The high country is alive with 4x4'ers

Wow is all l can say. Now l have to appologise as the quality and quanity of the following photos do not do justice to our trip to the High Country. It is very hard to capture the views and the fresh crisp mountain air. We wanted to bottle some and bring it home, well even Mt Buller. I mean how cool would Mt Buller look in our back yard. But Nathan told us we could not take it home as it would not fit into our backyard. Smart kid.

We left on Sunday morning which was a beautiful sunny day, not a cloud in the sky. Was to be a lovely 29 degrees. Perfect for 4x4, mind you being higher up would make it a little cooler. We left at 8:30am to the tunes of Roary the racing car. Nathan got the DVD for Christmas and what a perfect way to start the trip with the kids quiet and happy watching Roary. Mind you mum and dad had the tune of the show in our heads for the rest of the day. What a catchy little tune.

We got to Mansfield at 11am and time to fill the car up with gas, and a quick toilet stop and snack stop. The amount of holiday makers and 4x4 in Mansfield was amazing. A popular town in winter where all the skiers gather and make last shopping trips before they head up to Mt Buller and Mt Stirinling. Where in Summer it is full of 4x4'ers and dirt bikers buying supply's for their adventures.

We stopped at pretty little Mirmbah which is below Mt Buller, and at the turnoff for Mt Stirling. Such a lovely spot in summer with the crisp clear river and plenty of shady trees to sit under on a hot day. Nathan remembers coming here with nanny and poppy when we last went 4x4 and both kids kept asking where nanny and poppy were. I think they expected them to be there that day. Sadly they weren't.

e travelled up to Mt Stirling to Telephone box junction (9.4kms) on a dusty road. We got stuck behind a ute and the car was covered in dust. Amazing how much dust can make a mess. A lot of traffic this way of 4x4'ers. Most likely heading up to the famous Craig's hut.

Here we headed off another track(Black Landing track) away from the other traffic. We kept coming across cattle on the roads (the kids thought it funny). They roam freely on this land and live off it. Tahlia kept yelling out "Stop baby cow"... We stopped at a pretty little camping ground called Pineapple Flat. This was our first river crossing. Funny at this time whenever we went over a bump Tahlia was clinging onto her chair and saying ouch with this worried look on her face. Both kids did not want to go over the river, but loved it after we had. We were then told again (by Tahlia) to stop for baby cows.After seeing Pineapple Flat we headed back on Black Landing track and headed down to King Hut. Had plenty of river crossings here and the kids were starting to enjoy the trip a lot more. They loved looking out for "baby cows", and then giggled as the calves were jumping over the fernery to get out of our way.

We stopped at King Hut camping area for lunch. A very pretty place along the river. Sadly King Hut was burnt in the 2007 bushfires and has not been rebuilt yet. It is here we bumped into some rangers who were checking out who was camping. We mentioned to them where we were heading, and with their local knowledge we changed one of the tracks we had planned to go on as it was more for dirt bikes and very bumpy and not a good road. Our Prado does not have a lift (planning to get one when we have $$), so we had to be a bit careful where we headed.

After refueling ourselves with food and drink we headed back on the Circuit track towards Craig's hut. We had the CB radio on this time and there was a lot of traffic heading up and down the track to Craig's hut. Very hard when it is a one way track and you have a 4x4 coming down a step track. In the end you have to pull to one side so the other 4x4 can squeeze past you. All the fun in 4x4.

Clears Hills track is the track that takes you up to Craig's Hut. For those who do not know Craig's hut was built for the movie Man from Snowy River and it is a very popular place for 4x4'ers, horse riders and the like to visit. A must for those who love 4x4 to see. Such a beautiful place and the views are amazing. You have to see them to admire them.

This was the 3rd time we have been to Craig's hut. The first time was in Nige's falcon. Two wheeled drivers can drive up the Circuit track as it is just a dirt road (not in winter though) and park at the carpark and walk to Craig's hut (think 1/2 hour walk). But those with a 4x4 can drive right up to Craig's hut. The 2nd time we went up in our patrol, so this was the first time for the Prado to head up there.The track to Craig's hut (from circuit track) is well maintained and however a 4x4 track it is a smooth ride. When we walked up there ( about 5 years ago) it was very bumpy and had a lot of ruts. Since then they have done a lot of work on it, for the amount of people who come up this way.


Craig's hut was burnt down in the 2007 bushfires, and has since been rebuilt. A popular place, we even bumped into some tourists from overseas who had been on a horse trek. Looks like they were on horseback for a few days. They had all their gear in a 4x4 and rode the high country during the day. What a way to see the high county.












From here we headed onto Mt Stirling. This is where the real 4x4 started. Such beautiful views of the surrounding mountains and the ghost gums were both eerie and beautiful as they stood there all on their one like giants on the mountain.







