Giant Cod and Giant Moth

Five years and a couple of months back, we were in this part of the world and one of the places we visited was the tiny town of Tintaldra, not far from Corryong and on the Murray River. There is a pub, a general store, an old iron bridge over the Murray and that is about it. What makes the place so interesting is the general store. On our last visit it was being run by 80 something year old Betty Walton. She has run the store since the 1970’s. We were keen to visit and see if she was still around.

On arriving in Tintaldra we parked down by the river in the shade. The first thing we noticed was a gigantic Murray cod on an old bridge pylon in the middle of the river. It must be new we thought, as it was not there last visit.

Actually, the cod wasn’t the first thing we noticed… this was, it was so hot the picnic furniture is beginning to melt. Either that or someone reversed into it!

We walked up to the store… Betty was still there, being assisted by one of her daughters. She is 91 years old and as sharp as a tack. Her daughter said she’s ‘blind as a bat’ but otherwise can be found in the store each day! She lives next door where she still hosts her own B&B. She is disappointed that the hotel over the road is currently closed, looking for an owner / investor to get it going again.

We looked around the museum part of the store after consuming ice creams. Had a lovely chat to Betty and her daughter as well.  Apparently the giant cod has only been on its pylon perch since November.

The sign said it all, and they had plenty of teapots to back up the statement too!

After farewelling Betty and her daughter we drove towards Walwa to pick up a couple of geocaches. One was at a nice lookout. There has been works here recently, with another sculpture in the form of a giant rusting moth to lure visitors. The view was great, although on these summer days in the heat, it is very misty.

Adding to our creative letter box collection was this minion…

Of course, after lunch in the caravan it was back into the creek. This time, we had upgraded from the ill-fated, no longer inflated lilo, to a couple of tyre inner tubes J picked up in town.

The next morning we didn’t venture out, but instead had some more time in the creek. The kids enjoyed floating from the bridge all the way down to the camp site a couple of times.

Nariel Valley

From Colac Colac it is possible to drive across the mountains to Omeo. Initially this road meanders through the pretty Nariel Valley, criss crossing the Nariel Creek some six times. After that the road turns to gravel and is narrow and winding. Not recommended for anyone not prepared to take on a speeding logging truck... 

There are a series of geocaches along the valley before the road turns nasty. Each one is at a bridge crossing the creek. We spent a morning looking for them. We were successful with all but one as it required us to wade through very tall grass by the creek, which was just far too risky on a hot summer’s day. We did not need anyone with a snake bite all in the name of finding a 200ml Sistema container!

We drove to the furthest cache first, at Stacey’s Bridge. Lucky Stacey, she had not only a bridge named after her, but also a camping area and a picnic area. One each side of the road. We found the cache and enjoyed the creek area before setting back towards Colac Colac and the other five caches.

Each bridge gave us unique views. This is the same creek that flows past the caravan park. 

Another cute letter box…

Before heading back to the caravan park we went to nearby Cudgewa. 

We felt instantly at home at the footy oval. Go the mighty blues! Mind you, they probably won more games last season that their namesakes down Carlton way…

Love their fire pit too…

After lunch at the caravan, it was time to cool off in the creek again… With the demise of our lilo yesterday, the kids got busy engineering and moving rocks to alter the flow of the creek today.

Zac discovered Africa…

Gemma enjoyed the swing after her swim.

Ethan found the need to wear a helmet when handling the chickens. You never can be too careful.

We did an evening bike ride, but it was almost too hot still, so it was a short one!

Corryong & Towong

Myrtleford was only twenty something km’s from Everton. We refuelled the car and picked up some groceries there before continuing on.  This way to Corryong was a ‘back way’ as it took us off the Hume Freeway and bypassed Wodonga. It was a nice drive, not too hilly or winding, and very little traffic. The scenery was picturesque.

The road brought us to the Murray Valley Hwy at the edge of Lake Hume, a few km’s west of Tallangatta. We paused at a rest stop for a cuppa, before continuing the last 70 km’s to Colac Colac.

We were pleasantly surprised that the park was busy but not overly full. We were given a site under large deciduous trees, meaning we had shade most of the day.

Preparing lunch, we met the 4 free range chickens who wander the park. I think they smelt our food, that’s if chickens smell much. Either way, they graced us with our presence when the food appeared, one even leaping on the table to take a closer look. The kids thought this was cute, I thought it would make a nice bonus to my salad…

After surviving the chicken onslaught that was lunch we explored the creek that runs along the boundary of the park. Officially a creek, but it runs and flows more like a river, even in the height of summer. It was refreshing. Over the course of our time here, with very hot days predicted (ranging between 37 and 42 degrees) it would become our refuge every afternoon.

After dinner where the chickens again paid us a visit, we rode our bikes along the trail that runs from the caravan park in towards Corryong. The colours of the evening as the sun went down were nice, as was the cooler air in the face… not so much the constant sting of bugs and beetles hitting one’s face!

After our ride, the kids went to the weekly movie night, a screen behind the playground, BYO chair or picnic rug.

The morning of our first full day at Colac Colac we drove into Corryong. There are only a couple of geocaches in town and we decided to find them. The first was at the lookout overlooking town.

The second was in the cemetery where the grave of Jack Riley is. He has become synonymous with the legend of the ‘Man From Snowy River’. Banjo Patterson’s famous poem is said to be based on Jack.

A friendly horse came and greeted us in the neighbouring paddock… (dad joke alert)

NEIGHbouring…!  Keeping the horsey theme going, the Man From Snowy River is all about a horse who escaped and ran off with the wild brumbies and Jack Riley the horseman who went out and captured him again… so this equine welcome was very apt!

We drove a few km’s up the road to Towong. No gags about ‘to wongs not making a wite’ needed here. Towong is right on the Murray River, hence the border with NSW. We found a clever little ‘letterbox’ geocache, paused for photos and then checked out the historic pavilion at the horse racing track. They still hold the Towong Cup each year.

A quick trip to the shops in Corryong on the way through. We especially bought a large cask of water. The water at the caravan park is not drinkable. It’s pumped out of the creek and I noticed a bunch of cows standing in the creek upstream yesterday as we drove in… Not to mention the sweaty, sun screen covered tourists and their peeing children… This is a statue of Jack Riley next to the Tourist Info Office.

After lunch back at the caravan, we availed ourselves of the creek again, utilising a cheap lilo we’d acquired in town. It lasted a few hours before rocks got the better of it… so like the Titanic it didn’t survive it’s maiden voyage…