Labour Weekend, March, 2013.

Labour Weekend, March, 2013.

Labour weekend here in Victoria this year was on the 9^th March. Spc cannery gave their staff the full weekend off, yah. Just completed working 12 days straight. Time for us go and visit our friend Roger Jones at Porepunkah near  Mount Buffalo.

From Shepparton we drove to Strathmerton, then Cobram where we stopped and had lunch and a walk about around the town. Then onto Yarrawonga over the Murry river to Mulwala which is in NSW, then back over another bridge to Yarrawonga back into Victoria. From Yarrawonga we drove to Rutherglen, then Wodonga onto Yackandandah to Myrtleford and then Porepunkah where we met up with Roger. who we are staying with for 2 nights while having a look around the area.
 

Yarrawonga foreshore

                                                                            

Mount Buffalo got its name from Hume & Hovel, pioneers who were making their way from Sydney to Melbourne in 1824 on horses. They passed thorough the area where Wangaratta is now and could see a mountain on the horizon that looked like a buffalo, so they decided to call it Mt Buffalo. The Aboriginals call it Dordordonga (friendly place) because they came there every year to meet and discus issues of the day. Many different tribes used this time to renew old friendships, talk about marriage prospects and also catch up with all the news from the different areas.
 

Porepunkah (where roger lives) is an Indian word meaning (Place of the winds).At present there is a population of 450. It was a gold mining area in the 1850s and Rogers home is built on one of the original dredging sites from that time. To do your major shopping you are better off to go to Wangaratta which is 60k away . This Roger does every Thursday and costs him only $7.00 return on the bus which takes an hour and half each way. There is no doctor in the town so you have to travel to the next small town of Bright which is rather difficult for people who don’t drive and there is no bus either. I suppose that is the joys of living in a lovely quiet country town.

                                                                                   


 

Porepunkah country village

 

                            
                                            Entrance to a disused gold mine at Myrtleford.
 

                           
                                                King Parrots at Rogers home feeding
                                                                             
                                                                              

In the afternoon we travelled to Beechworth via Stanley and had a look at the old asylum on top of the hill.
                                                      

Old Asylum in Beechworth

                                  

Old Asylum in Beechworth

                                  

 At the Beechworth Bakery we purchased Ned Kelly pies and ate them in the park.

                                                                      
                            
                                                             A Very Tasty pie it was.
                                                      

Beechworth Bakery

                           



Beechworth Powder magazine

                                   
                                                                                     
                                                                                         
Roger then took us on a trip along Reedy Creek to a town called El Dorado. This creek in still mined for gold by prospectors who are there to make their fortunes.

                              
                                                                                                                                                                

                             

At El Dorado lies the remains of Cock's Gold and silver Dredge. It operated between 1936 and 1954 and recovered many millions of dollars of gold and silver. It is said that when it was operating it could be heard 25miles away. The dredge ran solely on electricity generated in the area.

      
                             
                                                     Marg and John outside the pub after a drink

 

                                        
                             

                                                                 Old dredging Mine at Eldorado

                                

                                                                                     

                             

                                                                              

 

How's this for a working bus stop

 

Sunday morning turned out a beautiful sunny day. Off to see Mt Buffalo which is 25 k from Porepunkah. At the top of Mt Buffalo is a ski chalet which sad to say the chalet is no longer used.

In 1898 it was one of Victoria's first national parks. In 1908 a road was cut up the mountain . It is very steep but has a wonderful view over the valley and surrounding areas.

In 1910 the Mount Buffalo Chalet was built and became very popular . In 1936 Australia's first ski tow was installed at Cresta Valley.

Sad to say it is no longer used as a ski resort as there is no snow now or very little. The park now covers 31,000 ha .

In the summers of 2003 and 2008 fires swept through the Alps destroying a lot of the hill site . Fortunately the chalet was not damaged. You can see the regrowth as you drive up the hill and still see the black tree stumps and dead trees above the regrowth. Very ghostly looking.

Looking into the windows of the old building you can still see all the furniture as if it was just sitting there waiting for the next visitors to arrive.

 

                                                                                 

 

Mount Buffalo entrance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Early days of the landscaping being finished.

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                

                                                                 Roger in front of chalet

                                                                                 

                            
                                                 View from the outlook at the Chalet

                                                                             

 

 

Roger worked there for 20 years as a guide, night watchman and many other things. He made it a very interesting visit. My cousin Maureen also worked there when she was on her OE here in 1958. She had her photo taken raising the flag which was a important job that had to be done every morning . Good one cus. A very popular place for seasonal jobs. While we were up the mountain many hikers arrived to go walking on the many tracks. There is also an area for hang gliders to jump off and enjoy the scenery. We spent all morning up here enjoying the view.
 

We had a coffee at Dingo Dell's visitor centre and this looked onto the old ski fields. You can still see where they were even with some trees now growing there. Photo's below.

We had a lovely weekend away and many thanks to Roger for his hospitality.

Lunch was a treat of fish and Chips along the river bank at Porepunkah. A popular area with the locals. The river was not suitable for swimming into today as it was very brown due to to rains they had had recently up in the hills.
 

Porepunkah river edge
 

We travelled from Rogers to Glenrowan and Greta where we visited Ned Kelly's and his families graves . The grave is unmarked so vandals wont do any damage to it. I have put the photo of the Kelly's headstone at the end of talk about it .

                                                                               

 

Ned Kelly statue  at Glenrowan

 

 Many thanks for the old photos that you forwarded on to us of the Chalet. We had a lovely weekend away and many thanks to Roger for his hospitality.