Thurs, 18th Dec, 2014 Deloraine Racecourse Rest Area to Lower Liffey Reserve

Nights and mornings getting colder. It was 12 degrees at 7.30am. Just when we thought we were acclimatising!!! And they call this summer!!  Overcast again but no rain yet.

Grabbed some fresh vegies then headed off on the Highland Lakes Road – the name makes us cold too. Heading for Liffey Falls. We passed the turnoff to Meander Falls and Huntsman Dam/Lake as it is a 6-8 hike so we thought we could skip that one!!!

Going through more eucalypt forest plantations. At 400m altitude we headed into Golden Valley and stopped at the Quamby Corner Van Park to check road conditions to the Falls as the top carpark had been closed last week while they worked on the bridge. Nice little park and he was helpful. Offered for us to leave the van there and go for a drive to check it out. It was $9 a night each to stay with full use of power, water, washing machines etc. He said the camp area we wanted was closed due to vandalism. I noticed the road was windy on the map but he said it was fine. The other way round could be tricky as it was narrow and dirt. That one passes Bob Brown’s shack. He was a Greenie politician that fought against the Franklin Dam etc. We decided to head off to the top carpark and check it out. At 740m altitude passed the carpark for the Quamby Bluff walk (4-5 hours return). The clouds are low so we wouldn’t see much so kept going!!!Turned off onto a dirt road and met a motorhome coming out of the road to the top carpark. She said “don’t take that down there, very windy and not much room”. We turned down the road that said “buses and carvans” but that just went down and down too and was dirt as we travelled through the “working State Forest”. Steve said if the logging trucks use it, it will be fine. I was more worried about meeting another vehicle as the road was narrow and no pull off areas. We found a sign to Liffey so kept going then hit the bottom and found the Lower Liffey Reserve (elevation 440m). It is not closed but there are no facilities but that is fine for us. Lovely area beside the clear clear Liffey River. Chatted with a family from Shepparton, Vic who had just arrived too.

Set up the van beside the river. Will have the lovely sound of the water running over the rocks below us to lull us off to sleep tonight.

Love the view from my kitchen window. Did open it but the breeze was a bit cool!!

Made some lunch and sat enjoying the view. Steve spotted a small trout dart out.

Went for a wander as the dark clouds rolled in. There are 2 walks from here. The Bush Heritage Australia one which follows wanders through the bush and along the river (60-90 min return). The other goes up to Liffey Falls (2-3 hr return). Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow so will check them out then.

Enjoyed a nice afternoon reading our books. It is getting cooler but the rain and the clouds are lifting. Had collected some wood for the fire tonight with our neighbours. They had dashed back to Deloraine for some food and did the walk down to the falls from the top carpark that we turned off from. Had a nice evening chatting around the fire. I had two jumpers and my big Bathurst coat on and was feeling the cold as we walked away from the fire. Checked the temperature at 10.30pm, 6.7 degrees. The sky was clear with lots of stars. We dug out the heater to warm up the van. Left the bedspread on the bed too.