We make a brief stop in Cooma then turn west towards Thredbo. The forecast rain arrives and, as we gain altitude, we climb into clouds with rain that continues until Thedbo. Once the car is on charge at our hotel’s Tesla charger we retire for an early evening. And the rain persists.
Day 10, Tuesday 12 April, Thredbo to Yackandanda
We wake early to find that the weather has not changed, except that the rain is now colder, down to 5C. That is the excuse we need to defer our climb of Mount Kosciosko to another time. Well not actually a climb, more of a chairlift ride followed by a couple of hours walk to the summit of only 2228m (compared to Everest’s 8848m).
We are on the road early and soon drive out of the rain into a glorious day on the western side of the alps. Our route keeps us mostly clear of traffic and takes us through delightful alpine country as we meander our way across the state border to Yackandanda.
Yack is an interesting town with most of its street of shops dating back to the mid 19th century. We check into the Yackandanda Motel and note that the owner has kindly installed several power points outside the rooms for EV drivers just like us. We take a walk in the nearby hills.
Day 11, Wednesday 13 April, Yackandanda to Bright
After a morning canyon walk, we are back on the road and take the longer driving route to Bright allowing time for an extended stop in Beechworth. Beechworth is one of the many gold towns in Victoria and, as a result, experienced more than its share of bushrangers, with the Kelly family and gang the best known. Many of the town’s building are from the gold rush days of the mid 19th century, are made from local granite and survive in excellent condition.
We joined a guided tour with guide David, who proves to be a fascinating storyteller. The Kelly family appeared in the local courthouse no less that 40 times and all four members of Ned’s gang and his mother Ellen were tried and gaoled in Beechworth. After the shooting death of his gang members Ned’s final committal hearing was held here before he was sent off to Melbourne Gaol for his trial and ultimate demise.
David focusses on the social issues of the gold rush era with Irish immigrants treated as second class citizens and the Chinese further down the social scale. A punitive tax was levied on ships carrying Chinese into Victoria and, after 1857, ships commonly dropped their Chinese passengers at Robe SA and they then walked the 400 km or so to Victorian goldfields like Beechworth.
Photos from gold rush period show the surrounding landscape totally denuded of trees except for one unusual gum.
When the landscape was eventually restored the trees planted were from the home country of immigrants, leading to the delightful autumn leaf colours that are now occurring.
On to Bright and it seems that everyone else has the same idea as tourist traffic builds approaching Easter. The town is surrounded by delightful walking trails, and we take advantage.
Day 12, Thursday 14 April, Bright to Lakes Entrance
Our route today takes us “up and over” – a climb to the Victorian ski villages of Hotham and Dinner Plain followed by a descent to the seaside/lakeside town of Lakes Entrance. We take advantage of the local walking trails parallel to the 90 Mile Beach and around the lake.
90 mile beach, Lakes Entrance
Day 13, Friday 15 April, Lakes Entrance to Melbourne
Once again we are charging the car overnight from a motel power point which normally adds around 12 km of range for each hour of charge. In the morning we note that the charging rate is only 9 km/hr. We then realise that we have the left the car’s a/c on overnight which drains the available charging electricity.
We depart with less than full charge but estimate that we should be just about ok on range. It’s not too long till the in-car display recommends that we reduce speed to conserve energy to make our destination. Jules locates a free fast charger at a shopping centre en route and a 15-minute charge should remove any uncertainty. Too late we realise that the chargers are in the centre’s underground car park which is locked closed because today is Easter Friday. Jules tries again and locates a Tesla Supercharger en route. She is still waiting for her coffee order when the car has taken on more than sufficient charge.
We check in to our apartment hotel in Richmond and Jules takes immediate advantage of an in-house washing machine. She finishes in time for me to tempt her to consider tonight’s rugby match coincidentally(?) just a mile away at the AAMI stadium. The Queensland Reds team is down to play the local Rebels and on recent form should trounce the southerners. It does not work out that way. After a slow start the second half is a try fest with the Reds scraping a win by just a few points.
Day 14, Saturday 16 April, Melbourne
We moved to Melbourne 40 or so years ago for several years and always look forward to coming back, particularly in early autumn. April is my favourite month, not least because of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
We spend the morning becoming re-acquainted with the CBD and stop by the box office for comedy tickets. Our comedian for tonight is Dave Thornton and he spends a highly entertaining hour regaling us with anecdotes mostly from life with his young family.
Day 15, Sunday 17 April, Melbourne
Old friends, Susie and Colin, from our time in Melbourne decades ago meet us for breakfast before we head out to a winery in the Yarra Valley for a shared glass of wine and cheese.
Back in time for our early comedy session with Nazeem Hussein. I particularly like comedians from foreign cultures because of their unique perspective to challenge our cultural sensitivities. Nazeem is in fine form and, as he warned at the start, there is no sacred cow that he is too afraid to attack. Highly recommended.
Day 16, Monday 18 April, Melbourne
The forecast rain has arrived with a vengeance. Victoria is blessed with many interesting regional towns a short drive from Melbourne and, in spite of the weather, we head to Castlemaine for a coffee with Fiona Davis, CEO of Farmers for Climate Action. FCA aims to educate politicians of all colours on the challenges faced by those working the land. Tomorrow Fiona flies out for Canberra to engage with both the minister for agriculture and the shadow minister ahead of the forthcoming election.
We are tempted to drop in on other towns in the region, but the rain gets more persistent and we head “home” for an early night.
Next stop the Great Ocean Road, then on to Adelaide.