This Side- Nickel Creek

"Only the curious have something to find..."

This weekend Eli and I went camping outside of Whitfield, Victoria in the Alpine National Park. To give you an idea of where that is: close your eyes and picture the middle of nowhere. We were a little further out than that.

It took close to four hours to reach the campgrounds. The drive was along the same route it took to get to the Healesville Sanctuary, and although the countryside was slightly more familiar this time, it was no less astounding. When we got to the mountain range my ears kept popping and I had to constantly yawn to keep the pressure to a minimum. There was also a moment when both Eli and I both thought we had lost our minds because the moon was to the right of us, and suddenly it was in front of us. Then we remembered: we were going in circles around a mountain. The small moments like that were the best parts about the weekend.

We woke up shortly after the sun- around 7am. I was surprisingly awake and very excited to start our trip. I cleaned up the car and Eli made breakfast- bacon and egg sandwiches. Once we had everything put back together we headed out to the power lookouts. Eli said this was a great area for pictures, and he wasn’t kidding! Even the drive over had a view to die for. I made him pull over so I could get out and take a picture of the valley below us that had a cloud sitting right inside of it. It was unbelievable.

Set on the side of the mountain, the lookouts had a spectacular view of the valley below and the mountains in the distance. Nothing could capture or justify the beauty in this area. I tried to take pictures, but they don’t do the scenery justice. Eli scared me half to death with his daredevil antics. He decided to climb over the barrier and out onto on of the overhanging rocks to get a better view- I don’t think I took another breath until he had safely returned to the proper side of the rail.

Next we hiked down the side of the mountain to find a waterhole that a famous old bushranger had used in the 1700s or 1800s when he was running from the police (a bushranger is Australia’s name for a cowboy). The slope was rainy, muddy, and slippery and I lost my footing a few times, but made it down eventually. We found the waterhole and saw there was a cave in the mountain just above it- so we climbed some of the rocks and made our way inside. The cave was empty, but Eli assumes a feral dog sleeps there at night, so I quickly made my way back down.

Our next stop was Paradise Falls. It was about a 15 or 20 minute walk down a set of winding, stone stairs until we suddenly turned a corner and saw the two rushing waterfalls in front of us. Absolutely breathtaking- the falls lived up to their name. I was astounded and speechless. The falls were massive and so powerful. This time, I initiated the boundary breaking so we could get a better look. I stood behind and directly underneath the waterfall- close enough to feel the spray and looked up to the heavenly sight. If it was warmer, I probably wouldn’t have thought twice about jumping in the water in front of me to play in the unbelievable beauty- it was the kind of beautiful you want to be a part of- you want to fold yourself into it like a blanket and feel at peace with it. I think I simply stood and stared at the picture perfect sight for 15 minutes. I wanted the beauty to be seared into my memory. Some of the walls were a yellow tint and I asked Eli about it- he told me about how the tint turns into paint when you get it wet and the aborigines used to use it for art and storytelling. He told me yellow and red are the two colors most common in Victoria, but there is also green, white, black, blue, and many other variations. We climbed and explored around the falls for a bit and finally, begrudgingly, started our hike back up to the car.

The rest of the weekend we spent trekking through the wilderness, either on foot or in Eli’s truck. There were a few scary moments where I wasn’t sure if we were going to make it up or down a certain area, but the 4-wheel drive always pulled through. At one point I saw a track off the side of the road that went almost directly up, I pointed at it and asked if we could make it up- Eli decided we should find out. We made it to the top and found ourselves on the peak of a very steep drop. We both got out of the car to see how impossible it looked- and it was an intimidating drop- probably quite a bit steeper than 45 degrees. But, fearless, we got back in the car, put our seatbelts on, and went for an adventure. We ended up driving the track and it took us, basically, over the top of a few mountains. It was a spectacular experience. On our way back to our original campsite we stopped and took pictures of a dozen or so wild kangaroos that were just across a field- I was so excited to see some in the wild!

We stopped and had a hefty lunch of Australian sausages at our original campsite and then made our way into the bush to find Eli’s favorite spot- a campsite right on the edge of a secluded lake. We gave ourselves plenty of daylight to make it in, which I am very happy about. It took us about an hour to travel about 5 kilometers because we were in such dense foliage, mud, and water. If there was a tree in the way (which we ran across a few fallen trees in the processes), it didn’t really bother Eli, he simply drove off into the woods/grass/wilderness next to the track and we forged our way around. We made it to our campsite, which had a marvelous view, started a fire and set up camp for the night.

Sunday morning we did some exploring in the secluded area around the campsite. While driving a few kangaroos jumped out right in front of the car and took off in front of us- almost in a teasing way. I startled and laughed out loud—it was certainly a sight I don’t see very often. The track we chose was terrifying and we didn’t make it too far before we decided to turn around. We ran into a part of the ground that was almost completely caved in and, thankfully, Eli decided we probably shouldn’t risk falling into a huge pit in the middle of the outback. On our way out of the bush wallabies and kangaroos dashed across the track in front of us—every time I was so excited I would burst out a little yell like a child on a rollercoaster.

We headed home after making our way out of the bush and although I was sad to leave the beauty of the jungle-like Victorian outback, I know we will be back (hopefully in warmer conditions as well!) Now I really have to focus on some school work that is due later this week—something I am not looking forward to as much as the adventures that I’m sure are to come.