Bright Vic May 24th 2024

Bright, Victoria. May 24 2024

Its been a while since our last trip (seven months) and there has been a major change, in that the Territory has been replaced with a BMW X5. It has had a complete set of new electronics and tow bar installed, and apart from a short trip to Fyshwick to get the van serviced, this is our maiden voyage.

Apart from drama and expense with having to have the install done twice, the van had new brake magnets installed and certainly on the way back from the service it felt like it had no brakes at all. Fortunately they seem to be coming good, perhaps Mr Llloyd was right, they just need bedding in.

Anyhow, we set out from home right after the morning peak hour and had a trouble free run of 450k down to Bright. Naturally we stopped at Holbrook for lunch and took the GPS directed short cut from Albury to Bright via Baranduda, Staghorn Flats, Yakandandah and a heap of other tiny tiny towns. Very pleasant run.

We are camped upon at the ig 4 in Bright, which is heaps convenient to the town, one can literally walk across the swinging bridge into Town in 5 minutes flat.

Our site took a bit of experience and ingenuity to get set up on though, it's up a steep drive and slopes away all over the place. Had to pack up the left wheels to get it level and then pack up the jockey wheel and the legs to get it flat. Couldn't find the tap adaptor as it had fallen off its mount, the gas struts on the bootlid are totally shot and there was a wasps nest in the water inlet... I guess that was the whole point of taking this shakedown run before our big trip in June.

Site sloping away all over he place, but with the use of a few blocks and bricks we got it level enough. Good view though.

Our second day in Bright started with a quick drive out to Myrtleford so I could participate in the Ovens River Trail Parkrun. The things we do to get another Letter, that’s my ‘O’ and I’m pretty happy about that. As we normally do, we went to the designated cafe to have breakfast with the locals, but spice and curry for breakfast? We bailed out before the main mob arrived and went back to the visitor centre for a sensible bacon and egg type breakfast.

We travelled up to Yackandandah for a poke around but were a bit disappointed. The entire street was either cafes or junk shops. I went into one junk shop which was just a disgusting pile of old rubbish jammed into every available space. You could barely walk through. The redneck who was the proprietor thought he must have been sitting on a goldmine judging by the price tags! There was one nice junk shop which was clean and tidy and you could see and touch some interesting goods without having a pair of untrusting beady eyes upon you at all times and you could go through and come out and still feel clean. But, as ever, we were, “just looking”. 

Detour via Beechworth so Judy could grab one of the best vanilla slices in the world from the Beechworth Bakery. Or, maybe they were once but not now, they are pretty bad and the shop is well past its prime as a great place to get a coffee and some delicacy. I've never thought much of Beechworth, and this visit did nothing to improve my opinion that its a bit like Yackandandah, in that it’s a sightseeing destination famous for being a sightseeing destination, with nothing much to see.

From here down to Milawa and we headed straight for Brown Brothers winery, home of one of our favourite drops, King Valley Prosecco. It’s such a nice place, the sun was shining and we thought we may as well stay for lunch. So we grabbed a table on the deck near the lawn and fed our faces with an eclectic array of foods including Barramundi “wings” and little tarts and a bowl of “Salt and vinegar puffed tendon”, whatever they were. Judy just had to wash it down with the aforementioned Prosecco while I stuck to the house lemonade.

Lawns and restaurant at Brown Bros Winery, Milawa Vic

Grazing lunch at Brown Bros Winery, Milawa Vic

From there we went to the local bakery come cheese factory and bought some famous Milawa cheese, which is not too bad. On our way back we slid up to the top of Mt Buffalo for a look see. The view is great and that drop of 1300 odd metres is quite stunning, especially when you walk out over the glass floor. It’s a shame that the chalet still looks to be closed and unloved. One thing I thought though: “where was the coffee van?” The place was crawling with tourists all crying out for some light refreshment. Mind you, I still can't understand how they manage to ride pushbikes all the way up here, or even walk as some obviously do.

View from lookout at Mt Buffalo, Vic

Back in Bright for the afternoon we left the car at the van and walked to the pub where we sat in the sunshine and drank some hideously expensive  King Valley and ate peanuts. You know you’ve chosen well by leaving the car behind at the van park when you stand to to leave...

A stop at Gundagai for lunch saw us in town at the pub. No one would stop at the “the dog” as it’s just awful, and as the original Niagara Cafe has been long gone (it’s reopened somewhere top the street by the new owners) the local pub seemed the logical option. Great feed, and a lovely snap I took of an old photo they have of the old bridge when the river was in full flood.

Old bridge at Gundagai. Image from a photo at the pub.

All in all a very successful first outing, I've a few things to fix and then we’ll be ready for the trek up to Port Douglas.