Beautiful trees in Bright, ready to turn into their autumn splendour
30 March 2016
We weren’t in too much of a hurry to leave Bright, the light rain had stopped, everything looked refreshed, and we didn’t have too far to travel to Tallangatta, less than two hours. Barb took us for a lovely drive around Bright and its surrounds, then we stopped at the Riverview Cafe for a coffee (below left and right). Bright is a very beautiful town, we were too early to see it painted in its full autumn colours, but some of the trees had already turned to gold and orange and it must be spectacular by the end of autumn. We were surprised at the number of vineyards, the variety of produce, and it is a popular place to visit for cycling and walking. The snow resorts of Mt Buffalo, Falls Creek and Mt Hotham are only a short distance away. We will definitely revisit Bright.
When we headed off late morning we drove toward Myrtleford, then turned off at Ovens and took the road through Happy Valley and Rosewhite, until we met up with the Kiewa Valley Highway (leading to Wodonga). We hadn’t had a lot of breaks, and driving for long distances on a highway becomes boring (and mesmerising) so we decided to turn off the highway to the city of Wangaratta for a coffee (left).
Back on the highway we turned off at Kiewa and drove east to Tallangatta, lying on the banks of the Mitta Arm of Lake Hume approximately 38 kilometres south-east of Albury-Wodonga.
Looking toward the pretty town of Tallangatta from the lookout
Tallangatta was founded in the 1870s, the Post Office opening on 15 May 1871. The most distinctive aspect of the town’s history is that it was moved 8 kilometres to the west in the 1950s to allow for the expansion of Lake Hume. Stories of the transition from old town to new town were captured in the 1988 book Slates and Suet Puddings by Carmyl Winkler. On 14 April 1955 the Post Office was renamed Tallangatta East and a new Tallangatta office opened at the new town location. The sign welcoming motorists to town reads “Tallangatta, the town that moved in the 1950s”. The grid layout of the streets of Old Tallangatta are clearly visible in Google Earth.
It was great to meet up with Ruth and Graham, and we had a delicious dinner at the Victoria Hotel in the town. Again Ruth was a friend who worked with me during the 1970s in the barristers’ chambers and the Supreme Court, so there was a lot of news to catch up on.
Tomorrow we head to Canberra for our last night of the holidays.
Check the Tastes page here
