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Wonnangatta Wander
Our
group met up at Mansfield at 11:30am and after a good feed of pies from the
local bakery drove along the Mount Buller Road through Merrijig to Mirimbah.
It
was then on to Mount Stirling Road 
heading for Telephone Box Junction where we
had a brief stop to lock the hubs before continuing on Circuit Road to Howqua
Gap. The drive up Howqua Gap Track to Mount Stirling was made a little more
interesting by the rain that had fallen the night before. The view from Mount
Stirling was somewhat spoilt by the mountain mist that decided to drift across
just as we got out of our vehicles. However the sight of some
cattlepersons mustering 
certainly made us feel we were away from it all and in
"Man from Snowy River country". We continued on along Clear Hills
Track to Craigs Hut. 
One section of this track was a tad slippery from the rain
and continual mist. Fortunately the mountain mist lifted momentarily allowing
us to soak up some of the magnificent vistas for which this area is renowned as we had
afternoon tea.
Backtracking
along Clear Hills Track we turned onto The Monument Track travelling down to
the Circuit Road and to Bindaree Road. A stop for the rather steep walk up to
the Bindaree Falls was well worth the effort as the falls were flowing quite
well. We continued on down to the Howqua River, splashing our way through many
"puddles" that covered the track by the river. Camp was established
in the beautiful Bindaree Hut campgrounds and a delightful evening was spent
around the campfire under a clear star filled sky.
Somewhat
heavy rain in the early hours of the morning meant the cancellation of driving
"16 Mile Jeep Track", opting instead to take the Bluff Link Road
(marked on some maps as "16 Mile Road") up to Bluff Hut for a
welcomed morning tea stop. We continued along 
Bluff Track stopping at the
lookout at Mount Lovick before proceeding on to Lovicks Hut. After a stop to
take in the views of Mounts Buller and Cobbler we travelled King Billy Track to
the Howitt Plain carpark stopping for lunch. 
After lunch we continued down
Howitt Road to Howitt Hut for a better feel of the Howitt Plains. Backtracking
a little it was then right turn onto Zeka Spur Track. I found this to be a
really incredible track. The first third or so twists and turns as it descends
the mountain yielding some incredible views, despite the mountain mist, whilst
the vegetation seemed to continually change. The middle section of the track
was a little rough, though not a challenge, whilst the last section
provided wonderful views as you approached the Wonnangatta Valley.
Camp
was beside the Wonnangatta River, just north of the Homestead cemetery. A campfire was soon established and happy hour was held as we
witnessed a wonderful sunset. Then, as we completed our dinner and prepared for
the "port & discussion hours" the mountain mist turned to rain.
Undeterred, a circle of umbrellas soon formed around the campfire and we
continued. The morning brought promise of a reasonable day. It was a relaxed
morning as we all took the opportunity to explore the valley, the site of the
old homestead and its surrounds. What a place it is, and what must it have been
in its heyday all those years ago.
The
afternoon drive was to head down the valley, to Herne Spur then work
around via Little 
Baldy Track to Hart Spur Track and Mt Hart.
About a third of
the way along Herne Spur Track, just after negotiating a particularly nasty
slippery short descent, we met a group who was retracing their tracks. Apparently, up ahead there was a Prado and a couple of Suzukies
who had got
themselves into a bit of bother in the slippery conditions, and were
winching themselves out. Plus there was a group of 6 Cruisers waiting to come
through from the other direction. Realising we could be there for a while, and
having just negotiated that nasty bit of track that would only get worse
with more traffic, we decided to backtrack and go directly to Hart Spur Track.
This was an interesting track in that it was a steady steep climb all the way
up to Mount Hart Track in something between mountain mist and light drizzle.
Mount Hart Track, covered with leaf litter, followed the ridgeline through some
wonderful forest until it opened up to a Heliport. As we had afternoon tea the
mountain mist partially lifted allowing us a peak over the Wonnangatta valley.
