Congo Point

(Magyar változat a végén)

On Wednesday 5 November we packed up at Anglers Rest and started moving back North towards NSW. It was another nice mostly sunny spring day, so we did not travel too far, by lunchtime we stopped at the Pigs Point Reserve, another nice free campsite along the Mitta Mitta River, 9 km South of Tallangatta. We spent the afternoon at the campsite, reading, resting, enjoying the weather and the surroundings. In the evening we made our tea again on the campfire under the light of the full moon.

Spring in Tallangatta

This is what remained from old Tallangatta

Thursday morning we drove in to Tallangatta for filling up the tank and our food reserves, then started our ascent along the Upper Murray Valley, stopping at the Old Tallangatta site, now inundated by Lake Hume, then at several nice lookout points as we climbed up to the Snowy Mountains: Tooma Dam, Bradley's Hut and Tumut Pond Reservoir. By 6 pm we reached Cooma and spent the night there in a caravan park.

Bradley's Hut

Tumut Pond Reservoir

Congo Creek

We continued Eastward on Friday, and by around lunchtime we reached our chosen destination: Congo Point Campsite, 8 km South of Moruya, in the Eurobodalla National Park. It is located along Congo Creek near its mouth, with direct access to the creek and the surf beach to the South. A beautiful spot very well maintanined by the National Park - not free but reasonably priced. This was the best beechfront campsite we have seen so far in Australia.  

The surf beach from the lookout

We found a nice spot to set up camp and we decided to stay here for the rest of our holiday. Friday afternoon we stayed at the camp with a short walk to the lookout and around the beach. 

Market along the Moruya river

Next morning we visited the Saturday market in Moruya. Apparently a big event, lots of people, lots of attractions, the usual range of local products, music and other entertainments. There was also a food festival with Costa as master of ceremony (the man with the big beard from the Gardening show on ABC TV). 

The only stall with a queue

We wandered around the stalls for a while then in a big tent listened to a presentation by an Aboriginal man about "bush tucker" and other Aboriginal customs and weapons. It was interesting, the guy was a good showman and played very well on the didgeridoo. It was an enjoyable morning overall. The afternoon again was spent at the campsite, relaxing and reading and watching the sea and the creek.

Hard life...

Sunday (9 November) was a beautiful calm, warm and sunny day, we stayed at home all day, enjoying the scenery and the weather. 











There were also some interesting events: a group of horseriders came across the river and passed beside us, then someone saw some whales quite close to the shore; we watched but could not see much other than their blows for a few seconds. It was enough entertainment for the day.

Dinner preparations

By Monday the weather turned cloudy and cool, no more than 20 degrees. We went on a driving tour to discover the area. On the North side of the Moruya river we stopped at the granite quarry and port site where the granite blocks for the Sydney Harbour Bridge were extracted and shipped to Sydney. We drove up along the coastal tourist drive, stopping at several beaches, up to Batemans Bay, then back to Moruya for a city walk, and finally to Moruya Heads where we saw an old cemetery and the remains of an small harbour from WW2. 

Cemetery at Moruya Heads

Moruya, main street

Two-headed kangaroo :))

The "living rock"

In the afternoon we walked along the beach up to the South end and back. At low tide we found some strange interesting creatures on the rocks, looking like ice-cream cones growing out of the rock face. We could not decide whether they are plants or animals. The caretaker lady said they are animals called "cunghie" or something similar. After a lot of searching on the internet, Kati found they are called "Pyura chilensis", popularly know as the living rock. Originating from the rocky coast of Chile and Peru, they obviously live also along the Australian coast, although we could not find any reference to that on the web. Apparently it is considered a delicacy in South America but they are protected species here.

Tuesday (11 November) morning the sky was even darker and only 19 degrees forecast as maximum temperature for the day, so we thought it's not worth staying. We packed up and drove back to Sydney. We stopped at Berry for lunch and were home by early afternoon. The weather was even worse in Sydney, rain and 14 degrees - not a nice welcome, but still better in a house than in a van in such weather.   

