TRAX Trip Report – Victoria High Country
Monday 20th Jan – Friday 25th
Present
Matt, Alison and Jess Smith – Pajero
Ralph Radovan – Range Rover
Will and Bek Smith – Discovery
Monday morning started with everyone arriving at Beechworth bakery. Despite staying in Beechworth, unlike everyone else, Ralph arrived last. All 3 vehicles; the Pajero, Discovery and Range Rover, were ready to go. With Mansfield in our sights, to refill our tanks, we headed off. We headed down the main road until we turned off towards Stringybark Creek. A few kilometres of dirt road later, we arrived at Stringybark Historical Reserve, where we learnt more about Ned Kelly and the shooting of police officers, that led to him being declared an outlaw.
We popped round the corner to the campground for lunch, before continuing on to Mansfield. A quick fil, up and we ended up at Sheepyard flat, an easily accessible campground next to the creek and full of parrots.
The next morning, we zipped up the mountain to the tip of Mt Buller to have a gaze at the scenery and ski slopes, though no white snow to be seen. Coming down the mountain some metal-on-metal scraping could be heard on the Disco, which we vowed to investigate soon.
We pressed on, jumping back onto the dirt to check out Razorback hut, before we arrived at the classic Craig’s Hut, where we stopped for lunch.
While lunch was brewing, Ralph was investigating a water leak and Will investigated a wheel bearing. Retightening the recently replaced wheel bearing did the trick, but for Ralph in the Range Rover, it was diagnosed as a leaking water pump.
With the long week ahead of us still, Ralph decided to call it there and head home. Just in case, as we headed off, a new wheel bearing kit was ordered for delivery to Mansfield. To be safe, we camped locally to Craig’s hut at Pineapple Flat, with a cute water crossing entry and some flexy ruts to keep out the Corollas.
Feeling more confident in the wheel bearing in the morning, we headed off towards Kings hut, hidden along the Kings River, that we crossed back and forth over multiple times to get a nice undercarriage rinse. On the way to our next destination, we stopped at the picturesque Bindaree Falls, which after a short walk led to a gorgeous waterfall.
Climbing further up, out of the valleys, we headed to Bluff hut, zig-zagging up the side of the mountain. After stopping there for lunch, we continued on to Lovick’s hut, with views that reminded us we were in the High Country, with mountains visible as far as the eye could see.
Going up and down the mountains a couple more times on the King Billy Track, we made it to Howitts hut, before stopping at Thomastown Campground for the night.
Starting off Thursday, we made our way off the dirt into the small town of Licola. Aiming to get to Mansfield by the end of the day, we headed up Jamieson-Licola Rd, which quickly became unsealed. With a desire for adventure, we turned onto Middle Ridge Track, which put the compression of the Discovery’s 300tdi, and the venting of the Pajero’s discs to the test, with a few kilometres of steep descents into the valley below.
Turning onto Barkly River Jeep Track, we found many mud puddles as the track grew narrower and more overgrown. We pressed on, however, and eventually made it to the Barkly River Logging Trail, where the track opened up more and had some lovely views and occasional cows to avoid, before we made it back to the Jamieson-Licola Rd. Before we got back to the sealed road we did stop to ensure a stranded 80 series, with a snapped fan belt, was okay and had a plan to get out of his pickle. We found a quiet little motor inn, where we stayed the night, before we were planning on returning to NSW a scenic way, but not before more scraping was heard from the Disco.
Friday morning, we awoke to acquire the wheel bearing from the post office, now held for a spare, then we took off the rear wheels to find them in desperate need of new pads, one of the only service items not checked before the trip. A quick(ish) trip to Wangaratta Bursons, as the most local that stocked rear pads for a 28 year old vehicle, and a short install and we were on our way. We dispersed at that point, making our own ways home.
Will Smith – Land Rover driver-turned-mechanic