Day 6: Omeo to Omeo
11 February 2024
Master Map
It's a little-known fact that my rides are largely unplanned. I mean, there's a general idea of where I might go, but weather, an unexpected detour, or even a whim might mean I end up somewhere totally unexpected. As the planning had been left to me, it follows there were no real plans for Day 6. We were to meet AussieFlyer at the close of play on Day 7, but there was almost no reasonable ride we could do that would leave us with another decent day's riding. What do you do when you're sitting at the start of one of the best motorcycle roads in the country with excellent roads to ride over not one but two mountains?
Yeah. I know. A loop.
We faffed around waiting for the local petrol station to open, filled up, ate breakfast and drank a cup of coffee before retracing our path up the Omeo Highway. Well … NoRoomtoMove wasn't, but that's a mere detail.
Forty six kms up the road a little after Anglers Rest we turned onto the Bogong High Plains Road and climbed to Falls Creek ski resort at 1,780 meters. Approaching the town of Falls Creek from the west, the road is spectacular, winding around a dam. The Tasmanian bloke had described it as having a surface like a racetrack. It was a glorious day, too, just to make the experience better.
NoRoomtoMove leads us up onto the Bogong High Plains
Rocky Creek Storage at Falls Creek
A breather at Falls Creek
Then down the mountain, past the town of Mt Beauty before climbing again over the Tawonga Gap and descending to the town of Bright. There we found petrol, but no coffee, so we made do with a cooling ice cream. Well, it was hot, wasn't it?
The road down to Mount Beauty is a … beauty
The final leg of the loop — if loops can have legs — took us over Mount Hotham. It's a fabulous ride up from the western side as, after winding around a ridge for some time, you pop out onto a razorback ridge for the final few kilometres. A miscalculation would result in a long, long slide down a steep hill. I don't think you'd make it back.
Mount Hotham's over there somewhere
The road winds around a ridge to the right of these photographs and then makes its way back to the centre of the shot. You can see the scar of the road on the mountain in the centre.
There are killjoys everywhere
At the top of the road, the sign above claims the title of the highest coach road in Australia at 1,845 metres. Writing this, I went looking for the picture and, initially, couldn't find it. That led me to the internet which told me that, the highest point of Australia accessible by road is 1,849 metres at a scenic look out at Falls Creek. That pips the highest point on the Hotham road which is said to be 1,840 metres. How does that align with the 1,845 metres shown here? I don't know who to believe any more. Suffice it to say, low though Australia's mountains are compared to their international competitors, this is as high as you can get on a road in Australia.
We rolled down the hill, stopping at a lookout, where we failed to see Mt Kosciuszko for cloud cover, before returning to the Golden Age Hotel for a quiet night.
We couldn't see Mount Kosciuszko
Smart people park their bikes in the shade
