the great alpine road.

Not to be confused with the Great Ocean Road, which we’ve written about previously and which includes the world famous Twelve Apostles, the Great Alpine Road is another tourist highway in Victoria which winds through the Victorian Alps.  It wasn’t necessarily high on the list of priorities to check out in East Gippsland, which is the portion of Victoria I had been working for a few weeks, but after exploring many of the other tourist attractions in the area I decided to take advantage of my last Sunday in the region to take a little drive.  And with no Candice to accompany me, it meant I could enjoy the drive with Manowar as my co-pilot.

the music of angels.

The southern end of the Great Alpine Road begins in Bairnsdale where I was working, so it was barely 10 minutes before I was winding my way through beautiful rolling hills admiring the contrast of the blue sky with the green grass dotted with cows and sheep.  The first part of the drive is fairly open and straight, but quickly gives way to a narrow and winding road that takes you deeper into the high country.  I normally don’t get car sick when I’m driving, but I had to take a break a couple times because the road was twisting and turning for so long.  After about 30 to 45 minutes of this, the road opens up a bit more after you pass through Omeo, a beautiful town situated up in the hills.  After Omeo I took the opportunity to stop at a few roadside areas that looked interesting, including Battle Point and Mother Johnsons Picnic Area en route to the highest point along the road: Mount Hotham.

One of my hopes in taking the drive was to have the opportunity to see some snow, as I think I was feeling a bit homesick knowing that it would soon be winter in Melbourne but that my chances of seeing snow in Melbourne were about as good as Seattle’s chances of having a November with no rain.  Most of my drive, as you can see, was beautiful and quite warm, so it was looking doubtful that I would get to see any snow.  But as I neared the summit, the sun went behind the clouds and the temperature dropped significantly until finally as I reached the peak of my journey, I saw it.  A tiny patch of snow at literally the highest point you can travel on the Great Alpine Road.  As I arrived a family had just finished building this Australian snowman, and there was also this one sign that had some snow and ice on it.  It wasn’t quite what I’m used to from seeing winters up in the Cascades, but it was still snow and I still loved it.

practically the north pole.

Frosty, is that... you??

As great as seeing snow was, the highlight of my trip came as I was traveling on my way back when I glimpsed my first Wedge-tailed Eagle.  For those that don’t know, the eagle is my spirit animal given to me by my father when I was a boy, and so I am always delighted to this day when I see one.  Back in Washington I was used to seeing bald eagles at least a few times a year, but since arriving in Australia I had not yet seen an eagle.  Finally my patience pulled off as I was rewarded with a glimpse of this beauty in a tree near the road.  It was a perfect way to end my journey.

BK