Great Alpine Road Revisted

The Farmhouse livingroom.

And kitchen

In the orning the house was revealed

Neighbours: a cookatoo and two galahs

A deadly snake crosses the road.

Still some snow up on Mt Hotham.

Another blue tongued skink.

Wildflowers on the Alpine Road.

A fantastic mountain road.

Mary and Dennis owners of the farmhouse.

Saturday, November 26^th.

I woke up to a beautiful sunny morning, in an old farm house, on the top of a hill with fantastic views of other hills and farms. I could hear cows bellowing and saw a herd in the distance being moved by dogs and two guys on ATVs. The hills are either green paddocks or covered in forests. There were the calls of cockatoos, galahs, magpies, lapwings and other birds. And no traffic noise. It was incredible!

I hung around enjoying the view and walking around checking out the barns, other buildings, old rusted cars, tractors and bikes and coming across a large black bull, before heading into town for breakfast. I ate at the local Roadhouse (which is a combination of petrol station and restaurant). After eating I began another long drive to Mt Hotham, which is a major ski area in the winter. I had seen it then and wanted to see the area in the summer. The road up to Omeo was long and winding. This is the beginning of the Great Alpine Road. I came across a snake basking on the warm bitumen of the road. After all the stories about deadly snakes in Australia, this was the first one I'd seen. I stopped and pulled over to protect him from being run over. I don't know for sure what kind it was but I think it was an Eastern Brown Snake (from my internet research) and that is one of the poisonous ones. I didn't get out of the car and just took a couple of photos as he slithered off. I drove up the mountain to the resorts on Hotham. The vistas up here are beautiful. On top of a mountain range and driving on a well paved road with very few guardrails as the road wound its way around the peaks.

I was amazed at how many dead trees there were up there. Tall white naked trees. At one spot I stumbled across a wedding on a ridge. I talked to a local guy there and asked about the trees. He told me that there had been a couple of big fires up here the last couple of years, but that if you looked closely the trees were regenerating from the base and in time the forest would replace itself, baring more fires of course. I came across another blue tongued skink and made sure he too got off the road. I moved him with my foot and he was quite placid. But finally he got upset and gave me the trademark open mouthed, blue tongued salute. Then he slithered off down the hill into the bush much like a snake.

After innumerable twists and turns, I descended to the hamlet of Harrietville where I stopped at the Snowline Hotel for a beer. This is a hotel I saw last time and thought that it was interesting, but I didn't have time for a beer then. Thankfully inside they had an ATM so I could withdraw the cash I needed to pay for the farm house.

Then I retraced my route back over the mountain to Omeo and on to Buchan. I arrived back at the farm about seven. I went for a walk around the property and down the hill to the pond and then across a couple of paddocks to the cows. I walked back as the sun set.

I drove down the drive to the farm where Mary and Dennis live to pay her the remainder of the money. They invited me in for a chicken and roast vegetables dinner. For dessert we had a damper that Dennis had made. Damper is a traditional bread made from just water and flour apparently and then he adds nuts and fruits. It's a bit like Christmas cake. Damien had made a couple on my WA trip. I had a good evening talking to them and learning about their lives up here in the foothills. Dennis is a jack of all trades, he has mined, done factory work, construction and now farming. Mary is a retired teacher who works as a CRT (supply teacher) in the area. She is currently doing a long term grade 1-3 in Buchan Primary School with 12 kids. They told me how Dennis original bought the property 35 years ago and cleared the land and moved a house from town in pieces and rebuilt it here. Great day.