Once we got settled in we did a short walk around town. A lovely old town with lots of history from the gold days. Nicely kept with lots of unique businesses.
Tuesday saw us head into Wodonga as I had a cyst on my back that was infected and needed attention. I got it treated at the Wodonga hospital but would have to make a few more trips back over the next week to get it checked and the dressings changed. Unfortunate but the medical attention was good. We did a bit of shopping in Wodonga before returning to the caravan park where we had a relaxing afternoon.
Wednesday we took a drive to Beechworth which is another lovely historic gold town about 20Km from Yackandandah. They have a beautiful downtown with a historic precinct and lots of unique shops. We toured a number of the historic buildings including the original courthouse and Ned Kelly's Vault.
We had lunch at Tanswell's Commercial Hotel. Wasn't a very good experience as we both went away hungry. We each ordered a scallop dish for lunch which when it arrived entailed 3 scallops each and nothing else. Cost about $40 with a single watery soft drink from the Tap. Ripoff and definitely wouldn't return! We ended up buying a couple of spring rolls and two rice rolls for a quarter of the price down the street to fill up. We did a Ned Kelly tour after lunch which was very interesting before returning to the caravan park.
Thursday morning saw us return to the hospital for my first follow up. Had quite a wait this time but got my dressing changed. Back to Yackandandah for a meat pie for lunch. The Pie Shop there was excellent and I enjoyed lunch there 3 times. Sandra couldn't eat the pies but got some lovely baking there each time including a gluten free caramel slice which was great. We did a historic gorge walk in the afternoon. A nice short walk through a sports/horse ground before winding up a small gorge. It wasn't the most spectacular walk but was good exercise. We extended our stay for another 4 days as I had to keep touch with the hospital and we wanted to do some additional exploration of the area. The caravan park gave us a day free as they had a stay 7 pay 6 special running. Great service and a wonderful little park.
Friday we headed off to Beechworth again. We took in the Burke Museum and another tour featuring the gold history of the region. We had purchased a gold pass the previous trip which got us access to both the tours and all the historic buildings/museums over a 4 day period. Good value at $25 and would recommend to people spending some time in the region. The town is lovely and green with a large amount of North American type vegetation (oaks, maples, etc.)
We enjoyed a nice lunch this time at a small takeaway café. Good gluten free options and very reasonably priced! Much better than our previous experience. We did a bit of shopping after lunch before doing a bit of scenic driving around the town. We drove out to Lake Sambell first to have a look at the caravan park and a nice day use area. Might give it a try next time we are in the area.
We did the Gorge Road and scenic drive next. This is a one way road that winds up and through Beechworth Historic park and along Spring Creek. Got some lovely views from the top with lots of walks located along the drive. Near the end we pulled over at a nice viewpoint of the Newtown Bridge and Falls. Lovely coloured rock banks with a granite bridge built in 1875.
Back through town one final time before taking the short drive out to Woolshed Falls. A nice little day use area there with lookouts at the top and bottom of the falls. Not a huge amount of water but still impressive.
Our last stop on our return journey was a Berry farm where we picked up some beautiful Strawberries. We could have picked our own there but was fairly warm so we took the lazy way out and purchased a prepacked package. They were great with so much more flavour than what you buy at the supermarket. We got a few nice meals out of them over the remainder of our stay.
Saturday saw us back in Wodonga for a final check-up at the hospital. All good until I get back home to see a doctor. Topped up on diesel while there and had a quick drive around to plan our route through the area when we leave on Monday. We had a relaxing afternoon and another walk around Yackandandah.
Sunday saw us head South towards Myrtleford and Mount Buffalo National Park. Given it was Sunday not much was open in Myrtleford so we didn't stop to visit. Just before we got to Bright we turned onto the Mount Buffalo Road near Porepunkah. This road was a steady winding climb for some 25Km. Lots of cyclists on the road but thankfully not to many vehicles coming back down. We stopped at a couple of lookout points and the park office on our way to The Horn which is the highest peak in the park. We enjoyed the steep 1.5Km walk to the lookout here. You get a great 360 degree view of the park and surrounding mountains. Sandra was bothered a bit by the heights but we both made it to the top for picture taking.
From there we walked back down to the car and drove back to a day use area at Lake Catani. We had our lunch in the car as there was a shortage of picnic tables and they weren't in the shade. There is also a campsite located at the Lake but would only be suitable for tents or small campers. After lunch we took a short 1.7Km walk to the Chalwell Galleries. It turned out to be quite a climb with some uneven patches. The trail ended up at a very narrow gorge area which you climbed down into and through. I made it down to the other side but we returned via the same way as we arrived. We discovered later that it was a circuit walk and we would have ended up coming out at another area near where we had parked if we had continued on. It was a good walk but not suitable for limited mobility or bad knees as involved some scrambling over and crawling under large rocks.
Once back at the car we retraced our way past the park office and headed to the Gorge Day Use area. Lots of great view points here from Bants lookout and the Gorge Heritage walk. The gorge is a sheer drop with lookouts right at the edges. A bit much for Sandra in a few spots. There is a spot for hang gliders to launch and we saw a group of future guides learning how to rappel down the cliff faces. I wouldn't mind trying it some time. We took a 2.5Km walk along the gorge and through a heritage area. We were pretty tired by the time we made it back to the car.
The drive back down the hill was a bit busier and there was traffic going in both directions. Thankfully not too many cyclists on the down route. They must be buggered by the time they finish as is a steady 25Km climb on a very narrow winding road. As I said to Sandra the downhill wouldn't be that enjoyable either as you would be on the brakes a lot because of the tight corners. We made it back down to the main road where we took a slightly different route back to Yackandandah that bypassed Myrtleford. We were ready for a bit of a rest by the time we made it back to the caravan park. We did a bit of packing up as rain was in the forecast.
All in all we really enjoyed our week in Yackandandah and will likely return some day. Might stay in Beechworth next time as a bit more to see and closer to Mount Buffalo. Lots more walks to look at in Mount Buffalo and on the Gorge drive at Beechworth itself.
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