Szerdán indultunk tovább Anglers Rest-től észak felé, de nem jutottunk messzire. Szép idő volt, déltájban megálltunk egy másik szabad kempinghelyen, Pigs Point Reserv-nél, a Mitta Mitta folyó partján. Egy kellemes délutánt és szép teliholdas estét töltöttünk itt, megint teáztunk a tábortűz mellett. Csütörtökön bementünk a közeli kisvárosba (Tallangatta), vásárolni, tankolni, aztán tovább NSW felé keresztül a Havas Hegységen, megaludtunk Cooma-ban egy kempingben, és péntek déltájban értünk le a tengerpartra, egy Congo Point nevű kempinghelyre. Közvetlenül a vízparton van, nagyon szép környezetben és  itt is maradtunk keddig. Az ido szép, napos, de nem túl meleg. Pénteken felmentünk egy kilátó pontra, apálykor lesétáltunk a vízpartra, körülnéztünk a környéken. 

Szombat délelott bementünk a közeli kisvárosba (Moruya), ahol hétvégi nagyvásár volt, jól elnézelodtünk, meg hallgattunk egy aboriginal pasas eloadását a "bush-tucker"-ról, vagyis az ausztrál szavanákon található élelmekrol és egyéb túlélési szokásokról. Délután csak üldögéltünk a lakókocsi elott, nagyon eros hideg szél fújt a víz felol, szerencsére a lakókocsink egy valamennyire szélvédettebb helyen van, itt jobban kibírható. 

Vasárnap gyönyörű tiszta napos meleg ido volt, nem mentünk sehova, egész nap csak üldögéltünk a vízparton, olvastunk, pihentünk, nézelodtünk. Voltak érdekes események, lovasok jöttek, keresztül gázoltak a folyón, láttunk bálnákat - már amennyire a tengerből látni lehet, leginkább csak a kifújt párafelhőt egy pár pillanatig. 

Hétfőre elfelhősödött az idő, elmentünk autóval felfedezni a környéket. Moruya északi oldalán megnéztük a gránit-bánya és kiköto maradványait ahonnan a Sydney Harobur Bridge pylon-jaihoz szállították a kotömböket. Észak felé a tengerparton megálltunk egy pár beach-nél körülnézni, aztán Batemans Bay-ben keresgéltük azt a helyet ahol 2007-ben ebédeltünk, de nem találtuk (késobb rájöttünk, hogy nem is itt volt hanem egy másik városban:). Visszafelé kimentünk Moruya Head-hez, láttunk egy régi temetőt és egy régi kikötő maradványait. Délután sétáltunk a tengerparton, apálykor a vízben álló sziklákon láttunk valami érdekes képződményeket, amikrol hosszas internetes keresgélés után Kati kiderítette hogy "pyura chilensis"-nek hívják, népszerű nevén "élő szikla". Dél Amerika partjain honos, de ezek úgy látszik eltévedtek.

Kedd reggelre még szürkébb és hidegebb lett az ido, úgy döntöttünk hogy nem érdems tovább várni, összepakoltunk és elindultunk hazafelé. Délben Berry-nél megálltunk ebédelni, és koradélután hazaértünk - szemerkélo esoben és 14 fokban.       

The Victorian Alps

 (Magyar változat a végén)

Bowna rest area

On this tour our first destination was the Victorian Alps, then we planned to go across the Snowy Mountains, finishing the tour somewhere on the NSW South Coast in about 2 weeks time. On the first day (Thursday,  30 October 2014) we travelled South along the Hume Highway and spent the night near the Victorian border at a free campsite (Bowna rest area), a pleasant spot although no facilities whatsoever, just a little clearing under big eucalypt trees but a bit further from the road, reasonably quiet and we had everything we need in our van.

