From the History Pages
HIGH COUNTRY ADVENTURE – ACROSS THE DIVIDE Labour Day Weekend – March 11 th – 13 th 2000
PARTICIPANTS : |
Wendy and Doug Hammerton ( 570 ) |
Pajero |
Jacqui and Rob Sheppard |
( 553 ) |
Pajero ( brand new !) |
Victoria and Dimitrios Kasapidis ( 784 ) |
Pajero |
Richard Curnock , Jennie Hawker and Paul ( 843 ) |
Pajero |
Paul Henshall and Dianne Schultz ( 657 ) |
Landcruiser |
George Malinonenko with Peter and Julia |
( 823 ) |
Pajero |
The weather was great - warm and calm , the company was excellent , and we all enjoyed our trip , which highlighted some of Victoria ' s best high country . Over three days we crossed the Great Divide from north to south via tracks in the western edge of the Alpine National Park .
Saturday : Everyone arrived on time at Yarra Glen . That was a good start . After passing Mansfield , we turned off the bitumen at Mirimbah . Leaving the Circuit Road , we followed Howqua Spur Track to reach the summit of Mt Stirling with its spectacular views . A camel train passed us by as we lunched at the summit . After visiting Craigs Hut , we descended into the Howqua River valley via Bindaree Track . Our first campsite was a new camping area recently established just inside the Alpine National Park . Although it was a long weekend , we virtually had the area to ourselves and we enjoyed camping amongst the tall timbers , where George presented us with horseshoes for good luck .
Sunday : Leaving the Howqua River , we drove up the steep 16 Mile Jeep Track to Bluff Hut . Along this track on several occasions we had to squeeze past other descending 4WD convoys . At Bluff Hut , morning tea was enjoyed eating that self-funded retiree ' s ( Rob Sheppard ) birthday cake while perched on the cliff top overlooking the Howqua Valley . The track then rose to 1600 metres where we had lunch near the top of the Divide at King Billy . The track descended into the upper end of the MacAlister River where the leader bucket washed all the vehicles as they crossed the river . The track rose again into the snow gums via a series of switchback tracks past interesting rock falls . At the top , we entered the Howitt High Plain near the northern rim of " Butcher Country " and the western rim of the Wonnangatta River valley . The second camp was amongst snow gums at the Bryces Gorge car park .
Monday : The leader advertised it as a 1 hour walk to see the waterfalls , and all of us set off at 9am across the alpine grasses to Pieman Falls , the highest waterfall in Victoria . Then we hiked along the Gorge to Conglomerate Falls thereafter the leader led the party on a journey of " exploration " in the general direction of Guys Hut . Suffice is to say that the horse-shoes brought the leader luck and he found the track