'Hilton-on-Eildon' star rating - 10,000 stars

For those of you who have been reading my ramblings over the last few years you will know that every January we spend a weekend in Eildon with our good friends Astrid, Hans & Bianca. 'Spending a weekend' is a little stretch of reality as though we certainly do visit for a day we always head off to a comfy motel for the night. We have had some great times at Eildon with the Van Lierops and we were looking forward to another fun weekend this year.

With the water level in Lake Eildon having risen from 31% last January to over 78% this year I was thinking I should book the motel before it was too late. Bianca must have been reading my mind from the campsite because just as we arrived back from our weekend in the Yarra Valley I got a message from her showing me my home for the next weekend. A tent! Not bloody likely I thought until I did have a think about it and my thoughts were like.... I can't try to water ski again this year just yet. Got to do something else instead. Why not stay in the tent and save the terrifying night time drive along the Skyline Rd. I know I can't see what's down there in the dark but I can remember how sheer the drop is! Bacon & eggs for breakkie sounds pretty good. It is only one night, I'm sure we can do this. So I replied much to her shock and said yes! I'm surprised I couldn't hear the whoops of surprise from here.

We have had lots of fun at Eildon and we have seen all types of weather as well. Scorching hot one year and torrential rain the next. Last year was just right and we were hoping for the same this year but as the week wore on the rain that started on Monday got heavier & heavier. Reports from the campsite did not sound promising and I was getting a touch concerned about my rash decision to get back to nature. Still I tried to think positive and even bought 2 sleeping bags for the big adventure.


And then on Friday just like the weather man said the rain stopped at 2.30pm. The sun came out and continued to shine for the whole weekend. I was still in shock that I had agreed to do this but it was with a touch of excitement that I packed on Friday night all ready for a nice easy getaway the next morning. We stopped on the way at Alexander for the food & drink and then 30 mins later we arrived at the Fraser campsite in the Eildon National Park. I had been expecting it to be soggy underfoot from all the rain but it had dried out pretty well and was just damp enough to keep the dust down. 'Hilton-on-Eildon' was waiting for us. I particularly liked the decor - orange pyscadelic flowers - a real relic of the 70's.

A long leisurely lunch under the annex catching up on each others Christmas news took care of a couple of hours. The rest of the afternoon was spent down by the water swimming in an area where last year it was dry land. The tree I was swimming around last year is well under water somewhere near the middle now. And with lots more water still coming down the rivers I expect it will continue to rise for a while yet. A quick shower before night fell and the tent was made ready for it's inhabitants while we could still see.

Night brought some new challenges but I had decided that if I couldn't see the spiders I wouldn't think about them. It even worked to a degree though everywhere we went someone was pointing out the bloody big things. Ugh, if there is one thing that I hate it is spiders and I really think I did quite well. I didn't look at them as everyone else was checking them out and I survived the whole experience. Bianca & the guys took charge of bar-b-queuing the meat while Astrid & I did the salad and we enjoyed our dinner with a bottle of red. After dinner we wandered down to a campfire area where we lit a fire and spent a couple of hours under the stars. The night sky was just beautiful and the thousands of stars shine so bright compared to what we normally see in the city. The chocolate bananas done in the coals were just yummy and another bottle of red went down quite well. It was 2 very weary campers who crawled into those sleeping bags that night.

The next morning was beautiful and Bill got out and about early with his camera. I didn't venture out until after 8 but even then it was quiet and still. Just one boat out on the water and people in the camping area just starting to stir. Bianca cooked us all the yummiest bacon & eggs for breakkie and we spent the next couple of hours just relaxing round the table and chatting and being entertained by the many King Parrots & Rosella's visiting our site.

We finally roused our self and Hans put the boat in the water for Bianca to ski. Before we did that we took a tour of the lake and we were motoring in areas that they have not been able to access since 1996. A few years ago we had walked to the skeleton of a house that was on a hill. Now it is in the middle of the lake under water again. Once Bianca had had a couple of long runs on the skis we all came back in for lunch and then it was time for us to pack our bags and head home.

If we have another winter of rain like this it is likely that we will see the lake full again. It is an amazing sight and I am just so glad that we have been able to see it. Thanks guys for the amazing opportunity and the fun times too. I have to say that this weekend has been one of the best ever for a long time and who knows Bianca I might even do it again!

So with another adventure under our belt it was time to head back to work on Monday morning. This week was much drier with blue skies and sunshine all week. It seems that summer has arrived at last.

This weekend our big adventure was to catch a train down to Chelsea last night where we had dinner with Mum, Maree, Jarrod & Aaron. It was Jarrod's birthday and we had a lovely seafood dinner at the Beach House. Happy Birthday mate. A quiet Sunday finished off a couple of fun weeks so with no more to tell just now, I'll leave you now.

until next time.........