Beechworth main street and Post Office

On Friday we passed through to Victoria and settled for the night in a caravan park in Beechworth. This is one of the many small towns born during the mid-19th century gold rush and still living from its past history and tourism, plus farming but they seem to be living quite well. In the morning we walked along the main street up and down, among many well preserved and maintained historical buildings, including the courthouse and gaol, where Ned Kelly had spent two years. 

They think there is still gold there...

In the afternoon we drove out to another old gold mining centre nearby, El Dorado and the Woolshed Valley. In its heyday in the 1870s more than 2000 people lived in and around town digging for gold. Almost nothing remained visible from that era, only signs and info boards telling the stories and showing some old photos. Some of the sites are showing the activities of the Kelly Gang in this area. We drove along the valley, in 33 degrees, dutifully reading all the stories, and saw quite a few people still digging or panning for gold around the river. Then at the end visited the Woolshed Falls. 

Woolshed Falls

New playground in Bright

After the hot and humid Friday, by Saturday morning the temperature dropped down to 14-15 degrees and rained almost all morning. We drove to Brigth, the tourist centre of the Victorian Alps where we had spent our end-of-year holiday with a group of friends in 2007. We planned to stay at a free campsite just outside town, but after a quick look at the site in pouring rain we gave up the idea and went back to Bright. We were lucky to find a spot in a caravan park at the second attempt, as all places were booked out due to the Melbourne Cup long week-end holiday. 

Octoberfest in Bright

By late morning the rain has stopped and we had a walk around the town centre. It is always a very busy place, now it seemed all Victorians have assembled here for some reason. We admired the beautiful tree lines, cedars, bunyas and others, along the streets. Octoberfest was still going on (in November) in a big tent with weissbier and German sausages and the Wondonga Brass Band playing the appropriate "schrammel" tunes. 

View of the Bogong High Plains from Tawonga Gap

This is what we saw from Falls Creek

In the afternoon we went to visit Falls Creek where we haven't been before. At the beginning the weather was quite promising, nice views from the Tawonga Gap towards the Falls Creek valley, but by the time we climbed up to the Falls Creek ski resort (at 1760 m elevation), it was 4 degrees and sleet. So we just turned around without getting out and drove back home.   




Next day (Sunday, 2 Nov) the weather was a bit better. We continued Southbound, first stopping at the nearby salmon and trout hatchery, to feed the fish and enjoy their play and fight for food in the water. 

Victoria Falls campsite

Then, after climbing through the Alps at Mount Hotham, we stopped at a nice free camp site at the Victoria Falls Historic Area. The history here also relates to gold mining but this time it is not the mining itself but the first hydro-electric power plant built in Australia based on the small dam on the Victoria River nearby. We spent a pleasant afternoon and evening here, visiting the falls, and chatting with some fellow-campers at their fireplace. The night was pretty cold though, 3 degrees inside the van at daybreak, as this spot is still close to 1000 m elevation.

Victoria Falls

Alpine flowers

 Monday morning we drove in to Omeo, "the business centre for the Omeo Region and a pioneering farming town known for its gold rush history and High Country Cattlemen". It was a beautiful day, bright sunshine, we walked around the old historic precinct, showing the usual old buildings, courthouse and gaol (it seems these were the most important community buildings everywhere). 

The Gaol, Omeo

Court House, Omeo

At lunchtime we visited one more gold mining area just outside town, the Oriental Claims Historic Area. We did one of the loop tracks around the mining sites, had lunch, then moved on.

Oriental Claims gold mine

The Blue Duck Inn

Our campsite for the next two days was at Anglers Rest, just 30 kms to the North of Omeo, where the Cobungra, Bundarra and Mitta Mitta rivers meet. A very nice spot right on the river bank. The historic Mitta Bridge and the Blue Duck Inn are at the bottom end of the campsite for hungry and/or thirsty anglers (blue duck is the name of a gold claim which did not produce any gold). There were quite a few other campers around on Monday (which was a public holiday in Victoria, together with Tuesday when the big race was on in Melbourne) but the place was almost empty by next morning. 

