Bright

We left Bruthen and began the drive up hill.  A very big hill known as Mount Hotham, it seemed like a good idea to see how the Cruiser would go pulling our heavy caravan up such an incline.  I'm happy to say that she did really well. Only one time when she started to get hot, we couldn't pull over but just slowed down a bit.  It was a pretty crazy drive to do with a caravan in tow.  I may have started to worry just a little, but it was so worth it when we got to the top.  Such a lovely place to visit, so picturesque and we even got to see snow.  It seems like it was only days ago that we were in central QLD in the stinking heat.  Another tick off our list of first since we started this trip.  After having a quick look around at the ski sloped and lifts,  we began our decent down the other side.  There was one point when we were heading along a ridge with sheer drop offs on either side.......hhmmm I may have held on tight then.  Mark did such a  great job driving the mountain, especially with me nagging him most of the way.

We pulled into Bright and found a fabulous and scenic small town in an awesome location.  We found our friends Tom, Lisa and Millie's house.  These guys are travelling friends we first meet in QLD at Carnarvon Gorge and also saw them in NT and SA.  We just kept running into them.  Was lovely to see them and to catch up on each other stories over the last year or so.  Millie had grown so much, such a little lady now.  And we were able to park our big van in front of their little van for a couple of nights.
Once we were set up we went for  a walk to have a look around town.  Which of course ended up with us going to the Bright Brewery, surprise surprise!!!..   It all was going well until Milly tumbled down the footpath and hurt herself. Then Jake went on a spinning ride at the playground and made himself sick and vomited!!

The next day we went for  a drive to a cycling event that was on.  Plus, much to Charlotte's delight Pony Club was also on.  So I stood with her at the fence to watch whilst Mark checked out the riding, he found himself a few nice bikes he'd like to buy.
Then we drove to Beechworth to go to the Bridge Road Brewery for lunch and drinks.  Mark and Tom were in their element, they so loved it, they have a mutual love of microbreweries.  They spent two days talking about beer, the wonders of beer, the amazingness of beer, basically beer beer beer......was amusing to watch, it was like a little bromance!!  Lisa and I left them for a while and went to the icecream shop and into a few other shops, too much beer for my liking.  We also had a look at the Beechworth honey shop and tasted some delicious honey. But I didn't buy any, I'm saving myself for some Tassie honey!!

Gazing in wonder at the Brewery!

We had such a lovely time in Bright.  We can so see why Tom and Lisa have decided to settle here.  Such a beautiful little town and we didn't even see it in the snow.  We've added that to our list of holiday destinations once we finish this trip, we'll definitely come back for some snow action.  As you can see in the photo Lisa was pregnant during our visit.  Since then they have welcomed a dear little boy called Jack to their little family.  So pleased for these guys and their little family.  We said farewell and drove for Melbourne.