The detail is a bit hard to see in the photo , but it's the men riding their horses from the top right in the number seven across to the number 9 , then back to the number 1 .
Words are cut into number one on the left - Courage , Hunger , Thirst , Dust , Sand , Love , & Trust .
Further up the hill we find several sections where the foundations for huts & other buildings and a grenade throwing range . At the top of the hill is a cairn with a flagpole mounted in the middle of it , there's also a seat around it , and there are etched stones with various animals & birds on them . There are 360 degree views over the surrounding areas .

  Making our way back to the ute , it was getting hot - it reached 36 today , you could smell the dead leaves and grass baking in the sun , time for us to escape the heat for a while .
  After lunch we cooled down in the river - swimming wasn't really necessary , as you could stand in the water up to your thighs and get cooled fairly well , Lyn did go for a bit of a swim , cooling right down .
  Afternoon drinks were had with the people next door , we got to look out over the park previously full , now considerably emptier .
 That's it for today , Cheers

27/1/17 Up the river

    Today the southerlies have abated , and the temperature is warming up again , time to flex the muscles and go for a paddle in the Goulburn River . We didn’t have to go far - we are only 100m from the boat ramp .

  We launched and headed up river first - there was some current to paddle against - The river is reasonably wide here , but does narrow here & there , concentrating the current and making our paddle harder . 

  The river is lined with river red gums for most of the way that we paddled  . The water is a bit murky - you can still see the bottom when it’s only 600mm deep . We’ve been told there are redfin , macquarie perch , bass , trout and too many carp - hence the murky water . Carp are like the vacuum cleaners of the river - they suck up everything and are always stirring the mud & silt up , they also contribute to the amount of trees in the river , by sucking all the earth from around the tree roots , loosening the trees roots and finally causing them to fall over !!

  As we went up the river we came to the first narrow section , and with that the increase in the speed of the water , time to paddle harder . Our forward speed slowed and nearly stopped , but we kept going , finally we started going forward again , getting across into an eddy which helped us get out of the current .

  The water temperature was quite cool , not really warm enough to go for a swim , must be to do with the temperature at Lake Eildon - that’s where the Goulburn River starts .

  There are no shortage of sulphur crested cockatoo’s here , or corella’s , and they all screech and make a racquet . One of the cockatoo’s was down having a drink beside the river . 

  More fast water and more effort required to go further up the river - while we could still go forward we would keep going . Rounding another corner , we found another section of fast flowing water - we tried to go through it , but the effort required to maintain position was more than we could sustain - time to bail out - turning the kayak into the current we turned around quite rapidly , picking up speed and cruising back down the river . It was an easy paddle / rest / paddle / rest all the way back .

  We investigated a couple of inlets to see where they would take us - nowhere was the answer !! Before long , the boat ramp appeared , but we kept going downstream for another kilometre or so . The rail bridge appeared and we stopped there for a few minutes in the shade - it was about 32 degrees now and quite hot in the sun .

  Heading back to the boat ramp , it was time to escape the heat for a while - we were surprised to find it was 1pm when we got back to the van . Time for lunch before we packaged up some things  and sent them away . 

 That’s been our day , and here are the photo’s .

 

Cheers !!

25/1/17 More bridges

 It's funny how in our travels we seem to get to areas where there seem to be lots of one thing - we've had - gorges ; rocks ; waterfalls ; lakes and now , it seems to be bridges !!

  Another day another few bridges really , today’s drive will take us north to Murchison with several stops along the way . We will be following the Goulburn River to Nagambie Lakes and around to the Goulburn Weir .

  First stop was Nagambie Regatta Centre , it’s part of the Nagambie Lakes - which stretches to cove ra large area . Beside the Regatta Centre is one of the largest caravan parks we’ve seen on all our travels , it stretches for over 1klm from the front gate - heavens knows how wide it is !!! but it is surrounded by the lakes . Today there were many rowing boats out on the water , with busloads of competitors at the sailing club as well as the regatta centre . 

