Mount Buller

NOW: Mount Buller, Mount Stirling and Mount Cobbler

After a grocery stop in Mansfield we headed on to Carters Road at Meerijig. The day use area here was quite pleasant but the camping area was a bit second hand so we continued on to Buttercup Road. After setting up a forestry worker came through to close the area for a prescribed burn off! After a great veggie bake over the fire made with wood left by someone else we decided we’d move on in the morning rather than get showered in ash and smoke.

So, along Carters Road then onto Number 3 Road which improved from an uneven rocky climb once we reached the No 3 Refuge Hut. Then, down to the King River and Pineapple Flat Campground with some grassy areas, tall trees but only a few firepits. There are lots of tracks up here which got the GPS a little muddled but the tracks are clearly signposted.

We’ve climber from 650 metres at Buttercup Road to 1650 metres at Pineapple Flat but Black Landing Road and then Circuit Road took us up to 2000 metres at Craig’s Hut. This is the replica Hut built for The Man From Snowy River movies. The view includes Mount Cobbler which we also saw from the top of Mt Blue Rag. If there weren’t so many visitors to Craig’s Hut I could see us spending some time up here just enjoying the mountains.

Continuing up Clear Hills Track we passed GGS Hut and travelled up to Mount Stirling where a big boulder met our sidestep. When we first bought this Pajero it came with these plastic little side steps which had a few little bits missing after a few weeks but the rough Alpine roads finished them off! We now have rock slider/steps from Bushskinz at Cooranbong.

Our camp was a comfortable spot by the King River so with plenty of firewood we had an excellent Camp Kitchen and warm loungeroom! I spotted trout in the river and saw my first platypus come out of the tangled trees on the river bank just near the causeway.

We headed out to Lake Cobbler on Burnt Top Track then the rocky Wild Horse Gap Track. While we were having lunch I chatted to a local whose father was a stockman who herded cattle into the yards which were where the lake now stands. He told me it was always a marshy area surrounded by cattle yards. When the water is low you can still see the fence posts.

After driving around for a few days we took an energetic walk to the top of Mt Buller. The Victorian Ski Resorts have really interesting villages but unreliable snow due to their comparatively low altitude.

Up, down and down, up through the mountains to Whitfield and the King Valley for some Italian style wines then along the King River and back roads into Myrtleford.

NEXT: Falls Creek, Omeo, Davies High Plain.

On the Emu Track

Cheryl and David.