Spent the last day in Lakes Entrance getting ready for our departure to head up the Great Alpine Road through the mountains. 239kms. Speaking to a few locals we get the impression it is not too bad however none of them were towing a van so we will see. We really enjoyed our time in Lakes Entrance and recommend it as a destination. We left on a cloudy but warm morning heading to Bright which is in Victoria’s high country. Our first stop was Omeo which is the beginning of the ski country. A small pretty town where we stopped for lunch. Up until here the road wasn’t too steep or windy however from here onwards the road did definitely get more windy and steep in parts. Going up a couple of mountains we were in first gear doing 15kms/hour – slow but the good old pajero got us up there. Of course going down the other side was just as steep in fact on the other side of Mt Hotham much steeper going down then going up. It was also a very winding road. For me as passenger it is a lovely drive with magnificent views over the mountains but a lot more stressful for John being the driver. At one point the road markings change from white to orange – we guessed so they can be seen in the ice and there are red poles along the edge of the road used as marker to show the edge and also the depth of the snow. We stopped at Mt Hotham which was like a ghost town not a soul around except for a few sightseers like us taking photos. Heaps of accommodation around so it obviously revs up during the skiing season. It was very very cold here only 14 degrees with a wind chill factor of –5 degrees (I reckon). It was very sunny with blue skies but cold. Amazing to see the town so quiet not even a cafe open to get coffee! Along the Great Alpine Road lots of signs attest to the bad weather, ice and snow which you’ll see in the photos. Chains on tyres would be an absolute must. Parts of the road are closed in severe conditions. Mt Hotham is 1861m high compared to Mt Kosciuszko which is 2230m high and is the highest point in Australia. It took us 5 hours to get to Porepunkah (5kms north of Bright) where we are staying due to the slow climbs and a couple of stops along the way. The park we are staying at is in a town called Porepunkah (Pore-pun-kah) 6kms north of Bright and the park is on the edge of the Buckland River and it is a very pretty park. Poplar trees (they look like poplars) line the riverbank and are changing colour and dropping leaves making it quite a spectacular location. We are one of a very few tourists here at the moment – the majority of the vans in this park are annuals. Nice bushwalks on the edge of the park as well as along the river.
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