Bright - Victorian High Country
Road Trip minus the camper ….. We have been contemplating whether or not to replace our camper with a caravan (with toilet and shower). So many things to consider, i.e. cost of new van, additional cost of fuel, increasing cost of caravan parks, security and (for me), the stress involved with towing, parking, levellig etc.
We booked a week away in a unit in Bright in Victoria (Bright Resort) and headed off on a road trip laden with lollies, drinks, thermos of coffee plus all the necessary junk food required for a long-distance road trip. We planned a quick trip down the Newell Highway with a more leisurely trip back along the New England and Pacific Highways. Packing certainly was a breeze but, because I had no real weight restrictions as we did with the camper I took enough warm jackets to see me through a full-blown Arctic winter. I wore only a puffer-vest and a thermal t-shirt.
On our way into Bright we couldn’t resist a stop at the famous Beechworth Bakery for lunch and it didn’t disappoint. It has been many years since I was in the area and I must say that the bakery was way busier (and a little more commercialised) than I expected. For old-times sake I did order a Beesting which was delicious and huge! I had to take some away for ‘ron.
There is such a lot of history in the small town of Beechworth including the gold rush and the infamous Ned Kelly. Walking tours are available through the information centre including a gold rush walking tour and Ned Kelly walking tour. The Kelly Trials exhibition is worth a visit as well as a tour of the OBG (Old Beechworth Gaol).
Ned Kelly - Hero or Villian?
A visit to Beechworth and a tour of the OBG (Old Beechworth Gaol) may have you questioning.
We arrived in Bright mid-afternoon and loved the avenues of colourful trees. All the deciduous trees were coming into full bloom and it truly was magical. (For the caravanners, there is a beautiful caravan park right next to the river in town)
Bright is well-known for its cycling outside the winter months including rail-trails (bitumen), road biking as well as Mountain Biking. Whatever you fancy they have bikes available to hire. As we tend to be more Latte riders we chose the bitumen paths and hired electric bikes for a couple of days. I will be honest, the first day I had a really ill-fitting, uncomfortable bike but still manged the Bright to Harrietville and return leg which was around 57 kilometres. The scenery was amazing as you crossed back and forth over the Ovens River. The ride also included a few close encounters with some magpies …. I was OK as I had the “magic” bird-scare tape but Steve had a couple of close shaves.
Our 2nd day riding took us to Myrtleford where the scenery was just as picturesque. Fortunately, my bike was way better, faster and much more comfortable. Thanks to Bright Electric Bikes. Like many of the small towns around Bright there is so much to see and do as well as eat and drink! These are a few of my favourite things (eating & drinking).
A stop at the Myrtleford museum gave us a real insight into the area and its early days as a gold town and later with the influx of migrants, particularly Italians. Well worth a visit. As an aside, I hate it when I go to a museum and they have heaps of things there that I have used in my everyday life, eg. manual typewriter. I can remember when I didn’t know what things were in museums!
Just outside Bright, we rode through the little village of Porepunkah. Unfortunately we missed the Rail Trail Cafe but did enjoy a coffee at the Punkah Pantry. They also have the Punkah Pub where we had lunch one day - I couldn’t go past the prawn and chorizo Pappardelle. (Steve’s is the schnitty).
The weather of course was not all sunshine and lollipops so we also enjoyed a few day trips around the area which included Mount Beauty. For me, it was a bit of a white-knuckle trip with all the curves and hair-pin turns and I was just the passenger. Actually, we were going so slow on the way down we got passed by a cyclist on a road bike! The views were amazing from the top - Sullivans Lookout. Guess what, we also found a great little coffee shop/bakery - Mt Beauty Bakery. I am sure I can “sniff” out coffee and baked goods within a 20k radius.
Trout Fishing at the Stony Fish Trout Farm is really popular for visitors and you ride straight past it on your way to Harrietville. As it isn’t a ‘catch & release’ farm and because we had to buy what we caught (and we were on our bikes), we decided to just watch others catch the fish and just enjoy the beautiful gardens and lakes. If you do catch anything, they will clean and fillet it for you ready to cook. The gardens alone are worth a visit and, of course, the smoked trout bagel.
The area around Myrtleford and Bright has a very strong Italian heritage so I was keen to try some Italian food before I left so we chose Sole e Luna as our farewell to Bright dinner. Delicious! Not to forget our pre-dinner drinks at the Bright Brewery.
There are so many places to eat and drink around this area, you would need a couple of weeks to really try them all out and not even I can eat that much great food!
I have covered food but not drinks but rest assured we did visit a couple of wineries and enjoyed some ciders from Nightingale Bros Alpine Produce at Wandiligong. There are so many wineries in the area with cellar doors and restaurants that you will be spoilt for choice. Here is a link to the many wineries and distilleries in the Bright area.
We both really enjoyed the unit at Bright. Very comfortable and well equipped with under-cover parking at each unit and outdoor table and chairs. They have communal BBQs around the resort as well as a fabulous pool and hot spa (which I spent plenty of time in) as well as a sauna. I imagine the sauna and spa would be really popular during ski-season! The resort has direct access to the bike path and is only about a kilometre from the main shopping village which is really well equipped including a Woolworths store (perfect for stocking up). It wouldn’t be a Holiday Concepts resort without the mini-golf, big-breakfast and pancakes, prepared by the management team. The resort also have some bikes to hire if you didn’t bring your own. We have stayed in a few HC resorts and we thought this one was fantastic, especially the awesome location.
For us, the week was just about doing some bike-riding, having a break away from the ordinary and enjoying the road trip. On the way home, we stopped at Parkes, Moree and enjoyed a few days in Ballina/Lennox Head around the coast.
To caravan or not to caravan. That is still the question!
