Our Second Trip

07-Oct-2007

Bright and Canberra

We have just completed our second shakedown cruise. Again we had a great time.

We set off from Melbourne Monday 8th September and arrived in the afternoon at the Pine Valley Caravan Park in Bright. It was a very pleasant and well maintained park, David and Robyn are very friendly hosts. We based ourselves there for three nights and toured the high country along the Great Alpine Rd through Mt. Hotham and Dinner Plain to Omeo, back along the Omeo Highway to Mitta Mitta then via goat track over the mountains back to Bright. The devastation from the summer fires was widespread, it was like a moon scape in many places. The snow gums are regenerating but we were told that the Mountain Ash have been destroyed and they are going to replant the burnt areas from the air.

We then travelled via the Hume to Canberra and stayed at the Riverside Caravan Park in Queanbeyan. Reasonable sort of place for a short layover. We stayed three nights. Played a bit of golf at the Queanbeyan course and visited Floriade (the flower show in Canberra). We went on the first day, so the flowers were just establishing but it looked very colourful and should be spectacular as all the blooms come out. Well worth a visit.

Left Canberra on Sunday and drove back down the Monaro Highway, driving though the bleak high plains was a bit of a change from the boredom of the Hume. We overnighted at Lakes Entrance in the Echo Beach Tourist Park, clean and green enough but a little cramped, then on home to Melbourne against a gale which saw the mileage jump from an average of 21l/100K to over 27.

Its a big country, in 1 week we covered 3,300 kms about half of it towing.

We plan to head off up the east coast in a couple of weeks.