Sheepyard or bust...........

And we nearly did.
This was a blokes only trip. If you can call a three year old a bloke. Can you? I don't know.
This trip was 6 months in the planning. Lots of day dreaming and even more map pouring over.
The idea was to leave here on Thursday and be back here on Sunday. Here is Frankston Victoria, for those of you not in the know. It was to be me and my 3 year old son Tim. We had already done one trip on our own earlier this year and that was a screaming success. This trip was a repeat. No women. No girls. (Girls are yucky.) No phone. No internet. No TV. No showers. And we could grunt at each other without someone asking what was said or what was that noise.

 This was us. At departure point.
First stop Yea for lunch and a visit with a train driver, now retired, that I hadn't seen for years. He had a stroke and was forced into retirement. I had not stopped at Yea before and was very surprised to see how historical the place was. I was also very pleased to see my mate much better than I thought he would be. Tim amazed me. Salad sandwich and a choc milk went down the hatch.

 Yea is or was a train siding. Tim decided the play ground at the rear of the old station was a good place to get rid of some energy. His as well as mine.

 This is just east of Mansfield. The views out here are endless and stunning. Even on a cloudy day.
After leaving Mansfield, things got warm, very warm. Hot even. First hint of trouble was the first hill after turning onto the Howqua Track. The temperature went up as the speed went down. It is 21 kilometres from the turn off to Brock's Road to arrival at Sheepyard Flat. Eight up, thirteen down. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw what the temperature gauge did. Yes, it is a steep hill. Yes I was towing a camper. But it wasn't that steep and the camper not that heavy and Toy80 wasn't exactly overloaded. Over the next 8 kilometres I was stop 4 times with the motor the temperature in the red. Each time I would pop the hood and let things cool down. Then drive on a bit. It turns out the viscous fan may be the problem. I was able to get phone reception and phoned my mechanic back in Frankston. He informed me that the fan should roar when the vehicle is started from cold and then when the temperature reaches a certain point, it should lock in again to pull the temperature down. His theory, as yet unproven, is that the liquid in the clutch had leaked out.

 Camp. Thursday night. And my little helper. And his sisters bike. In his on little way he helped. Here he is putting the door on its hinge so the door wouldn't slam.
Then I discover. No tea. No coffee. No can opener. Can you imagine 3 days without tea or coffee. Only Coca Cola and water to drink. Can you imagine 3 days: no tea, no coffee.
But we did have our very own on-suite.

 And there is the proof. And while I am at it, can some one explain to me why a drop pit toilet is so fascinating to a 3 year old boy? Sure beats me.
What's a drop pit toilet? It is a huge hole in the ground. About 3 metres deep, with a pan cemented on top.
Set up on site took about 45 minutes. That included setting up the fly's and the side awning. Tim's part was to hand things to me as I asked for them. Levelling the van was very easy. We had a fire pit nice and handy.
After setting up the van we decided to go far a walk around the camp to see who was there.  This is in fact our second visit to Sheepyard. Last year there was a Dads and Kids weekend that was on.They had been there the previous weekend. Why do I mention that? Because they were there last year when we arrived and were still there when we left. We were there from Friday through Sunday last year. They had one big long noisy party. That party went through the night.
Last year we were there with the Jayco Expanda forum meet up. This year in the spot we had last year there was a Tracka Van meet up. They took both sides of the track on the right hand site.Last year the Expanda group only took up half that area. Lots of people. They had been there all week. Turns out there are 200 people in the Tracka Van club. They are Australia wide and have some event for members almost fortnightly. There was one big difference between them and the Expanda group. Where as we have lots of younger families and lots and lots of children, they are most grey nomads.
Day two. Exploring day.
But first the morning. Oh, what a morning. The bush is quiet they said. Very relaxing they said. Good for a sleep in' in the morning they said. Yeah, right!! Either they wear ear plugs, they are very sound sleepers, or they are stone deaf. Some one forgot the morning chorus. I tell you, no chorus I heard was ever that loud. Or I might add, that good.
No pictures of Sheepyard this time. We havel have fond memories of last years event. Would you believe that despite my eldest girl being the way she was last year, she still talks about how much she enjoyed the event.
After a late breakfast it was exploring time. On foot to start with. Another circuit around the ground saw most of the Tracka group gone and what was left, packing up ready to go. I was impressed with how quickly they could pack up. Although some of the backing up to put van on car was shall we say, interesting. Amusing even.

 The above image is the Howqua river. They tell me one can catch trout in there. I have been fishing in over 20 years.
And I have to include this one.

I really wish I had a better picture of this bridge. When you arrive at the entrance to Sheepyard Flat camp ground you go across a bridge over the river Howqua. Well this one also help a fascination to a certain 3 year old. We had to walk that bridge twice. Then he wanted to get down to the river. Mind you, so did I. Look at the grass. Still very green and lush. I took my whipper sniper this year so I could clear around our site.

 There are many camp grounds along the Howqua. It is a very popular spot in the Victorian High country. This one is further on than Sheepyard. We walked over the hill to Davon Flat. It only takes about 15 minutes. Davon Flat hugs the river and is quite long. Like most camp grounds it has a drop pit toilet. All the camp grounds to the left of Sheepyard are smaller in comparison. It also does pay to take some way of trimming the grass.
The above picture is the entrance to Pickering Flats.

 Further on is Noonan's and Tunnel Bend grounds. This image is of Tunnel Bend. So named because some where there is a tunnel in there. Note also the clear water. I also saw people going down to the river with kettle to draw water for cooking and coffee. We had our own water supply. maybe next time.
That was our morning. Lunch on that day was breakfast. That is, bacon eggs and cucumber. Cucumber you say? Ask Tim. And surprising it was nice.
The afternoon we decided to drive over the hill to Fly's Hut camp ground. What a surprise.

 This place is huge. Big even. Like large even. Every one goes to Sheepyard. There is a better one. Just over the hill. And the views are magnificent. There is only one possible small problem. And that's really only if you have a huge van. The hill in between. That hill is a cracker. Very steep. very narrow track. You seriously don't want to meet a van coming the other way.

 And that is only about a half of the site. Plenty of room to spread out. The only draw back is the hill in between.

 

Another view. Tim loved it and so did I. He could run. And fall over. But so much fun. And, yes, the river is there. Cool mornings, warm sunny days.

 You think we enjoyed the trip and this place? You bet!
That was Friday. Walking, a little driving. Lots of relaxing. No coffee. No tea. Just me-n-Tim. No women. No phone. No internet. No TV.
Would I do it again? Not to Sheepyard. I want to go north of Buller next time.
Saturday dawned cold. Very cold. Some neighbours had a party on the Friday night. Till two AM. And that party was set to continue on the Saturday night into Sunday. And Sunday was set to be warmer.
I decided we would brave the hill out of Sheepyard on the Saturday morning when it would be cold with little traffic, knowing I would have at least one stop for an overheating motor. I was right. We were to stop three times on the way up that 13 kilometre hill on the way out.
After clearing the hill, it was down hill all the way. Even though there were a few times when the temperature gauge rose, nothing like that hill.
What's the lesson? There isn't one really. The vehicle was in top condition. And there is no way of knowing that a thermo clutch is about to go pear shape. And the problem was only there on steep hill at low speed.
Hope you all enjoy.
 They say camping and exploring gets in the blood. It does. We have done this one. Now we are planning the next. So watch this space.