South Gippsland page 4 - Ithaki to Victoria Australia ithacagreece.com winter special 2012

South Gippsland 4

With only a couple of hot days, southern Australia was again ravaged by bushfires. Tasmania suffered significantly under 45 degree C heat and above, but also Victoria which has bushfire warnings in all the rural areas with evacuation plans in place.

After the heatwave had passed we headed to the mountains of Gippsland past the town of Erica to Walhalla.

Walhalla, deep in the forested mountains of Gippsland is a unique and historic hideaway. Walhalla was one of Victoria's richest towns with more than 4000 gold seekers back in the gold rush hay day. Now there are a mere 20 residents keeping the town alive for tourism. Ned Kelly robbed the bank and vault and so goes the history of this very picturesque mountain town.

Cohen's Reef, was a three kilometre vein of gold running through Walhalla. Today you can still catch the train through the mountains and look for gold in Stringers Creek Gorge.

Above - The outside dunny. Watch out for the redbacks.

The town is kept in a pristine condition. You could eat off the streets. Australia's history doesn't go back very far, but still it's interesting to see how the mountain paths were etched out in the search of gold. Walhalla is at the end of the forested road. There's only one way in and out, leaving me wondering how people would escape a forest fire here. The day we went, the ground was still wet from the previous day's rains so I wasn't too concerned about fire at the time.

Victoria's major power plants are smack in the middle of this tourist belt. Looking across the green paddocks and fields as they roll across the landscape to the power plant smoke stacks quickly reminded me of the real world and it's necessities, and how the beauty of the landscape takes second place to what drives our world and our modern lives.