  We had taken the paddling gear , but the wind and temperature kept us out of the water !! 

  Taking back roads has proved good for us , taking us to scenery not everyone gets to , it also allows us to stop & take photos without disrupting much traffic as well . 

  The next gem we found , was another old timber bridge over the Goulburn River just out of Nagambie .

 They certainly knew how to build timber bridges back in the day , pity it costs too much to maintain them . Now they are just rotting away - this one is no exception - check out the piers at water level & above .

 Back into Nagambie and onwards to Kirwans Bridge . This one has a height limit , a weight limit and a speed limit !! It’s a one lane curved bridge with 2 passing bays - something we’d not seen either - very amusing , we even got to use one of the passing bays when two cars came from the other side !! 

  The relevant authorities have reduced the bridge to one lane , and appear to be letting the unused side rot away .

  Next stop was the Goulburn Weir . we approached from the western side , and found a gate and security fencing - it was open , and is locked at night . The weir is different to most, as it can control the water going down the Goulburn River and also water going into an irrigation canal on the western side of the weir .

  There is an old brick and granite block control room building , and associated drive shafts & cogs and spiral drive axles - you could walk around all this , whereas on the river side it’s newer and fenced off  .

  Beautiful gum trees line the banks .

  Onwards to Murchison , a nice little town with a pub , bakery , fish & chips & hamburgers , an old service station and garage , oh , and a bridge over the Goulburn River . 

   Beside the river is a well maintained park and playground , there’s also a couple of cows - full size statues anyway , here’s one .

 Not sure exactly what the grapes and tomatoes stand for - probably something to do with the Italian heritage in this town .

   After some lunch we headed back to Seymour and fuelled up - it’s a bit of a novelty after being in Northern Territory & WA , where you seem to be filling up every other day , or twice a day somedays  , we filled up in Benalla a week ago !!!!

  In Seymour there is a Vietnam Veterans Commemorative Walk . On display is a Huey helicopter , a tank , an armoured personel carrier ,and a 40mm Brofor anti aircraft gun . The commemorative wall is double sided glass panels and is curved - S shaped . It has the names of the vets that participated in Vietnam on each panel , and when you stand back you can see large photo’s from the war - very well thought out !! They’ve planted lot’s of trees & grasses & landscaped well .

Here’s a map link : - https://drive.google.com/open?id=1YBTKl2EavQJzS8rHD-DydAlXFXc&usp=sharing

24/1/17 1,000 Hills

  Here we are again , moved towns - because we couldn’t stay at Yea any longer - it’s booked out for this week . 

  Before we left we had a wander around the Wetlands beside the information centre . Reflections were at a premium in the bigger billabongs , the smaller ones were lucky to have any water in them.

  There’s lot’s of long grass and weeds at the moment , trees have fallen over in the creek and haven’t been removed , clogging the creek a bit . There was the odd spray of purple flowers for the white butterflies to feed on .

 It seems to have had better days , and summer probably isn’t when it’s at it’s best , but we’re here now , so that’s what we’ve got !!

  The Yea Creek flows through as well , it too , has a lot of trees down , giving the creek a grey tinge . There’s also a suspension bridge that crosses over the creek .

  Back to the ute and into the main street to get a couple of things before heading back for lunch and a new kayak cover - the old one has seen better days !! 

  The main street is a wide spread street , with parking areas in the middle between the four lanes . There are many trees as well and some interesting buildings , a blend of old & new .

  

  We are now at Seymour - 38 klms down the road - it sits beside the Goulburn River , which snakes it’s way around the town . It’s a bigger town , having Coles , Woolworths & Aldi supermarkets , not far away from Puckapunyal - an army base that occupies a square of land about 30 kms each side . It’s has a railway background , being on the main route to Sydney , and has been bypassed by the Hume Freeway .

  Our park fronts the river , and there’s a nice water flow , it is cool though , must be the temperature it comes out of Lake Eildon !! We’re in amongst some river red gums with views of the river and park .

