AUSTRALIA - VICTORIA - POREPUNKAH AND MOUNT BUFFALO - hikes, kayaks, mtb - 1 to 3 january 2014

1^st January 2014 Wednesday

We departed Beechworth and drove to Everton Rail Trail Station. Jacinta was suppose to go towards Everton but ended going to Tarrawingee which was in the opposite direction. No problem except I was to meet her at Bowman. All’s well that ends well and after a series of unfortunate events, I met Jacinta at Tarrawingee. She really enjoyed her ride saying it was flat and so much easier than the last rail trail.

distance - 6.07km
time - 22mins
av speed - 16km/h
max speed - 28.7 km/h
elevation range - 61m

We drove towards Bowman and it was my turn for a ride. I started at Bowman, I think, and then it was uphill for the next three kilometres. The rest of the ride was downhill then sort of flat until I reached Myrtleford where Jacinta was waiting. It was also a great ride.

distance - 14.46 km
time - 53mins
av speed - 16.3 km/h
max speed - 37.9 km/h
elevation range - 118m 

We continued driving and set up camp at Porepunkah at the Riverside Caravan Park - $40 pn. It was bushier and was it was beside the Buckland River.

Later that afternoon, Jacinta dropped with somewhere upriver along the Buckland River. It was one of the best kayaks I have had yet – pebble races, rapids and two drops. I portaged around the drops.

distance - 4.24 km
time - 52 mins
av speed - 4.9 km/h
max speed - 10.2 km/h
 

2^nd January 2014 Thursday

We drove up to the top of Mount Buffalo with the last few kilometres being on dirt road. We stopped at the Horn car park and completed the Horn hike. It was a little cold and windy but the trail was excellent winding through alpine vegetation and rocks. The view at the top was excellent.

distance - 0.5 km
time - 7 mins
elevation range - 79 m

We continued downhill and stopped at the ‘Dickson Falls Walk’.  A different and great walk along an undulating path past and over alpine wetlands. It finished at the Dickson Falls which cascaded down a series of rocks for quite a distance.

distance - 3.43 km
time - 38 mins
av speed - 4.8 km/h
elevation range - 28 m

The next stop was the ‘Old Galleries Walk’. Jacinta rested on this and I had a steep hike amongst large rocks and boulders. It was a lot of fun winding around them and crawling under a couple.

We rested the rest of the afternoon and had a bike ride around the area outside the camp along dusty, sandy roads and trails. Nice finish to the day!

distance - 5.36 km
time - 38 mins
av speed - 8.7 km/h
max speed - 22.6 km/h
elevation range - 9 m 

3 rd January 2014 Friday

We drove up Mount Buffalo again to Lake Catani. We kayaked around the alpine lake. It was so cool with grasses, mountain backdrop and a dam wall. Very pretty!

distance - 2.06 km
time - 23mins
av speed - 5.4 km/h 

Next, was the Cathedral/Hump hike. It was steep but the end views and boulder formations made it worthwhile.

distance - 1.34 km
time - 20 mins
av speed - 4.1 km/h
elevation range - 127 m

We stopped at the ‘Chalet’ on the way down and Jacinta rested while I walked around a few of the viewing outlooks. Nice views!