Bright and Beautiful

Over the Australia Day long weekend we went to Bright, a cute little town about a four hour drive from Melbourne.  Our friends have a holiday home there and invited us to join them.  Phil, along with our friend Glenda, signed up for the Alpine Classic bike ride, with Phil set to do 200 km and Glenda 250 km. 

We arrived after dark Friday night so didn't get a chance to see the town then. but Saturday morning we had a look around to familiarize ourselves.  The town centre was a hub of activity, with a river running through it and lots of families taking advantage of the water park next to the river.  There was a French festival sharing space with the bike festival booths, which made for interesting people watching.  We had lunch at the Bright Brewery and then relaxed with some books and the tennis match in the afternoon.  A trip to the local Feathertop winery completed the day. 

Feathertop Winery with Mt Buffalo in the background
Sunday morning Phil and Glenda got an early start for their 4 am departure.  Because the start was in the dark, the riders had to equip their bikes with proper lighting.  While I was still sleeping, these crazy people starting riding up the nearby mountains. 

The creek in Bright
I woke up at 6, very confused to find Phil standing over me.  My first thought was that I slept in and he was finished with the first mountain, but then he told me about his bike failure.  This battery on his electronic gear shifters died halfway up Mt Buffalo, so stuck in only one gear he had to call it a day and return.  He was understandably disappointed, but we took advantage of the extra time and went exploring.  We drove to the top of Mt Buffalo and explored an area called The Horn.  We took a short hike to the top of the rock formation that looks out over the whole region.  The rocks on this mountain were really unique and the views were spectacular.  We then drove to another viewpoint before heading back down the mountain. 
View from The Horn
Hiking up The Horn
View from the top - looking out towards Kosciouzko and the Australian Alps
The Horn?


View from Mt Buffalo
At the top of The Horn
Steps up to The Horn
Incredible view from The Horn
In the afternoon we walked from where we were staying into town for lunch and to check on the bike race.  We relaxed in some shade, and then I took Maybe to play in the creek.  She had so much fun splashing and swimming, and even grabbed a 1-metre-long stick out of the water to play with.  She was having so much fun that when we started the walk back, she sat down and wouldn't move until I let her go back to the water.  Phil ended up walking through it with her and she went for another swim with a great big smile on her face. 

Maybe and her big stick
Maybe going for a swim
Our friend Glenda finished her 250 km bike ride just before 7 pm.  It was good to see her reach that finish line!  It must have been a very long day of riding, and it was a very impressive effort.  
Glenda at the finish line
Glenda and John, our awesome hosts
We ended the long weekend with a nice breakfast in town before heading back to Melbourne for an Australian Open match that night.  it was a very full weekend! 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Baw Baw Blog

Image
A couple weeks ago Phil set out to climb Mt Baw Baw again with a couple like-minded (read: crazy) bike friends.  We drove out with Les and met John and Glenda at the primary school in Drouin to start the ride.   The crazies started on their ride while John and I headed off to explore the area by car. Phil, Glenda, and Les at the start About 10km in to the ride, as they passed the Drouin West primary school, Phil realised that that was the place he meant to start, and now an already painful 80km ride had become 90km. John and I stopped at the Noojee Trestle Bridge and took a leisurely walk across.  Then we headed on to the "town" of Noojee and saw the sights - the water wheel that no one knows the origin of.  Then we enjoyed some lamingtons while we waited for the tiers to catch up.  They arrived and took a few minutes' break, then set out again on their adventure. Noojee Trestle Bridge Noojee Water Wheel John and I then drove to Tooronga Falls and had a re
Read more

One Sleep Until Citizenship!

Image
In January of 1649, Thos Morgan, my great great ..... grandfather, signed the death warrant for King Charles I, an act that in normal times would make him guilty of treason for conspiring against the monarchy.  He ended up fleeing to America, where he changed his last name to Carrier in order to avoid being sent back to England for trial.  Of course, later he married a woman who was tried and hung for being a witch, but that's another story... Three hundred and sixty two years later, I found myself taking a new job in Australia.  In order to get my work visa, I had to pledge allegiance to the monarchy of the same country that my ancestor fled from so many years ago.  And tomorrow, I'll take the Australian Citizenship Pledge and become a dual citizen. Besides the physical move, there were a lot of little details involved in getting to this point.  We arrived on a skilled worker visa, which required providing my resume and degree in addition to the lengthy application and emp
Read more

Missy and Emily's Tassie Trip - Freycinet National Park

Image
One of my absolute favourite places to explore in Tasmania (though to be honest it's all my favourite!) is Freycinet National Park.  But of course on the way we had to stop for some more local wine and oysters.  Wine is, after all, a great motivator for a hike! We hiked down to the stunning Wineglass Bay to take in the views there.  It was the perfect temperature so a hike, nice and sunny but not scorching and the water was an absolutely spectacular shade of turquoise. Another thing that was a spectacular shade of turquoise was the blue bottle jellyfish covering the beach.  This ended up limiting our time in the water but they were sure pretty to look at.  The hike back up is tougher - mainly because it's back up.  There's not really a break in the vertical climb back to the top.  But once we did reach the top we were rewarded with a nice view of the bay and surrounding park. Back at the carpark was this little wallaby, who I'
Read more