As always, click on a thumbnail to see a full size image …

Reluctantly we packed up and bid farewell to our lovely room at Peppers. Another night would have been nice … Today’s destination was Lake Mountain, the closest ski-able mountain to Melbourne (cross country, not downhill).  In summer, the village becomes a departure point for mountain bike riders and bushwalkers – and today, would-be navigators.

We started out on the Summit Loop trail, a 4-5 km return walk which takes in several lookouts, as well as the top of the mountain.  There was a busload of school kids massed in the car park, so we started out quickly so as not to get tangled up with them.  The trail rises quite steeply, and is rough gravel almost all the way to the summit trig point.  We’d only walked a few hundred metres when we spotted something familiar – an orange and white triangle, hanging from a tree at a track junction.  It was a rogaining control.  We assumed it was part of a permanent course; not having a map, we had no idea where the others were or how many we’d see.  This one was a lowly 20 pointer.

The next one wasn’t too far away; hanging off the information sign at the “Melbourne Lookout”, just below the summit.  Predictably, number 3 was at the summit itself.  We thought it would be 100 points worth, but it was a measly 70 – then again, it hadn’t taken any navigational skill to find, just a bit of leg work.

From the trig point at 1433 metres, the loop trail dives off to the left.  It instantly narrows, and becomes very rocky underfoot.  The subalpine bushland was a riot of summer colour, and the twisted silver tree trunks, arched to meet high overhead, formed a cathedral.

Our fourth, and final control, was at the Alps Lookout.  Our total points was 180.  The trail became quite sketchy from here, picking its way over and through slabs of granite – not unlike orienteering terrain, except for the profusion of orange trail markers.  It would be very hard to get lost; this was the most well-signed trail I’ve ever been on.

It wended its way past two more lookouts; one to the south, and one over the Taggerty Valley.  These two didn’t have controls, so we declared they were worth 200 points each.

Progress had been quite slow to this point, what with lookouts to look out from, points to amass, photos to take, and rocks to negotiate.  The return leg to the summit was on a much smoother dirt track which had seen a lot of use by mountain bikers.

Back at the trig point, we struck up conversation with a girl who told us about the controls.  Turns out they were not permanent at all, but had been hung only that morning.  She was part of an outdoor education program, and they were setting up a course for the school kids.  Before long, we could hear excited shouts from below, as the first groups headed up the track, brandishing maps.  We wished them luck.  Back at the car park, it soon became obvious they were going to need it, judging from the difficulty some of them were having deciding which way was north!  Energy was expended and fun was had.

After a bit of a wander around the village, with its ski infrastructure shut down for the next 6 or 7 months, we began the drive to tonight’s accommodation.  We took the road via Reefton and Warburton.  The tree ferns were stunning, but Ian needed to keep his eyes firmly on the road, as we negotiated the tight curves of an almost 50 km descent.

Just east of Warburton, we diverted to have a look at the Redwoods, recently famous thanks to Instagram, being the perfect location to don a flowing white dress and beribboned sun hat, and pretend to be a wood nymph flitting between the tree trunks. Mercifully it was empty of would-be influencers today.  It would make a wonderful place for maze orienteering! 

The interplay between the rows of trunks, the sunlight and the shadows, made for an intriguing place to wander.  My favourite was the tiny seedling, not even knee high, bathed in its very own halo.

Our final “home” is at Three Rivers, and it is a really sweet little house.  The back verandah has a lovely view of the garden, down to the fern gully and creek at the bottom.  Next door is a true Tiny House, complete with off grid outdoor shower.  We’ve been watching the resident bird life – a flock of cockatoos and a solitary duck.  The cockatoos ganged up on the duck and chased it around the lawn, but it persisted, and was still there enjoying the insects after the flock had flown off to roost. The creek looked unlikely to turn up any fish, so we had steak and mushrooms for dinner instead.