MORE OF MYRTLEFORD - TWO VERY DIFFERENT TREES - A LOG KILN AND A WINERY (11 APRIL 2016)

From our base in Myrtleford we did sortie out along the Ovens Valley back to Porepunkah and Bright to see the autumn leaves. On what I'll call 'lay days' we spent a deal of time wandering around Myrtleford itself....visiting the supermarket, enjoying a beer or two at the Buffalo, and, as we shall see in this offering, ticking off three local tourist attractions and satisfying Liz's curiosity about the Michelini wines.

We used these excursions as the basis for a good walk, despite the never-ending smoke. On several occasions whilst coming and going along the Great Alpine Road, in and out of the northern end of the town, we had spotted a sign pointing to 'The Big Tree'. It was time to see it.

Today, rather than walk along the main road or the walking trail into the CBD, we chose an alternative route, one which took us along a linear park beside the Happy Valley Creek,

past the old building of the town public hall (circa early 1950's),

the town swimming pool

and the local and quite extensive bowling greens.

At this point we did cross the creek and return to the main street

and hoofed it on down through the CBD to Standish Street from where we continued on out along the Great Alpine Road towards the northern end of the town.

As we continued on our merry way, a couple of the local homes caught my attention.

They were quite different but both exuded a real charm. And here, in the front garden of this return verandah Federation villa

was a wonderful example of one of my 'doily trees'.

But we were on a mission to find a much bigger tree. The side street off the main road down which the sign pointed soon beckoned, and again we were rewarded with more autumn colour.

And there it was......and it is big. What a complete contrast to much of the other arboreal splendour of Myrtleford at this time of the year. 

As is my want, I'll let the nearby informative sign do the talking.

I have to say that the height of this massive red gum pales in comparison when compared to some of its eucalyptus cousins we have seen in Western Australia, but for this area it really does stand out.

From here we wandered off to find the other 'tourist tree', one which lies on the side of the Great Alpine Road, and one which is totally different from that we had just admired.

For a start, what's left of it is (obviously) dead!  

And here I must again apologise for the quality of the photographs. Our hitherto trusty camera was no longer so. It was becoming increasingly fractious where colour was concerned, as is unfortunately all too apparent....but as I said before, the show must go on even if the quality is far less than we would have wanted.

We read this description of what we could expect to see here, and then tried to find all that has been described.....with scant success I must say.

After peering closely at the tangle of roots on display, 

we could at least make out 'The Phoenix' carved into the gnarled roots at the top of the stump, but I'm afraid the remainder of the artist's somewhat esoteric offerings completely evaded us. Ah well, we came, we saw but we did not entirely conquer!

It was now time for an 'art' of a different kind, that of wine making. The Michelini family have been making wine here in Myrtleford for some time, and theirs is the only winery in the town itself. Liz was keen to try their 'bubbles'. We had almost sampled a bottle during our wonderful afternoon of wine and music in Porepunkah on Easter Saturday, but had opted for another brand instead. Now was the time.

There is no missing the cellar door, housed as it is in front of the stainless steel holding tanks

and there can be no mistaking the fact that this is an establishment with a very Italian flavour.

So what about the other flavours, those of the product? For us a mixed blessing. Liz left less than entirely impressed by the sparkling white, but at the extraordinary cellar door price of $5 a bottle (we later saw it on the shelves of Dan Murphy's in Albury....selling for $15 a pop would you believe!) I could not resist a case....and for the record, it's not too bad. 

We were more impressed with their Merlot, which tasted more like a rose style wine. Odd as that sounds, it reminded us a great deal of the excellent drop we used to be able to source from the Mount Benson winery on the Limestone Coast (until they stopped production of it...much to Liz's chagrin) So what's in a name?  A good half a dozen of this product from the Buckland Valley Devil's Creek vineyard found their way under the van bed, together with a long narrow bottle of desert wine, Fragolino, a wine we had never tasted before. Made from the fragola grape (Italian for strawberry) this sweet wine really does have a distinctive berry taste. It now awaits a warm evening and a desert of strawberries and ice cream.

And finally, no visit to Myrtleford is complete without a visit to the Rotary Park at the far northern end of town, and its star attraction, the old wooden tobacco drying kiln.

This historic log kiln was built by the Pizziri brothers of nearby Eurobin in 1967, but is typical of the kilns built in the 1930 - 1960 period. The drying heat was provided by a wood furnace located at the rear of the kiln (a wise precautionary move I thought).  

The resulting hot air was piped into the kiln where it dried the tobacco leaves hung in tied bunches on the drying poles before escaping through the roof top opening. Humidity was controlled by the size of the fire and the manipulation of the exhaust vents and others at floor level. It usually took about seven days to completely cure the hung tobacco leaf.

This kiln stands as an salient reminder of the scope and importance of the tobacco growing industry here and right along the Ovens Valley. 

Let me share some very interesting statistics relating to local tobacco. The year in question is 2006, during which 4 million kgs of tobacco leaf was produced by 135 growers, 80% of whom were of Italian origin.  700 seasonal workers were employed and the value to the community of this industry during that year was estimated at a staggering $90 million!

The thing I find most amazing about these stats is the fact that the district has survived the ban on tobacco growing (and the obvious loss of wealth both individually and as a community), and has not only adapted and moved on to new primary production, but is doing so with very good results. 





So with these figures resonating in my mind, I took a look around the park in which this kiln is housed. The good folk of Rotary maintain a fine park.  The leaves were increasingly blanketing the lawns near the roadside.











At the other end of the precinct a swing bridge











allows those so inclined to cross Happy Valley Creek and gallop off on another of Myrtleford's well defined walking trails.









However, this was not for us today...our walking trail was the footpath of the Great Alpine Road, back to the CBD and beyond. Ahead, spanning the roadway, we could see the large banner advertising the forthcoming La Fiera (Italian) festival, which is held here annually in May.

It is fitting that we end our visit to Myrtleford on this note, because we are more than of a mind to return here after our proposed Murray River ramble in a couple of years' time and take part in what we have been told is a very well organised and conducted ethnic bash. From what we saw of the proposed schedule for the events of this year, it looks highly promising.

You may have gained the impression by now that we were particularly comfortable in, and taken by, Myrtleford.  You are right. It is the perfect base from which to explore this region...far less crowded than Bright and a damn sight less expensive. And all we wanted to see was no more than a thirty to forty minute drive along the Great Alpine Road through the ever changing and constantly charming vistas of the Ovens Valley.

Which is what we shall be doing next when we visit the pretty little town of Harrietville.