As we started to retrace our tracks back to camp it was quite evident that the
mist/drizzle had stated to have an effect as the leaf litter was now a little
slippery, and we still had the descent down Hart Spur track to go. 
Pleasingly
we arrived back at camp without any drama to find the sun had broken through
and the valley had taken on a whole new look now that it was bathed in
sunshine. Wonderful sight, no wonder that the Wonnangatta Valley is often
referred to as the one of the most beautiful places in Victoria.
That night there was more rain in the early hours and the morning mountain mist was still present as we packed up and headed off up the valley towards Zeka Spur Track. We turned off onto Rileys Track, which initially as you leave the valley is quite steep before following the ridgeline to Humffray Track. We stopped at the base of Water Spur Track for morning tea before we began the climb up to Tea Tree Range Road on Mount Sarah. From there we were to take Sarah Spur Track and eventually down Brewery Track to Talbotville. Now Water Spur Track is long, very steep in sections, and a heavily treed track. The mountain mist/drizzle/overnight rain conspired against us such that we got to within 500 metres of Water Spur Track’s plateau when the slippery conditions combined with the steep grade made it very risky to continue. Vehicles just could not retain a hold on the track, sliding back to the wash away they had just passed over. So it was turn around and then backtrack, which provided more than enough excitement for one day, to our morning tea spot at the Humffray Track junction.
Plan
B was put into action and we took the more conventional way out of the valley.
In constant drizzle 
we continued down Humffray Track to the junction of Hart Spur Track and Little
Baldy Track. Along Little Baldy Track to Wombat Range Track, which was steep
but not slippery, then down Cynthia Range Track to Station Track. This was
quite a steep descent to the old Pioneer Racecourse and the Wongungarra River.
From there it was an easy drive along the Crooked River on the Talbotville
Track where finally, after a long tiring day, we set up camp at Talbotville.
That night as we sat around the campfire I kept thinking of the
difficulties that the Wonnangatta homestead folk, going
by horse and cart to Dargo for supplies, would have had in traversing the countryside we had just
travelled . It must have taken them about a week.
This
was the first night that we had no rain, and in the morning there was no
mountain mist but the tents were still wet when we packed up early in the
morning. We proceeded down the Talbotville track towards Kingswell Bridge,
taking the Randall Track detour (short steep climb with a hard right turn into
a partially hidden track) around what can be the deepest crossing of the
Wongungarra River. We continued on past Kingswell Bridge driving alongside the
Wonnangatta River with the river flat farming land providing some wonderful
scenes with the mountains as a backdrop. 
We past through Black Snake Creek and
near the Rock of Gibraltar turned right onto Scrubby Creek Track. The first
part of this track is a steep descent, which due to the dampness was a little
slippery, however it eventually flattened out, leading to Gibraltar Hut (or is
it Collins Hut as per the name on the door?) which was an ideal morning tea
stop.
After
morning tea we proceeded along Scrubby Creek Track to Dingo Hill then climbed
Junction Spur 
Track to Castle Hill.
This is an excellent 4WD track with some
challenges, great scenery and a variety of vegetation. Junction
Spur Track, at Castle Hill, is about 7 to 8 km south of the end of the renowned Billy Goat Bluff
Track. It was time for a bit of a relax and lunch, before it was
homeward bound. Just a left turn at the top, around Bleak Hill to Marathon Road
where after a short distance it became a 2WD journey down to the black top at
Briagolong and on to Stratford and the Princess Highway.
Maps
Auslig 1:250,000 2 CD set: Warburton SJ5506, Bairnsdale SJ5507
Hema: The High Country – Victoria
Rooftop’s: Mansfield – Mt Howitt Adventure Map 1:100,000
VicMap 1:50,000 series:
Howitt – Selwyn 8223-N, Tamboritha – Moroka 8223-S,
Crooked River – Steve 8323-S, Cobbannah – Tabberabbera
8322-N
OziExplorer Track file for download.
15th to 19th April 2002
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