Our Great Adventure: Bright Day 141 6/02/2015

So the revised plan was to head north to the High Country hoping that it would be a bit more lively than the Snowy River National Park. After breakfast and filling up the car again we set off north along the Great Alpine Road up winding roads towards Omeo where we stopped for lunch (so far so good!). The temperature was now 25 degrees but was very pleasant with the cool mountain air. The town is the southern access route to Mt Hotham at 1868m, a ski resort in winter which apparently has some of the best and most challenging downhill runs in the country (but then we are in Australia!). We had a brief respite on route as the road was being resurfaced with no access to traffic until it had been done. Just after Mt Hotham we spotted a ridge off to the east, climbing to a peak called Feathertop at 1922m, which looked interesting and stopped to see if it was a marked walk. Luckily it was and definitely a route for us to consider for tomorrow (Simon didn't seem very keen on the cycling option - mind you in 30 degree heat it might be a bit much). Most of the forest around here has been destroyed in bushfires which is very sad view in all directions. The road continues north descending steeply with loads of hairpin bends to Harrietville at 520m and then on to Bright where we decided to stay for the night, apparently a hub for outdoor activity in both the summer and winter. Luckily for us it's a bit more buzzing than Buchan. After checking out the Coach House Inn (Lonely Planet's recommendation) we booked to stay for two nights and had a look at options in the visitors centre. The route we'd seen earlier looks like a great option so we went off to buy provisions before treating ourselves to tea and scones. We sat out in the garden at the Inn before heading over the road to the local microbrewery for carbo loading pizza (more local beer for Simon to try!).