Top of the World

Before we returned to the everyday world of work, school and home, we attended a family wedding at Mount Buffalo. It was a hair-raising drive up the mountain and once we reached 'the spot', Lake Catani, we were CAMPING. For only the second time in my life, I was sleeping in a tent. Fortunately, our campsite had access to toilets and hot showers and even a laundry. Hardly camping at all.

Home sweet home - our tent

Now, those who know me know that I am not a camper. I'm not even a caravaner. So I was a little concerned about how I would go sleeping on an airbed in a national park. The beauty of the location, the company and the reason for being there all made it worthwhile. When I looked up at the sky through the eucalypts, it did feel like we were on top of the world.

The path to our campsite

Mount Buffalo is 200 kilometres north of Melbourne, not far from historic Beechworth. The little town of Bright is nestled in its shadow. The mountain is part of one of Australia's oldest national parks. According to Wikipedia, explorers Hume and Hovell named the mountain in 1824 and the national park was created in 1898. The chalet opened in 1910 (it's currently closed). I don't know how anyone got up the mountain to the chalet one hundred years ago - it's difficult enough today driving up the narrow windy road, trying not to look down the sheer drops into the gorge, and the road is closed during the winter.

The views, though, are incredible. I was too chicken to contemplate going to the Horn at the top of the mountain but here is the view from the lookout where the wedding took place (I've discovered that taking photos is a pretty good way of managing my vertigo - it almost worked for me on the Eiffel Tower and it almost worked again standing at the lookout).

The wedding breakfast (try explaining why an evening meal at a wedding is called a 'breakfast') was held back at camp, on the edge of Lake Catani, where we had swum and paddled along with the ducks the day before.

The jetty at Lake Catani

The family consensus was that we would camp again, even without the excuse of a lovely wedding to attend. So I've made a list of tips to help make the experience even better next time.

Tips for Novice Campers (Us)

• Take good torches. The little torch you read by at 3am in the morning isn't the torch you need to get you to the toilet block in the middle of the night.
• Test everything before you go. Put up the tent (check), make sure the gas bottle has gas in it (check) and that the gas bottle connects to the stove (check) and that the tube that connects them isn't blocked (oops!), test the air pump fits into your mattress (oops again!).
• Camp with a large group of people who can help you if you forget to do the above.
• Over cater. It's amazing how many snacks small people need when they are running around in the bush all day.
• Give up trying to be clean - but enjoy the hot showers anyway.
• Always take a lovely bottle of wine and a big block (or three) of chocolate with you.