Apart from our winery visits and our rambles around the town of Rutherglen itself, we did take the opportunity whilst there to explore the nearby Murray River towns of Corowa and the oddly named Howlong, as well as poke our exploratory noses into a few of the free campsites along the river banks in this area. Our plan for a riparian ramble in a year or so was taking more shape.
But now that we had all this tucked under our belts and were properly 'fortified', it was time to farewell Rutherglen and all its goodies and make our way back to Myrtleford and the pleasures of the Ardern's Caravan Park where we had booked in again for just over a week. Surely the whole area should be cloaked with autumn colour by now.
As we made our way out towards the Hume Highway, the distant views across the grazing paddocks were not encouraging. We had heard reports of the beginning of the controlled burns throughout the Alpine region and noted the 'smoke haze' warnings in the weather reports. Surely it couldn't be too bad......!!
Wishful thinking if ever there was. The further we went the worst things became.
In places we could barely make out vehicles in front of us as we travelled on past the little town of Springhurst. This did not bode well.
Things did clear a little as we drove across the Hume Highway overpass
and joined the highway traffic for the short run into and past Wangaratta.
But as we reached the now familiar B500, the Great Alpine Road, the atmosphere was again tainted by smoke.
Nothing had changed by the time we made our way into Myrtleford,
and if we need any further confirmation it was presented to us on a plate as we approached the turn off into the Ardern's Caravan Park. Would you believe me if I told you that the huge bulk of Mount Buffalo is directly in front of us?
Well, here is the same scene taken a few weeks previously during our fist stay here. I was beginning to panic a little. These conditions are far less than ideal for any prone to asthma. In an act of false consolation, I tried to convince myself that smoke could not be as bad as dust. Only time will tell.
The obvious question is just how could this extraordinary blanket of smoke be so pervasive over such a large area?
The answer is simple.....the powers that be were lighting daily controlled burns by the dozens throughout the forests and woodlands of the Alpine slopes.....over a huge area. This photo of a few of them in the mountains near Porepunkah is but a small example.
And there was a compounding problem. The great blessing of autumnal weather had turned on us....this is the season of no wind (which is one of the reasons the burns are conducted now). Combine that fact with the temperature inversions which are common overnight in autumn, and we awoke on a daily basis to layers of smoke being held firmly in the low atmosphere. Great stuff! Things did usually clear to some degree by mid-afternoon, but that was little consolation for those wanting to be out and about sightseeing, which was the prime reason for our return stay in Myrtleford.
I'll make these few comments the last on this subject other than to note two things. Firstly, in the many photos we took of our jaunts along and beyond the Ovens River Valley, you will oft see the hazy backgrounds, and secondly, did it really affect me? Yes it did...to the point that I had to crank up my trusty nebulizer four or five times daily and gulp down annoyingly frequent doses of steroids, and finally, with little or no overall improvement being evident, I visited a doctor in Bright. Fortunately my concerns that the irritation had degenerated into bronchitis were unfounded, but suffice it to say I had a miserable week or so from a breathing perspective. But we were here to see the leaves.....and I was determined to do so. "No, Elizabeth, it's determination not stubbornness!"
As we had hoped, this was much more amenable than our previous site under the trees, and we were still only a few metres from the en suite toilet block, for which, on this occasion we were give our own key. What a hoot...our own private bathroom and toilet! Obviously this privilege cannot be extended when things are busy, but we were more than happy to accept the situation we found ourselves in at this time.
From the time we arrived back here at the Ardern's park until the time we left, we could see things changing around us. The weather had begun to chill off, and the trees were finally responding. Some here began to display hints of regal red
whilst the vast majority were content to cloak themselves in more modest yellows and browns.
Even these less spectacular colours presented a real picture in the late afternoon sunlight
and where ever we now walked around the park we now did so over an increasing carpet of fallen leaves.
In some spots the leaf drop of isolated trees formed what I call the 'doily effect'....an almost perfect circle on the ground surrounding the trunk.
What a transformed outlook we were now enjoying. With the advent of colder evenings, I finally succumbed to the universal habits of most who visit this area at this time....a camp fire. And what better to complement 'happy hour' around the fire than a fine lamb roast dinner to follow? Out with the Baby Q and the scene was set.
Mine host, David, very kindly added some split wood to my collection of timber, and this stuff does burn!
On with the bigger logs, a few final prods to distribute the kindling, and with the pink of the setting sun tinting the sky through the trees,
and the leg of lamb sizzling away under the hood of the Baby Q, we all settled back for a happy hour with a difference, for us that is.
What a delightful way to wait whilst the Weber performed its culinary magic and the veggies roasted in the van oven. One last check with the meat thermometer, and it was time to wield the carving implements, heat the gravy, break out the mint jelly and repair to the dining table.
Yep, this evening your scribe was one very happy camper!
Between our various day trips hither and yon, herself was not idle in the galley either. For one who so loudly decries her cooking abilities, Liz turns our a fine tuna mornay, and these offerings, which went into the freezer for later travelling days, proved to be no exception.
And what of the Black Panther here in Myrtelford? He loved the place and would roam far and wide whenever he had the chance, or more to the point, whenever Liz would take him, which she did frequently. Max just revelled in the fact that the park was relatively quiet, there was little vehicle movement (he hates diesel engines) and there were all sorts of interesting things to be found in the leaf litter and elsewhere.
As I noted previously, whilst the Ardern's Caravan Park in Myrtelford is not as well known or popular as that which is owned and operated by the local Shire, and is undoubtedly rustic by comparison (a selling point for us), we loved the place. Leissa and David were perfect hosts, friendly and obliging, and are working extremely hard to improve the surrounds and amenity of what was a very run down facility when they bought it a couple of years ago.
We look forward to seeing the added improvements when we return to Myrtelford in the future, as we undoubtedly shall. The week long Italian festival run here each year in May is now on our 'to do' list.
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