Victorian High Country (26/02/15 - 04/03/15)

After Gundagai we headed to Rutherglen via Corowa.  Rutherglen is a small Victorian town just 10 kilometres from the Murray River border with New South Wales.  It was named after the Scottish town of Rutherglen which is near Glasgow.  Originally a gold-mining town, it is now a major wine producing area with some 17 wineries.

We stayed at Rutherglen for two nights, had a walk around…..it is a charming little place with lovely old shops and houses with beautiful gardens.  Rutherglen is also known for its port and we sampled some and bought some, of course.  Haven't drunk it yet, it is going to be opened in Tassie.

The information centre was run by very passionate people, passionate about their region and its history.  We have found this generally to be the case at any information centre that we have pulled into. They love sharing information about their town and region and are very helpful as well as being genuinely interested in you, where you have been and where you are going.

Went for a drive.. as we normally do…..The place is also known for its olive groves and we came across a place called 'The Wicked Virgin' which is a small family owned winery and olive grove. They sell “wicked olives” so we bought some of those to eat warm, which is a fantastic way to eat olives and a whole new taste experience.  Well, it was new to us anyway.  We discovered warm olives when we were in Brisbane when we met up with friends at a Turkish Restaurant.  We also bought some cheese, of course.

The owner who was serving had a very dry sense of humour which I am sure could be off putting for some people...but we had a good time bantering with her. ...gave her a run for her money!!  They also have  a cafe which was full of people so they were doing alright inspite of her humour.    We stopped and talked to one group of people at a table…. they were from overseas and were interested in our travels so we had a lovely chat.  

One thing we have noticed is that the majority of people we have met know of,  or have heard of, the Atherton Tablelands or Atherton itself.  Outside of the building there was an odd collection of bicycles up in the trees….maybe a reflection of the humour of the owners. Sorry I didn't take a photo, you would have loved it.

A pub in Rutherglen

Lake and Locals at the Rutherglen Van Park

The van park at Rutherglen is a small one and is run by a lovely welcoming young couple, Lisa and Dennis.  They are nice country people and had set up tables and benches by the little man made lake that fronts the park along with a bell that they rang at 5pm each day for happy hour.  Lisa and Dennis attended happy hour as well as providing some nibbles each evening.  We went both evenings, taking our chairs and wine and met some very interesting people.  As it turns out there was a ballroom competition on just up the road and a number of the people in the van park had come from far and wide just  to attend it.  Friday was the informal dance night and Saturday was the formal night with ballgowns and tuxedo’s.  Would have liked to have seen them all dressed up but we left on Saturday morning so we missed seeing them in all their finery.

Parkers Pies...a must if you are inn Rutherglen

Lots of these Victorian Towns have Golliwogs - guess it is not politically correct to call them that these days...still cute though

Beautiful ironwork on the balcony of this old building

From Rutherglen we went to Beechworth some 45 kms away.  One thing we have had to get used to is not having to drive hundreds of clicks to get from A to B….everything is so close in Victoria, unlike Queensland or Western Australia.

If the name Beechworth sound familiar to you, it is because of its honey which is aptly called Beechworth and is available in most supermarkets in Australia.    The Beechworth honey shop is amazing with everything honey… including beverages, beauty products, crockery, gifts, candles and more plus a cafe that was absolutely packed.

Beechworth Honey and Cafe..it was packed with people and all things honey. 

Pretty tearoom....all the charm of yesteryear.

Gold was discovered at Spring Creek, Beechworth in 1852 and Beechworth is now recognised as an historic gold mining town. The legacy of those days is preserved in the many historic buildings and heritage streetscapes, including the Historic and Cultural Precinct in the centre of town which is a collection of nationally significant buildings.  In fact, Beechworth is only one of two towns in Victoria classified by the National Trust with over 30 local buildings on the Trust’s register.

On the road to Bright

                                                                                                                                                                            

Whilst at Beechworth we went for a scenic drive on the Great Alpine Road through Myrtleford to Bright where we stopped for coffee and then on to the Milawa Gourmet Region on the way back.  

Field of hops

Not sure but I think these are Oasthouses for drying hops, many farms had them.

Oven River at Bright

MGTF car meet in Bright 

We discovered the Milawa Cheese Factory which was, dare I say it….AWESOME.

The Milawa Cheese Factory was started by David and Anne Brown in 1988 in the old butter factory.  The restaurant was packed with people, the cheeses which are all handmade, preservative free and made with non-animal rennet, were to die for and so after buying a number of cheeses (King River Gold x 2, Milawa Aged Blue and some Milawa Chèvre) we also stayed for lunch….and why not,  it was a logical thing to so and tasty as well.

Our Victorian High Country haul...Milawa Cheeses, Wicked Virgin Olives, Port and Olive oil

We met a lovely couple at Beechworth who recommended a caravan park in Seymour so we decided to head there and stayed for three days before going into Melbourne to meet up with Deb and John.  Our site at Seymour overlooked the mighty Goulburn River and the people staying around us were a great bunch …..we ended up with a couple of chatty happy hours.  Seymour is situated in scenic countryside at the base of the Tallarook Ranges and is surrounded by fertile agricultural, pastoral and wine growing areas.

The Goulburn River, Seymour, Victoria

We then headed to Melbourne, staying at Dingley Village for 10 days before going east, exploring the Gippsland region of Victoria.  We delayed our crossing to Tassie due to us not being able to get accommodation there.  I am glad we did or else we might have missed out on a  fabulous area of Victoria which is definitely on our “to go back to” list when we return to the mainland, or as the Tasmania’s like to call it….the big island.