The Young & The Restless | Mountain air is medicinal

By Bree Harding

Nov 14, 2023

Majestic: Pretty as a picture. Photo by Contributed

The township of Bright is to Goulburn Valley residents what Bali is to Aussies.

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It is a favoured playground due to its proximity.

Bali, for Australians, is a short flight away and a cheap place to spend a week in a totally different landscape.

Bright for GV folk is a short drive away and perfect for spending a weekend in a vastly different landscape: the mountainous valleys and clear rivers with beds of smooth pebbles contrasting starkly to our flat surrounds and brown opaque rivers with beds of mud and tree roots.

Tempting: How could we not buy breakfast from this sweet little food van. Photo by Contributed

Every week, my social feeds are full of charming pictures of the high country as friends spend time there to hike or adventure, chase waterfalls or engage in rigorous physical challenges, camp or dine, join in rod runs or, in winter, ski and toboggan, four-wheel drive, fish or hunt.

I love it, too, and have been visiting since the first year I was licensed to drive. But I feel it’s got so busy in recent years. It’s great for the town itself: that hive of activity making it the place to be, those tourist dollars flowing in no matter the season.

Delivering a message: Artwork in town. Photo by Contributed

When I head to the mountains, however, I sometimes want to escape the hustle and bustle and relax. I don’t want to have to chuck a couple of blocks to find a parking space, line up for 45 minutes at an ice-cream stand, or pre-book a table for dinner while I’m still with work-related deadlines mid-week when the weekend still seems so far.

I know it’s a First-World problem for sure, but sometimes it’s nice not to have to plan anything in advance.

Inviting: The Harrietville Hotel Motel's night-time crowd betrayed how many tourists it seemed were in town during the days. It was a great vibe — a full beer garden with live music on a warm summer’s eve. Photo by Contributed

To, for once, take the mum/driver/tour guide/planner hat off for a second and just go with the flow. And for the same dose of fresh mountain air, the same flora and fauna fix, the same kind of rivers you can see the bottom of, but significantly smaller crowds and far less traffic, you can drive for just 20 minutes further on the Great Alpine Rd and land in Harrietville.

Until last year, I hadn’t been to Harrietville since my first week at high school on Year 7 camp. Then, one day on break, I found myself a little restless and my young slightly bored, so I picked up a map, spied Harrietville and decided it was time to revisit.

Exploring: Crossing the Catherine Lilly Bridge in Harrietville. Photo by Contributed

To my surprise, despite it being a very busy summer holiday period, the first call I made landed us a cheap room at the hotel motel there. So we lazily packed the car and were away by lunchtime, arriving mid-afternoon.

Being daylight saving, that still gave us plenty of time to explore the creek across the road, go for ice-cream (where we only had to line up for five minutes), spend hours in the pool by the pool bar and eat a delicious meal while listening to live local music in the pub’s beer garden as the sun disappeared behind the mountains.

Sweet treats: Locally made ice-creams — what more could you want. Photo by Contributed

The next day, we did a few loops stemming from a walk called the Charlie Miley Walk through the town’s recreation reserve, weaving through Chinese gold diggings and following the Ovens River.

We’d have taken on a more challenging hike, but none of us had packed suitable footwear or hydration packs and what not. Instead, we took a path somewhat out of the town centre and followed the creek back into town, spending short distances travelling in the water on our way.

On a mission: Exploring the icily refreshing clear waters close to their source. Photo by Contributed

Wading through: The shallow and crystal clear waters offered a new pathway, albeit a slower one, back into town. Photo by Contributed

We’d packed our kayaks to paddle on the waters of the Tronoh Dredge Hole (home to the iconic Joop’s Jetty), but unfortunately, there had been an algae outbreak, so we were unable to put the watercraft in during our visit. Instead, we opted for a nature walk around the man-made lake, taking photos, spotting wildlife and watching fish jump instead.

Bad luck: The iconic Joop’s Jetty at the Tronoh Dredge Hole was slightly under water during our visit. Photo by Contributed

In the afternoon, it was time to sample new flavours of short-wait ice-cream, swim some more at our accommodation’s algae-free pool and eat another plate of yummy pub grub to the sweet soundtrack of more live local music before heading home via the Red Stag Deer and Emu Farm at Eurobin to hand-feed the animals the next morning.

I often need a break to get over a break because no matter where we go, we always have a stacked itinerary.

But when you take off that mum/driver/tour guide/planner hat for a little while and let spontaneity in a slow-paced place call the shots, that mountain air becomes medicine. When you get home, there’s a lot less tension in your shoulders. And for that, I’ll drive a further 24 kilometres down the Great Alpine Rd for any day.