Mining Towns

The day I head back of in to the Outback. Not that I had thought I would. Being close to the coast (in Australian that means until about 400km away) I was prepared for sealed roads and lot's of other cars.
Nope. Following the C511 through the Australian Alps it quickly turned back in to gravel road and a solitary Subaru driving along it. I'd even say it was more of a shock than the real Outback, as I had been prepared that time. The good thing in the Alps is that you definitely will not die of thirst, The things that get you here are the cold. Fortunately for me it's a cold I am more accustomed to. Whereas Melbourne, the West and Lower parts of Victoria had a wet cold weather, this is snow cold weather (means a lot drier) and I can cope with that. Even liked it, made me feel like autumn back at home.

I stopped a few times to get some pictures and due to the fast internet the night prior I wanted to try my hands at an HDR timelapse. Couldn't work out how to set my camera and had no ways of finding out (no mobile phone network). Carried on driving and turned down towards a place called Big River Road. After driving along that for 10km and not finding anything it was getting a bit to of the “official” road, so I turned round and headed back to the C511. Along the way I saw some weird bird I have not been able to identify yet. About 40cm tall, black/grey and a long feathery tail out it's back with a curl on the end. Seen a few of them and they don't seem to fly.

Carrying on I passed gorges, rivers and lot's of forest. At one point I got back in to mobile service area, no idea as to why, there wasn't a soul around for another 30km. Looked at the information I needed for the HDR and then carried on looking for a good opportunity.

After a while I got to a remote mining town called Wood Point and went to the pup for some lunch. Having no breakfast I was ravenous and finished of a whole plate of sangers, mash and beans in no time (a cookie to who can guess what a sanger is). The pup and town where actually really interesting, as I had never seen one of the mining towns hidden deep away from everything before. Sort of felt like I'd crossed the Pacific and ended up in the Yukon area somewhere. The woman behind the bar was really friendly, though and extra heated up everything to get my my lunch. And finally I am in the Australian parts where they appreciate good insulation and wood fires. Take the gumtrees out and plant pine trees, force everybody to drive on the right side of the road and let them speak German and you'd be at home. Minus the fact that there are Gold mines in these mountains. I didn't go digging, though. I passed a clay targeting ground, so that was a big encouragement to not piss of the locals. 

Passing the local A1 gold mine I winded my way through the mountains, managed to get in a timelapse and ended up in Mansfield, the nearest local city/town. Passing so many campsites in the mountains and not liking the tent I had got a few months prior (it's to small) I am looking in to purchasing a swag (Australian tent with a mattress in it). Found a shop where they make it themselves and am very interested in getting one.

Fuelled up and left for my accommodation. Now, the funny part. When I was at Buckys the other day, his daughter Morgan had rung up and offered me an accommodation in Merrijig, near Mount Buller. I had her and her boyfriends address, but no contact number. Bucky was still at work, so I just ended up knocking on the door saying “hi, I'm me. You got a bed free”. A bit more than that, but that portraits it pretty well.

After some beers and burgers (and a crazy rabbit) it was of to bed with a fire crackling nearby.