Sat, 13th Jan, 2024 Brookes Cutting Reserve, Alexandra to Janet & Geoff’s place, Smiths Gully, Vic (Yarra River & Warrandyte tunnel)

More campers came in through the night. One lot pulled up just in front of us at 2am and set up tents right beside us - weird. There was plenty of room. The guy even made a small fire on the ground near the front of our truck - there are some strange ones out there. While I was watching their goings on as they weren’t the quietest either I saw flashes of lightning in the distance. Even Mr Possum in the tree beside us wasn’t impressed with the noise as he was grunting loudly.

7.30am 23.6 degrees though the minimum had gotten down to 18.

Packed up and wished the English couple happy travels and said goodbye to Christine.

Drove back along the track and noticed a police car near a text on the lower area near the river. The landowner must have complained as they were right beside his cattle. The new reserve sign had distances that campers should be from the water, fences, animals etc.

Back to the main road and into Alexandra. Christine was here to go to the rodeo which she enjoys and they have great live entertainment too. Nice little town.

Headed to Healesville across the swollen Goulburn River. I had checked Google Maps and it showed flood damage markers around Yea - road damage etc, so we decided this would be a better way to go. Up a hill and pulled off at the Scenic Lookout.

Down the other side. Thin cloud cover and wind for a change. Continued on enjoying the views then we passed the turn off into the Cathedral Range State Park. ‘The Cathedral’ stands out.

A sign promoting the Trout and Salmon Farm at Buxton.

Passed the turn off to Lake Mountain which gets but doesn’t have a lake as it was named after the surveyor, George Lake. I looks like it has had a fire over it as the top is just straight sticks.

Stopped at Narbethong Rest Area for a cuppa, the cool change is on us - need a jumper. Info about the Black Friday then Black Saturday fires. Maybe the trees haven’t recovered yet from the 2009 fire.

More history of the area. Imagine going hiking with all that gear on. Lovely tall trees here.

Continued on then up a winding, narrow range road. Tall trees make it a picturesque drive for me but Steve is too busy concentrating on the road and the whizzing traffic going by on the narrow road.

Mt Dom Dom appears through the trees. Reached the saddle then headed down.

Another climb up around the edge of the hills which are now covered in scrub bush.

The windy road continues downward. Eventually we get down to Healesville and through the leafy main street.

On towards Yarra Glen which has lots of wineries. Obviously the birds are problem, hence the nets. The sky is looking greyer now with thick dark clouds.

Nice view over the hills.

Bypassed Yarra Glen township and up One Tree Hill on another windy range road. Hazy view over Yarra Glen through the trees.

Up and over and down the other side.

I had programmed the address in ‘Girlie’ and she said to go on a gravel around to Janet’s. Steve remembers these from the last visit here in 2015. It looks like the recent rain has eroded the sides of the track more so I hope we don’t meet anyone as there isn’t much room to pull off.

We eventually found the gold shafts we had visited before and found our way back onto some bitumen and down to their place at Smiths Gully. Up the gravel drive to their house and parked up.

They have three different horses now from our last visit. Sam, Pete and Fig (Fig in paddock behind our camper).

While they were getting some jobs done we rang Bob to wish him a happy birthday - have to remember the time difference of 3 hours now with daylight saving.

Had a wander about. Sam and Pete. Love the firewood stacks. Lots of kangaroos enjoy their paddocks too.

Janet had washed the horse coats - love the clothes line with the old telegraph insulators etc. The properties on both sides are just scrub where theirs had been cleared before they bought it.

Had lunch then they took us for a drive down to Warrandyte for a walk along the Yarra River. Unfortunately the sky started dropping a fine mist but we decided to go any case. It was very nice walk in the cool compared to what it was like yesterday Janet said. You can see how much the flood water has receded though some lower sections of the path as still very boggy.

There is tunnel below us that was built by the old timers to divert the water so they could mine the gold around the river bend. You can see some blocks on the other side, not sure if that was in relation to the tunnel or a later thing.

The track finishes here so we headed across the other side and down to the other end of the tunnel. Amazing what they achieved with pick and shovel compared to all the high-tech stuff they need these days. Sadly it didn’t turn out to be profitable for the mining company.

We continued along the edge of the river to get around Pound Bend. Very windy river. The ‘swimming area’ and steps don’t look appealing at the moment.

Up the slope to the picnic area. Now that’s a ‘wide seat’ picnic table.

Continued along the track away from the water. Some information boards along the way.

Back down to the water - flowing fast over some rapids.

A kookaburra is waiting to catch a feed.

Back home for a cuppa while Janet and Geoff did their normal jobs with the horses etc.

Lovely dinner and chatting. The wind is quite cold when we went back to the camper so closed up. Will enjoy a hot shower tonight and dig out the warmer pjs as it will be only 11 degrees minimum tomorrow.