Vic High Country Caravan
Submitted: Sunday, Jul 17, 2011 at 10:57
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Benno77
We are travilng around Australia in our 4wd and large off road van. We are planning to travel through from
Bega across to the snowies and down through
Vic high country through to
Melbourne. We want to do some day or overnight trips into the good spots in the vic highlands without the van and are wondering what is the best route through the highlands with a van. I have spent most of my working life driving semi-trailers so I am not intimidated by roads that may be difficult to tow the van through. Are there any caravan parks or storage
places around
Omeo or similar that are safe to leave the van?
Reply By: Madfisher - Sunday, Jul 17, 2011 at 13:19
Sunday, Jul 17, 2011 at 13:19
When are you planning on leaving Benno, as at the moment you would need chains to get past
Kiandra I would think. Their is a lot of snow around this year.
Cheers Pete
AnswerID:
460182
Follow Up By: Benno77 - Sunday, Jul 17, 2011 at 19:25
Sunday, Jul 17, 2011 at 19:25
Will most likely be in the Summer as we plan to leave towards the end of the year, but we do intend on revisiting during the winter to see the snow as we plan to spend 18 months on the road.
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733879
Reply By: Zebra400 - Sunday, Jul 17, 2011 at 13:23
Sunday, Jul 17, 2011 at 13:23
Benno
Time is important. Most of the
Vic high country tracks are closed until Melb Cup weekend in early Nov. Anything below 800M is probably still open, but as you know a lot of the High Country good stuff is above this.
Try ringing the
Omeo Caravan Park to see what they charge for
parking your van there.
Laurie
AnswerID:
460184
Reply By: Andrew & Jen - Sunday, Jul 17, 2011 at 13:39
Sunday, Jul 17, 2011 at 13:39
Hullo Benno77
Omeo CP is very good - have stayed there many times. Safe to leave van there, particulalry if they are near the office. Friendly and obliging owners.
From
Bega, there are a few options if you want to avoid the Princes Hwy but
check road conditions - snow, landslips, flooding, etc - before you make a final choice. Eg, could use Monaro Hwy to Cann River, or
Bombala to
Delegate to Orbost could be OK. OTOH, the Barry Way would not be an option.
If you could get to Corryong, Sassafras Gap could be an option, depending on snow - talk to Corryong Info Centre before deciding though.
But from
Omeo, I would suggest the Great Alpine Road would be out for you as chains are required and going down towards
Bright from Mt Hotham would be hairy to say the least!
An alternative would be to come in the from the north and base yourself at a number of spots such as the CP at Eskdale, Harrietville,
Mansfield and do day trips as road conditions allow. Be aware that many of the tracks in the area are closed from the June LWE until the
Melbourne Cup LWE, or longer if the winter has been wet.
Cheers
Andrew
AnswerID:
460187
Follow Up By: shanegu6 - Sunday, Jul 17, 2011 at 14:19
Sunday, Jul 17, 2011 at 14:19
Second that. The owners of the van park at
Omeo are lovely. We left our van there for about a week whilst we explored the high country in the swags.
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Follow Up By: Bushranger1 - Sunday, Jul 17, 2011 at 16:03
Sunday, Jul 17, 2011 at 16:03
If your leaving your van at
Omeo then it's only about 50km to one of the best 4WD trips in the Vic Alps.
Mount Blue Rag. Absolutely awesome scenery all the way there.
If you like creek crossings then there are plenty on the Haunted Stream track near
Omeo. Another great trek with some Gold mining history too.
Of course as already advised you have to wait till Nov for the tracks to re-open, snow permitting.
Cheers
Stu
FollowupID:
733836
Follow Up By: Jarse - Wednesday, Jul 20, 2011 at 17:27
Wednesday, Jul 20, 2011 at 17:27
I'll third the
Omeo CP. I was there last year with a bunch of mates on bikes. The owner (can't remember his name) dropped us up at the pub for dinner, and offered to pick us up as long as it was at a reasonable hour. No extra charge.
How many
places offer that kind of service to their patrons?
We're all going back this year. More than happy to spend my money at such a bike friendly establishment.
Kudos to the
Omeo CP!
FollowupID:
734105
Reply By: olcoolone - Sunday, Jul 17, 2011 at 21:10
Sunday, Jul 17, 2011 at 21:10
QUOTE...."I have spent most of my working life driving semi-trailers so I am not intimidated by roads that may be difficult to tow the van through."
The
Vic High Country has good roads and some really challenging roads, the good roads you could get a single trailers and primemover down as some are used as logging roads, the challenging roads I would only take a 4x4 down and then you need a bit of experience at off roading.
Some tracks there is only one way and that's forward quite narrow with very sharp turns and very steep up and down
hill sections.
I think you comments are a bit premature seeing you don't know the area.
I am not doubting your skills or 4x4, I take it your meaning you want to stay on good tracks and roads.
Seriously I would love to see you get your "large off road van" under some of the "large low tree branches".
Has you 4x4 got a winch and suitable tyres?
AnswerID:
460245
Follow Up By: Benno77 - Tuesday, Jul 19, 2011 at 19:12
Tuesday, Jul 19, 2011 at 19:12
I have a GU Patrol with 2inch lift and MT tyres and 9000lb Super Winch. I have been 4wding as long as I have had a license. The van is a large off road van but when we go off road
well and truly the van won't be coming off road with us. Thats why Im enquiring about a place to leave it. I have never been through the area and all I really wan't to know is the best route through there (both scenery wise and access to all the good spots I have read about). The reason why I say I am not intimidated by difficult roads is that I don't want to imply that I won't attempt to drive a road that is steep, narrow or windy as some people with little towing experience would not.
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