 Today we headed out to Strath Creek , a little village in another beautiful valley . 

We’re going to Strath Creek Falls , and it’s up the top of the hills so we had to wind our way up & down again . Murchison Gap Lookout is on the way offering views over “ The valley of a thousand hills “ It is spectacular !! 

 The trend of building houses on ridge tops is alive and well here as well , the driveway earth works would cost as much as the house !! 

 Back on the road , and it went to gravel , but still a good road . Going passed the national park sign , we hoped it wasn’t a premonition - “ Mount Disappointment National Park “  Further on was the turnoff , down a very steep road to the parking area . Seemed to be the theme , the track down to the viewing area was also steep - concrete steps were there to assist , and a safety fence so you don’t go sliding over the edge into a deep valley .

  The falls , unfortunately , were not flowing - there was a trickle , but nothing more . The creek that feeds the falls comes out of the forest , joins another smaller creek beside the walkway down to the viewing areas . 

  In the valley near the falls is a wall of rock that looks like it’s been concreted , a nice level surface sloping down into the bottom of the valley . There’s also a pile of rock down the bottom where the layers of rock have dropped to .

  There’s also a gum tree that juts out perpendicular to the rock face , this photo shows the rock face a little bit better .

 Here’s another addition to my dragonfly collection .

 A small pink flower was growing out from between some of the steps , only noticed it on the way back up . There’s also some plants that have flowered , and are past their best , but still looked good .

  The map that we got from the information centre wasn’t terribly good , and Hema maps in the ute wasn’t showing some of the roads - some tracks had names that didn’t correspond with their map , so we went back & forth a bit , finally finding the track down to the old quartz kilns , where they used to separate the gold from the quartz . The track was single lane with bush encroaching both sides , dropoff one side and hill on the other - if we meet someone it will be flip a coin o see who gets to reverse out !!! 

  Unfortunately the photo didn’t really show the kiln off very well at all , so we won’t post that one . We continued on to Reedy Creek - apparently , according to the map , there was a creek crossing and it may be impassable !!  After turning onto the right roads and finding the creek , we approached cautiously - we eased the front wheels in , then continued , the back wheels just flowed along over the gravel  , and we drove across the relatively new concrete bridge - probably been here a few years - so much for the brochure !!! 

  Making our way into Broadford , we found a park and stopped for lunch . Not long after we sat down , a ute and trailer came down through the park and parked beside us , it was the graffiti removal team ( there was some work to do there !! ) He had come to clean the tables & chairs & Bbq up , ready for Australia Day . He did comment that this happened prior to Anzac Day as well !!

  We left him with it and headed to the Pioneer Museum , about 200m away . There’s 4 buildings here - an old school house that has been moved to 3 different schools through it’s life , then there’s the old printers building from Broadford , an old slab hut with timber shingle roof - discovered in someones backyard when it was all cleaned up - they transported it to this site , and an old timber lockup ( jail ) . There’s a large silver ball and drive wheel , that we couldn’t figure out till we read the sign . Apparently they’re used to make paper out of straw & even old sails from sailing ships were used as well . This soaking ball was one in a bank of twelve in the paper mill .

 Taking some backroads rather than the freeway back to Seymour gave us a look at some more of the countryside - it certainly had it’s summer coat on - parched , golden brown and dry as a chip !! 

 Further down the road is Tallarook , another small old town with hotel , mechanics institute , church and other old shops .

 Down a few other minor roads and we found ourselves beside the Goulburn River on the western side of an old road bridge . It is officially a navigation hazard !!! if you are kayaking down the river , you have to get out of the river and carry your kayak / canoe to the other side of the bridge and then put back in to the river - not sure how many people would do that, but that would be the risk they would have to take !!! 

 That’s it , you’re up to date , here’s a map link : - https://drive.google.com/open?id=1ZcDmiSfjdVMaRSQK6t9LoiVY4g8&usp=sharing