Tarra Bulga Weekend Away
Tarra Bulga Weekend
© Cas BukorOur weekends away always seem too brief, but we pack a bit in and we make some great photos. Read my report about the weekend. I could have written pages more about the leeches, my not sleeping at all on Saturday night, we glorious wildlife (other than the leeches) and what an awesome time it was. If you've never been to one of our weekends away, I encourage you to come along to our next one. They are a great way to get to know our members, to learn and grow as a photographer. You won't be disappointed and my story here, doesn't do it justice.
Friday
It was quite the drive to our destination in Gippsland Victoria. About 2.5 hours south east of Melbourne. Some of us arrived mid-afternoon on Friday, having attended the Digital Show as it opened that morning, the rest staggered arrival until the final arrival at 2pm Saturday.
Around eight of us sat down to dinner Friday night at the Tarra Bulga Guesthouse, our base station for the weekend. Nina and her chef had prepared a delicious lasagne and salad followed by a Danish desert of lemon fromagé. We chatted about our drive and talked to Nina about her plans for the guesthouse which she had recently purchased.
After dinner a mildly frantic call came from a member who had turned up a rocky, slippery road with fallen trees and boulders, he had taken a wrong turn and thankfully arrived safely a short time after turning around.
Mobile reception was spotty in the area. From the guesthouse up it seemed most could get service, any deeper into Tarra Valley saw a bold "No Service" notice on our phones.
The guests staying at the guesthouse retired to the lounge and their rooms to get some much needed rest for our busy weekend ahead. I made the trip further down into the valley to the Tarra Valley Caravan Park where I set up my swag/tent, catching up with Cathy as she arrived, before turning in for the evening. I was a little worried about the cold but it turns out the Valley was a little warmer than up on the hill.
Saturday
Saturday morning was an unscheduled morning for members to find their way around and see what they could see. Cathy and I woke at 6am and took a drive up the valley, slowing and stopping at times for the odd wombat and wallaby crossing the road. One little wombat couldn't decide which way he wanted to go and wandered to and fro while we patently waited and "awww"ed at the cuteness of it all.
The only other member we saw out and about at such an early hour was Neil who took advantage of the early hours to find a lyre bird to snap, I think the only one that was successfully captured digitally all weekend.
At 1pm Saturday afternoon we gathered at the guesthouse and sorted out our carpooling for the day in an effort to ensure we didn't lose anyone this time. It turns out there wasn't much chance of it as most of the sights to see come of a single road. It would have been almost impossible to get lost. We also met our host photographer Darryl Whittaker who'd put together out itinerary for the weekend.
Our first official outing started at the Tarra Valley Picnic area. Some started with a stroll of the last kilometre of the road down to the picnic area capturing photos along the side of the road. The picnic area has a couple of trickling creeks that loop around and come together and a walking track that follows and crosses over the creeks. Fern gullies, waterfall, and ancient trees arching across the tracks. Leeches were seen, salt and Leo's bug spray came in handy. The group split up, some going left, some going right around the loop that brought as back to the starting point. We took our usual group shot, and as usual, it was missing a few folk.
After a couple of hours exploring the picnic area we ventured down the road a bit for a quick view of Tarra Falls. With it's gentle slope it's not what you think of when you picture a waterfall, instead the water cascades over the rocks and into the pool below. I didn't find it photographically appealing, but I'm sure some of our members made some great images from the scene.
Our final photographic destination for the evening was to the top of Mt Tassie for the sunset. As we waited for the sun to do its thing we prepared ourselves and snapped photos of our surrounds, including the distant Loy Yang power station. We were concerned for a while the clouds weren't going to play fair, but in the end some great images were captured before a wall of fog came over the hills behind us.
Saturday night dinner was back at the guest house, we enjoyed a meal of stuffed chicken breast on mashed sweet potato and a gorgeously sweet sticky date pudding. After dinner many of the members adjourned to the lounge for some wine, talk and music.
Sunday
To catch a September sunrise in Tarra Valley you have to get up nice an early and be ready for a 5:30am shoot time. Cloud on the horizon cramped our style and we froze our butts off but in the end the sun rose above them and we could take some shots.
After breakfast at the guesthouse we broke into two groups, one group went walkabout on a 5km walk, the rest of us were lead by Darryl on a 1.5km walk on a trail not often tread. While I'm sure ours was was the "easier" of the two I felt like we were on an episode of Oprah's Favourite Things… I could just picture Oprah standing screaming "You get a leech, and you get a leech, and you, and you and there's a leech for you… you're all going home with leeches!" They were everywhere, I flicked many off my shoes and one off my leg. Others weren't so lucky, while others still seemed immune. I was a little too focused on the black slimy blood suckers to make any good images, but others produced some with aplomb.
We ended the official weekend with lunch at the guesthouse before we made our way home. I happy to say it was a great weekend and I'm grateful to be part of a club filled with so many awesome people. Thanks to everyone who came along and made it an enjoyable weekend.