The Mitta Bridge

Wallace's Hut

On Tuesday we drove back up towards Falls Creek and did a short walk to Wallace's Hut, then on to Cope Hut and back. We have been here in 2007 but it is such a nice area, beautiful alpine vegetation that it's worth a second look. It was pretty cold up there (around 1750 m elevation), no more than 10-11 degrees and very strong winds out in the open, but it was a nice walk nonetheless. We came down to the campsite for lunch and a quiet afternoon and evening, with some cooking and tea around the fireplace.  

Snow gums on the high plains

Life at Anglers Rest

Making tea on the fire

2014 okt. 30-án csütörtök reggel indultunk Sydney-ből az újabb lakókocsis túránkra, amit 2 hétre terveztünk. Az elso nap csak utaztunk dél felé, a Victoria-i határ közelében álltunk meg éjszakára egy szabad kemping-helyen. Kellemes hely volt, ugyan semmi létesítmény nem volt, csak egy szép tisztás a nagy fák tövében, de kicsit messzebb az úttól, nem volt túl zajos, és szerencsére önellátók vagyunk, van miden ami szükséges a lakókocsinkban.

Pénteken átjöttünk Victora államba, és egy Beechworth nevu kis városkában szálltunk meg egy kempingben. Ez is egy 19. szd-i aranybányász település, ami a múltjából él, foleg turizmusból, no meg a környéki állattartásból, de úgy tunik, elég jól élnek. Délelőtt körülsétáltunk a város foutcáján, megnéztük a "történelmi" épületeket, minden nagyon szépen rendben van tartva. Ebéd után meg tettünk egy autós körutat, egy másik jelentős arany-bányászati központba, Eldorado a neve, ma már csak táblák mutatják az egykori bányászati és egyéb emlék-helyeket, pl. itt "dolgozott" Ausztrália leghíresebb "bushranger" (rabló) bandája, a Ned Kelly gang. A végén még egy szép vízesést is láttunk.

Az idő jól felmelegedett, napközben 32-33 fok volt, reggel meg 9 fok volt a lakókocsiban, de nem panaszkodunk, mindkettot kibírtuk, soha rosszabbat.

A pénteki hőség után szombaton 14-15 fok volt és majdnem egész nap zuhogott az eső, ehhez alakítottuk a programot. Továbbmentünk Bright-ba, egy Alpok-völgyi turista-központba, ahol 7 éve nyaraltunk a szokásos baráti társasággal. Mivel Victoria-ban 4-napos hosszú hétvége volt (a Melbourne Cup lóverseny alkalmából) minden kemping tele volt, de végül nagy nehezen kaptunk egy helyet, ott aludtunk. Nem így terveztük, de az esőben ez volt a legjobb megoldás. Napközben azért nem esett végig, körülsétáltunk a faluban, volt mindenféle attrakció, többek között Oktobefest alkalmából nagy sátorban sör és német kolbász, fúvós-zenekarral. Felautóztunk egy sí-központba is kb 1750 m-re, de mire felértünk 4 fok volt és havaseso esett, úgyhogy ki se szálltunk az autóból, visszafordultunk.

Másnapra kicsit megjavult az ido, továbbindultunk dél felé, átmásztunk a Victoriai Alpokon (1800 m magas hágón) és aztán egész héten kellemes szabad kemping-helyeken töltöttük az éjszakát. Volt hogy éjszaka-hajnalban nagyon hideg volt, de már elég jól fel vagyunk szerelve, tudunk védekezni. Megnéztünk egy Omeo nevu kisvárost, elgyalogoltunk a Wallace's hut-hoz, ez a 19. szd második felében épült bádog-teteju fa kunyhó, ahol a pásztorok laktak a nyári idényben. Itt is jártunk már 2007-ben, de olyan szép a környéke meg az alpesi növényzet, szívesen megnéztük ujra. A kedd délutánt a táborhelyen töltöttük, olvastunk, pihentünk, főztünk, este tüzet raktunk, teáztunk a tűz mellett.