We were up bright and early this morning (7:30 a.m.) and
made a real effort to get on the road early. We pulled out at 9:18 a.m.
……remember that my “mantra” is “within the realm of possibility”!!
Wow, what a day! There was nothing super adrenaline boosting,
but it was one of those days when with everything you experience you sit back
and say “I am grateful to be able to experience all of this.” We left Traralgon and headed up to a small and remote town called “Walhalla” set in a deep mountain
valley. Ray had read some information
which said this was an old gold mining town, and since much of the area around
us seemed to be involved in the “gold rush” we thought we should learn some
more about it. The drive was amazing. We climbed up through romantic rain
forest, through numerous hair-pin bends, and through the mist, to this little
town, population today about 20. But it had a past. In its peak it had about
4000 residents and it touts that over 100,000 visitors come every year to learn
about its gold-rush days. The great thing was that there were no “crowds” of
tourists, and that the restoration of the town to its “gold-rush” days is in
process, so it didn’t look like an “artist’s impression” but had retained its
rather worn, age old look. Some of the buildings had been restored, and they
looked amazing, but many had not and there was an air of “genuineness” that
many of these “quaint” little historical towns have lost in translation. We parked the car and walked through the town,
including a walk along the “tram line” above the town, to the mine. The “tram
line” appeared to be the rails that all the little carts travelled to pick up
the gold bearing material from the mines and transport it to the processing
plant. The village was founded in 1862; its boom period was 1863 to 1900, by
1915 most of the major mines had closed. In 1888 there was a major fire and
many of the wooden buildings were destroyed, and rebuilt. I guess it is the
stories of the various villagers that make the place interesting!!
We left Walhalla and found a directional sign to “The
Thomson Dam”…..we thought this would be interesting….and it brought back
memories of our trip to Bumbuna in Sierra Leone in 2013. So, we climbed even
more, negotiated even more hairpins and arrived at the “Dam”. It wasn’t really
a dam. It was the reservoir for Melbourne’s water. It was actually quite
stunning, so we took some pictures and left!!
Our journey from the dam to our night-stop was frustrating
to say the least. I had a map; I had road numbers; and when we went through
Trafalgar neither were signed. We have found that street signs, and sometimes
road signs are challenging here…i.e. they are not consistent, or don’t exist.
The Sydney area in particular often did not put up road signs. I guess because
we have been remiss in requesting a “gps” the two rental cars we have had don’t
have them! I really miss that. So, we
revised our plan and went to Warragul and caught a different road which was
marked and found our way to Inverloch. The route was absolutely beautiful! We
went through truly amazing countryside on winding, hilly, roads through the
most beautiful hills and vales. Sheep, cows, and horses grazed contentedly as
we passed by.
We rolled into Inverloch expecting something more dramatic,
but it is a laid back town, with a beautiful ocean presence, and we found a
pleasant motel. We wandered down the main street looking for a restaurant
around 7:15. Many were closed….maybe permanently as the season seems to be
over….and found a pub. We stood looking at the posted menu and a voice from
behind said “tonight the steak is on special”….I turned around and two guys
with two dogs were sitting at a streetside table. They were “tourists” and had
noticed the sign previously and determined to come back….I guess they had the
dogs so couldn’t go inside. We did. And thoroughly enjoyed our $17.00 steaks –
“blue” and “medium” perfectly cooked!!
Now we are headed to bed. Good night!
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