Silver Gypsy: Alpine Highway

As a victim of a badly pruned tree, a branch sticking out into the leafy shrubbery in a parking area, I headed back to Bairnsdale to arrange the replacement of my rear window. A day on the phone and driving around kept me in town so I stayed at a caravan park by the river for two nights (which included a pretty impressive fireworks display from the park next door). My window, of course, is curved glass, tinted, with heating strips and has to be ordered in. The branch had punched a hole in the window and crazed the rest of it. A helpful fellow traveller named Warwick did what plumbers do best, and pulled everything together with duct tape. That should hold it until the new window arrives on Friday or Monday. His wife Linda came with her Dyson and gathered up all the glass that had fallen into the back of the van and onto the bed.

In the meantime, I have decided to drive the Alpine Highway for a few days. As the sun has disappeared again, the coastal strip is not very inviting. I am sitting in the Blue Bee cafe in Bruthen getting my mail done before planning for tonight.Whoever coined the phrase 'as changeable as the weather' must have had Victoria in mind. For such a tiny town, there is a lot of history including the plaque commemorating the first successful parachute jumper. in Australia - beside the nose cone which is all that is left of the plane he jumped from.

I was also intrigued by the sign for the New Cemetery, which contained graves that were nearly 150 years old - and is segregated by race and religion.

I had a very slow trip on the Alpine Highway, partly because it is a steep winding road and partly because I had to stop so often to take photos. It is incredibly beautiful. I spent the night at Mt Kosciusko Lookout, very cloudy at night and a glorious clear morning.

An early start took me to Dinner Plains, the highest village in Australia. I'd never heard of it till a few days ago. It has dozens of Alpine style houses, many of which are vacant in Summer. It is only a few kilometres from Mt Hotham and its huge ski areas. There is still a bit of snow on the mountains and lying in some of the hollows near the road.