On The Road Journals - Week 3
Exploring the Alpine NP, Mount Buffalo and playing host at the FIRST EVER Tiny House Festival Australia
Hold onto your butts folks as we’ve just had one amazing week of living on the road.
It did however start on a bit of a downer note.
After leaving McGaurans Beach we struck inland towards the Alpine National Park. Our original plan was to complete the scenic Razorback hike, a 22km overnighter which would take us to the summit of Mount Feathertop, the second highest peak in Victoria.
What we were hoping to see. (Image by: Benjamint444 edited by Fir0002. Creative Commons: CC BY-SA 3.0)
But alas, it was not meant to be. The recent bushfires had forced all the trails closed in the area indefinitely. Dang.
Seeing as we’d come so far we figured we might as well continue on into the mountains. After all, neither of us had ever visited Mount Hotham (a winter skiing hotspot) before and we were told that the views from the top were spectacular.
However, Mother Nature hadn’t quite finished her little games with us and we found ourselves driving though walls of cloud and fog, barely able to see more than a few metres in front of us, let alone a dazzling alpine vista.
Double dang.
In the end we just laughed about our luck and decided to enjoy the experience anyway. After all, watching things loom out of the mist as we drove was pretty darn cool and as Gary’s a pretty chilled driver I wasn’t too worried we would accidentally drive off a cliff.
At the summit of Mt Hotham we got out in the rain to stretch our legs, and found a cute little shelter in hide in for a while. We’d love to come back to this spot once the snow’s here.
Driving back down the mountain again we had a brief pit stop in beautiful Bright. (This town is really lovely by the way in all seasons and we would definitely recommend anyone passing through the area to visit!)
Then it was onto Mt Buffalo National Park!
Neither of us had ever visited it before and now we’re left scratching our heads as to why -
It’s the bees knees. It’s the cats pajamas. It’s… you get the picture.
We loved it so much we’ve created a whole separate post on it, including where we parked each night and the must-sees, which you can find right here.
Here’s a quick sneak peek:
After our Mt Buffalo high we journeyed westwards, where we hit up the country town of Milawa, home to two of our favourite food groups in the whole wide world;
Cheese and Wine. Mmmmm….
First stop was Brown Brothers Winery, a favourite choice in our household. (Van-hold? That doesn’t quite sound right…)
After the necessary tastings and absolutely necessary purchases, we drove the few minutes to Milawa Cheese. More tastings ensue…
With our bellies a bit fatter and our wallets a bit lighter, we continued west to Bendigo, where we took part in the FIRST EVER Australian Tiny Houses Festival as members of the DIY Village.
The best part hands down was getting to meet our all of our fellow travellers and check out their rigs and tiny houses.
It’s funny how quickly we click with other vanners and nomads, but throw us into a social situation with “normal” people and we turn into a couple of social pariahs, lol.
Then came the actual event itself, which was equal parts fun and exhausting.
The whole festival was so much busier than we could have imagined;
Thousands of people came to have a look round the van and ask us questions about living on the road and the build. Pretty sure we didn’t even stop to eat or go to the bathroom for the entire time on both days.
Needless to say, by the time the lat person left we were wrecked.
But we’re still so glad we took part. When we were building out the van an opportunity to talk to those in the know, and see different rolling homes in real life, would have been completely invaluable.
So despite the time and energy it took, we’re happy knowing that we may have helped out a few people looking at giving this lifestyle a go.
And that’s rounds off Week 3 of our On The Road Journal.
Hope you enjoyed, feel free to shoot us a message if you yourself are thinking of building out a tiny home and have any questions.
Cheers dudes and dudettes, Bec xx
WEEK 3 BEST-OF MOMENTS -
Having a “Repunzel in her castle” moment at the lookout of the Horn in Mt Buffalo NP. Could of sat there with that view all day.
Sitting out under the stars with our fellow vanners after a long day at the Tiny House festival, exhausted but content, enjoying a few drinks and listening to everyone try their hand at guitar.
Stepping foot in a real tiny house for the first time and getting blown away by just how homey and spacious it felt.
WEEK 3 LESS-THAN-AWESOME MOMENTS -
The “awww crap” moment when we read the Feathertop track had been closed.
The 2nd “awww crap” moment that came not even an hour later when the weather turned out Mt Hotham visit into a whiteout.
Getting to 6pm at the Tiny House Festival and wondering why we have splitting headaches. A complete lack of food and water for 10 hours will do that to you I guess...