The Australia Day holiday is on January 26, an opportunity to escape the city and join Jose for what is becoming a club staple of 3/4-day long weekends: an exploration of the Nunniong State Forest, East of Swifts Creek-Omeo Rd

AUSTRALIA DAY IS ON TUESDAY 26. TO JOIN THIS TRIP YOU MAY NEED TO TAKE MONDAY OFF TO “BRIDGE” SUNDAY TO TUESDAY

PLEASE READ THE ADDITIONAL COMMENTS FOR IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT FUEL

ITINERARY IS SUBJECT TO TRACK OPENINGS AND CONDITIONS AS THE AREA WAS DAMAGED BY THE 2019-2020 BUSHFIRES

We will meet in the Caltex petrol station in Longwarry on Friday, January 22 at 6:30 pm and drive to the Tambo Crossing campsite on the Great Alpine Road. It will be a 3-hour drive so we should depart at 7:00 pm at the latest. Note traffic to Longwarry may be (even) heavier than usual this Friday. If you prefer you can drive to the campsite on your own, but please notify trip leader. There are no toilets at Tambo Crossing but there is a tiny campsite with toilets 4km south along the Great Alpine Rd, at the crossing with Collins Rd.

On Saturday we will drive north passing Mt Elizabeth and Mt Wong, tackle “Ralston Tk” (named after the club member who discovered it) and Cooks Break Tk, ascend to Mt. Nugong and spend the night in the Bentleys Plain Campsite (which has toilets). The campsite is not big and there may be extra campers on this long weekend, so it may be a bit cramped but hopefully it will be fine. We may need a smaller footprint than usual because is a big covered area with benchtops suitable for cooking. Several of the tracks we will be do this day are rated Difficult/Very Difficult.

On Sunday we will explore the region north of Bentleys Plain aiming for the Native Dog or Limestone Creek camp areas, both of which have toilets. This will be a truly exploratory day because we have little information on the tracks in that region. We will spend two nights at the campsite.

On Monday we will explore around the Limestone Creek area or, those who prefer, can relax at the campsite.

On Tuesday (OZ Day) we will drive to Benambra, where the trip will end around 1:00 pm. It should be a 5-6 hr drive from there to Melbourne.

Full tank of fuel (possible with some extra; see “Additional Comments” below); food, water, clothing and camping equipment for 4 days; recovery equipment as per the club trip rules for Difficult/Very Difficult-rated trips (winch may be required), tyre deflator and compressor; UHF radio (preferably not just walkie-talkie). As mentioned in the trip description, we will camp one night at a site without toilet facilities (but with toilets available a 5-min drive away).