We climbed to the top of Mt Stirling, a short walk and the views were breathtaking. A little cooler up here too as the gentle breeze cooled us down. From here you could see Mt Buller and the village. As it such a clear day you could see for miles. The ski runs stood out, instead of being white of snow as they would be in winter, they were green.


Once on Mt Stirling we were on the Howqua Gap Track, we descended Mt Stirling and back onto Circuit track. We headed near The Bluff, to where we were to camp for the night. We passed Bluff Hut which had been rebuilt from the 2007 bushfires.

We camped at a place called Lovricks Hut. Nige chose such a pretty little spot. Right amongst the Ghost Gums and we had the campground to ourselves. Loricks Hut was no longer there. However it was not burnt down but the family of Lovricks had pulled down the ruin after many years of the harsh winter had gotten to it, the ranger we met that day had informed us of this.

We had a great set up, around a fire place and someone had even gone to the trouble of making a huge bench seat out of a fallen log. Such a amazing place to spend the night. There was a even a yard fenced off for those who rode their horses up to this amazing place.

It was to be an interesting evening. We had our two smaller tents and it was to be the boys in one tent and the girls in the other. It was Tahlia's first time in a big bed. Nathan was so excited to be sleeping in a tent and had been asking all day when we stopped when we were to put the tents up. So when we finally had them up and had eaten dinner all he wanted to do was go to bed. So he was in bed at 7:30pm. He was that keen to get into bed.

ith both kids in bed (did not fall asleep till 9pm) we just took in the peace and quiet (that is when the kids were not calling out to each other or to us), and the beauty of the hills as the sun slowly set creating an amazing show of colours.

Its nice to get out of the Big Smoke and to get out into the fresh crsip air. The amount of stars that popped out as the sun slowly set. It was so peaceful with no other soul around. And also so quiet. We sat there quietly taking it all in by the fire. We noticed you could see the lights from Mt Buller Village peaking thru the trees. The only sounds we heard as the fire crackled away was a 4x4 somewhere in the distance, who was looking for firewood for their own fire. Other then that just the buzz of the mozzies and flies and the crackling of the fire. Wished we had more evenings like this and away from the hussle and bussle of the citylife. A girl could get used to this.

As the sun set and the stars popped out we thought the kids finally were asleep and worn out ourselves of such a busy day we headed to bed ourselves. It was so quiet in the tent listening to Tahlia breathing, and the sounds of the fire settling down. No other noise was to be heard.

I woke early (5:30am) to Tahlia leaning over me, it was light but too early. So l pretended l was asleep and she soon settled down for another hour. We were all up at 7am to another beautiful sunny day. Was a bit cool and crisp outside but then we are in the Snowy Mountains after all. Nothing better to wake up to the sounds of flies buzzing by and the kookaburras laughing somewhere to know you are in a good place.

We ate breakfast and packed up camp all ready for another day of adventure. We were all keen to see what the day had instore for us. We continued on the road we had come in by to a place called Picture Point and once where we could see where the name came from. What a beautiful place, and it was well worth the short but very very bumpy drive there. At one stage we had this very steep climb on a road that was covered in bolder, and big bolders. So Nige had to tread careful as the last thing we wanted was a flat tyre.







We could see Mt Buller in the distance which was covered in cloud at this time of morning. Otherwise the sky was a beautiful clear blue.

Coming back down the rocky part of the track, Nige made me get out to move a boulder. As l went out l slipped on the rocks and fell down in front of the car. At the time Nige said l was there and then gone. Instead of asking what i was doing he was saying " No not that boulder, that one over there". Once l recovered from the shock, as l kept slidding and had hit all down one side of the body and cut my knee on a rock, l managed to move the boulder that Nige wanted moved, but cut my hand on it. Then we were on our way back down the rocky path. The kids were having a ball and kept giggling and laughing at every bump and jolt.

We headed back down the track we had been on the day before, and headed towards The Bluff. It's an amazing rock outcrop on top of the mountain.




There was a lot less traffic in this part of the park. Just as well as we spent a lot of time climbing up and down mountain ranges and driving along ridges and there was no room to move over for a car coming the other way to pass.

We stopped and had lunch at a place called Wrens Corner. A lot of people were camping around here. After lunch the fun part came, and we climbed down into Mitchell's Flat. It did say in the book that it was a very steep and slippery when wet. Well the climb back out of Mitchell's Flat was very very steep as we slowly climbed up and up and up. But so much fun. Certainly would not want to drive down this when wet.

We made our back down slowly and headed into Sheepyard flat, all tired, dusty and the driver and front passenger were complaining of sore neck and shoulders from all the bumps and jolts as well as sneezing from all the dust.

Filled up with gas and ice-creams in Mansfield and headed back home. Once home the car had a wash and needed a good clean to get rid of all the dust. Amazing how much dust was there.

Can't wait for the 4x4 for 4 days over Australia with family. Bring it on!! This time we will bring face masks for the dust. hehe

Stay on the shiny side as they say.