Bill and Jan eventually caught up with us for a refreshing morning tea at Yea and then it was 'full steam ahead' on to the Paddle Wheel Hotel in Wangaratta for lunch. We reached our motel at Dartmouth late afternoon and were greeted by our host, Robin Scales, who had prepared our rooms with heaters and lights on, a very warm welcome indeed. All meals, breakfast and dinners were served at the Dartmouth Tavern a 3 min. walk from the motel, which is also owned by Robin and her husband John.
On our second day we visited the Dam Site - the highest clay and rock wall in the Southern Hemisphere. The lake holds 7
times more water than Sydney Harbour but at the moment is only 17% full. Our host, John Scales, took us on a tour of the
town and wall, giving his very entertaining account of his early droving days when his family owned most of the land and the
history of the area and the dam construction (which he built single-handedly, even if you believe only half of his
stories!)
A great deal of their original farmland was compulsorily acquired for the dam and John and his family are now buying back
some of the land from the DSE at a great premium to the original compensation amount. John runs the Tavern, Motel, CFA
station and local football club, has written a book and is a great story teller.
Over the next couple of days we visited Bright, Mt Beauty, the Witches' Garden (showing how weeds can be healthy), an ostrich farm, lavender patch and museum at Corryong.
At the Witches Garden in Mitta Mitta, Felicity the owner, gave us a very informative tour of her beautiful gardens, with explanations on the herbal benefits that can be gained from what we normally call weeds. She also had 3 tawny mouthed owls that were quite happy to be photographed sitting on a log beside the pond. The owls were being nursed and rehabilitated after receiving wing injuries in the wild
At Corryong we visited the Museum and Jack Riley's grave followed by a visit to the Mitta River Ostrich Farm where we saw our "Big Al" doing his mating dance in response to some prompting from our hostess, Helen. A large piece of sponge cake, worth killing for, along with scones, jam and cream made a delightful afternoon tea. This was followed by a conducted tour of the Ostrich Farm breeding facilities and an informative talk about some of the breeding techniques.
Homeward bound - another big breakfast at the Tavern and a friendly farewell bid from the staff. We visit the Lavender
Patch and Australia's best Preserved Gold Town "Beechworth" and their award winning "Beechworth Bakery"; for a light lunch
before returning home. A very enjoyable time was had by all.
Overall we had a most interesting and wonderful time but perhaps too much food. We had some jovial entertainment on the
longer bus trips and had good weather. Our thanks to Group Travel Marketing for yet another good holiday and lean and
Helen from Portsea Buses who made sure we were all looked after and everything went to schedule.