Back on the big Isle

We arrived back in Melbourne at about 6.30pm to be greeted by a hot and steaming Melbourne summers day. Little breeze and all of Melbourne appeared to be at St Kilda beach. We missed the worst of peak hour after disembarking and retrieving our gas bottles. It was too hot to walk Trixie and all she wanted was to get in the car and not leave us after 10 hours in her cell in the ship.

We decided that Beach Rd was the best way to escape the congestion so headed for Mordialloc then towards Narre Warren. A few wrong turns resulted in a slightly longer journey but we arrived at John and Kerrie’s just as the sun was setting.

After a couple of days R & R we were off again this time to chase up a bit of Markham history. Heading out through Ringwood, we made camp at Molesworth Reserve # 225. A good budget park with limited power sites though plenty of room for bush camping. The next day took us around the northern part of Lake Eildon to Mansfield.

We checked into the Mansfield caravan park as there were no free camps nearby and we wanted to check out the historical society for information on the family. Robert Markham my great, great grandfather, his wife Louisa and son William are all buried there and we went and saw the grave.  The ladies at the historical society were very helpful and quite excited to be able to investigate our family name. We already knew that William owned a business in town from about 1900 to approx. 1907.It was known as Markham’s Coffee Palace and is still a coffee shop today. We of course had to have a coffee there and a chat with the current owners who were delighted to hear of our link to the business. They even showed us the cellar that was a relic of the former hotel that occupied the building in the mid 1800’s. Williams’s business also consisted of Livery, stables, bait sales and a boarding house.

Whilst in this area we had to drive to the summit of Mt Buller. It was a beautiful climb up to the summit car park at about 1750 metres. Unfortunately there was a lot of smoke from local bushfires so the views were not so good. As Trixie was not supposed to be there we were unable to walk the last section to the very top.

After a couple of very enjoyable days in this lovely old town we continued our journey north towards Wangaratta and our next camp at Edi Cutting  # 184 a great free camp on the King River. The river was very refreshing as the temperatures were still quite high.

Next day we headed through Wangaratta and Yarrawonga (where Aileene and I met in 1968) and headed for Cobram looking for a good free camp on the Murray. After failing to find our first target we finished up locating #301 at Horseshoe Beach and made camp about five metres from the water’s edge. No toilets but a great free camp and the water was again a delight as temperatures hovered in the high 30’s.

Running out of water and other essentials we decided that we would move again towards Shepparton and visit some cousins. We found a site in a previously visited park at Mooroopna and got a seven for five day deal that made it very affordable. The park is not in the book but outside of the over 50’s village on the Rd to Bendigo. We wanted to photograph some of Aileene’s ancestor’s graves in this district so a week’s stay enabled us to roam around and catch up with some family. We travelled out to Numurkah and Bendigo and generally had a great week.

Black Cockatoos at Nug nug

Aileene’s cousin Di and her husband Karl were keen to take us camping and so we then headed out to Nug Nug reserve near Myrtleford # 137. This camp at $10pn or $15pn with power is a delight and we will be back next summer. It has lovely shade from giant Elm trees and sits on the banks of the Buffalo River at the foot of Mt Buffalo. What a gorgeous park, lots of bird life and very beautiful with good water available. Four nights here and then back to Melbourne Saturday ready to pick up Aileen’s sister Judy on Monday and head for Lakes Entrance.

Camp at Nug Nug

And so ended our third week back on the big Island. Sorry we didn't have many pics but I had a senior moment downloading and lost the lot. Will have to do it again next year!

Nug Nug Reserve