Our Easter 4x4 trek

Our morning started rather early as my folks met us at our place on a brisk cool morning at 7:30am. Headed off to Mansfield (aprox 2.5hours drive). As some of you know the area we were heading too was burnt out in the Jan 07 bushfires. So we were not sure what to expect and how much of it would have been burnt.

Got to the start of our drive at 11am and headed off. A lot of the roads were closed (due to the fires) so made our journey harder (a lot of dead ends). Came to an area that was closed off and found Tomahawk hut (one of many of them around this area) and we were amazed to find it still standing and untouched as all the surrounds were blackened by the fires.

Nate had a ball exploring these huts. Here he is in Tomahawk, you can see the blackened trees outside the door.

After Tomahawk we found we could no longer get thru the roads so had to head back to the main road to find another entrance into Craig's Hut.

First we stopped in the park and ate lunch. Tahlia had to check out what we were having.

Right let the excitement begin. The 4x4 was ready to do some hard work. We drove along to Mt Stirling along the logging road till we reached the Telephone Junction, and followed the logging road for about 1/2 hour till we met the Craig's Hut turnoff. and the real 4x4 track began.

It was a lot like Bourke st here and hard to pull over a few times to let oncoming 4x4 get thru. Kinda hard when the track is only big enough for one car. But that is the fun of off road driving. Reached Craigs Hut to find everyone else who owned a 4x4 thought the same as us, and decieced to come and see where the famous hut once stood, before the fires of 06/07 burnt it down.

Here are some views from Craigs Hut. It is so hard to capture the beauty of the views in photos. But l am sure you can get the image in your head by the pictures.

Hard to see the effect of the fire, but it was like patchwork as far as the eyes could see. Bit here and there.

A pic of the 3 generation of the Girls... To the right is where Craig's hut should have been. It was amazing as it seemed the fire had come up the back of the hut, and hit the hut and then just stopped. As all that remains are the fence and surrounding plants.

Spent some time here just taking in the view around us. Even nate seemed to in awe and kept saying "wow".

I love this photo of him sitting on top of the rock with ash on his face... my little grub.

We then headed to the Mt Stirling area and that is when the real hard yakka journey began. And the fun... hold on as from here the ride gets very bumpy.

Come on mum and dad you can make it.

Breathtaking views... as far as the eye can see....

A burnt marker.

Nige is just in his element.

If you squint you can see the village of Mt Buller on the other mountain.

More views on top of Mt Stirling.

Sun setting over Mt Stirling

it was a wonderful day and its a shame we could not see more of the mountain in our 4x4. We did want to drive over to Mt Buller but then will leave that adventure another day. The best thing about having a 4x4 is getting into terain that you normally can't without a 4x4.


Stay tuned for the rest of our trip at Sheepyard Flat and beyond (running out of time and Nige wants dinner started on..hehe).