monkeyalan

we live in Melbourne and we're planning on spending a few days in the mountains over the melbourne cup weekend ( horse racing ) .

just after a few suggestions of places to visit as it's quite overwhelming.
I don't mind driving for 3 or so hours a day and will have 3 nights away.

we like a bit of walking/climbing (Snowdon nearly killed me a few years ago but i've upped the cardio since then ) so some biggish climbs aren't a problem as the views are always worth it.

cheers.

mohogony

Have you considered the Grampian mountains in western victoria about 3 hours west of Melbourne.The town of Halls gap is a good place to stay, great scenery and plenty of walks. Mt William has a spectacular view up top, this time of year there may be a bit of snow up there. You can drive most of the way up then its a half hour walk to the top.

monkeyalan

we've been over that way a few times and fancied another direction butthanks for the idea

MartinLuther

My suggestion would be Bright.

mohogony

yes l agree Bright.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/digger1914/436305679/

monkeyalan

looks nice and their spring festival is on that weekend too.

thanks

MartinLuther

There's a great restaurant on the main street called Get Spiced or something like that. They have a red chilli logo. I can recommend the Jalfrezi.

I can also recommend a trip to the maze at Wandilligong if you like mazes.

And of course it has one of the best micro-breweries in Victoria (and probably Australia ).

hevs

Bright is beautiful. We loved Mount Buffalo national Park for bush walking, the view from the top is stunning. We also drove home down the Great Alpine road. Take a sick bag!
We left Bright in shorts and T shirts and threw snowballs at each other on the top of Mt Hotham (This was begining of November about 4 years ago!) Stunning journey

monkeyalan

martin luther - I can't do spicy food, I break into a sweat eating KFC

hevs - the great alpine road sounds ace, I get so bored driving in Oz , auto gearbox + freeway = tedious ( if you don't count the daily battle for survival due to the locals skill levels)

Gems

Wow, Im living in the wrong state.
Hubby has be missing proper countryside, so going to show him this picture when he gets home from work. Think he will want to pack up and move.

Gems

monkeyalan

you can't beat a good hill .

Coming from Sheffield all the flatness around Melbourne is a bit dull.

hevs

Have you not been up to the Dandenongs? Or North of the city?

Petals

We go to Bright every year in spring, summer or autumn and we then take ourselves up Mount Buffalo and do the horn etc lots of great walks up there, hard and not so hard. We usually come back over Dinner Plain and down to Omeo very windy road. Omeo to Bairnsdale road is very windy and they have notices which say just one more. Log trucks can be a problem as they go very fast but the drivers are very good.

We also take the dirt roads over Swifts Creek way once again can be a bit harrowing, log trucks.

How anyone can think Vic is not hilly is strange to me.

Otherwise you can go to the Grampians, very popular with lots of people.

We also take in Beechworth, Yackandandah as standard when we are up there. My son lives in Yarrawonga and then we head over there which is flat as farm land but lovely place to go to, lots of clubs and things to do.

Albury is handy to Bright and so is Wangaratta, the whole area is lovely, Milawa. Can visit Brown Brothers winery, the Cheese Factory.

For cyclists who like mountains the Alpine Classic is on every January, my oh has done it a few times but past it now, although we sometimes take the bike and he rides up Mount Buffalo just so he knows he can still do it.

MartinLuther

Petals has a couple of good points. The King Valley has a reputation for good food and wine. Depending on how much time you have you can take the road through the King Valley to Bright rather than the Wangaratta route. Also Beechworth is within striking distance of Bright.

One year I drove all the way up the back roads from Melly to Bright rather than the Hume Fwy which can get a little tedious. Mansfield is a nice place to stop for a bite to eat and the back roads drive from Mansfield to Milawa is really good (but take a map).

If you come back south then the road between Bairnsdale and Melly can be a little uneventful but given time it's worth turning left at Traralgon and driving through South Gippsland. The rolling hills are very pretty.

Top tip. Remember to fill up with fuel when you can. Bright has got a couple of petrol stations but there is very little between Bright and Omeo (there might be one in Harriotville). Not sure if it's required at that time of year but for colder times they sell Alpine diesel up that way which has an additive to stop it freezing. Alternatively you can get stuff to add to your diesel.

monkeyalan

yeah we go to both a fair bit but i'm used to going up or down hills everyday wether i like it or not

we live in docklands and the city (melbourne) is flat as a pancake , i don't think you get more than a bit of a slope til you get about 50k's away.

thanks for the other suggestions folks. we're booking bright for a couple of nights and will look at somewhere else for another night.

Mt buffalo looks like the sort of challenge we like.