THE RIVER OF GOLD


This beautifully scenic back road offers a fascinating detour with some truly fantastic free camps and great Aussie history

WORDS BY LORRAINE HOLLOWAY PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN AND LORRAINE HOLLOWAY

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We had been touring around the Victorian High Country, when we found this minor road and decided to use it as a detour from Mansfield to our destination of Marysville. The track promised a lot of options for freedom camps and some interesting stories. The information centre in Mansfield provided us with some local knowledge on the condition of the road; with that in mind, and plenty of touring brochures we headed out of town on the minor touring route: THE C511.

THE RIVER OF GOLD

Travelling along the sealed section of the C511, you’ll come to the small town of Jamieson, located in a pretty valley and only 30 minutes from Mansfield. The Jamieson River surrounds the town on three sides, and the town boasts many buildings dating back to its gold mining days.

Jamieson has many significant trees; some 28 are listed for their historical or botanical significance. Pick up a brochure and take a self-guided walk around town to see the oldest oak tree, thought to be the original and planted around 1860, or find the giant sequoia, requested to be planted by the then Magistrate of Jamieson. Many of these trees are part of the original plantings in the 1860s and can still be enjoyed today. While wandering around these trees, take time out to have a picnic or break beside the Jamieson River.

From Jamieson, the road tracks alongside a river of gold; the Goulburn River, once better known for gold diggings in its heyday, is now flanked by flowering golden wattles. About 10km along the C511 is a small village of Kevington, a relic of the gold mining days from the 1860s. Of the original five hotels built to cater for the gold rush, only two remain today. The original Garret’s Beer House, now trading as the Kevington Hotel, and Hatton’s Masonic Arms Hotel, currently a private residence. We sat and had a beer with owner Wayne Poole who told us the pub was owned by his grandparents from 1953 until the late 1980s. The “Kevy” came back into the family in 2007. Camping is available beside the river behind the pub.

The Kevington Area Goldfield, featuring the Old Star of the West Goldmine is accessible by 4WD and foot, approximately 5km from the hotel. Relics of the adit and furnace, old huts and shafts are dotted along the walking trail. Be advised, the sealed road runs out past Kevington.

At this point, you are 93km from Mansfield, so if you have left your van in town, turn back here. The road is regularly graded, but can become slippery in the wet. However, it is suitable for caravans, but is a bit corrugated in places. We were advised that in winter, snow chains might be needed.

Between Jamieson and Woods Point, you are spoilt for choices in the way of camps, with around ten free sites set beside the Goulburn River, most with clean toilets. We chose to stay overnight at the grassy Picnic Point Reserve, but also checked out favourably both Knockwood and Scott Reserve.

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MARYSVILLE

We left the C511 just short of Warburton, continuing along the C512 to Marysville. We particularly wanted to visit Marysville as a tribute to those who lost families and homes in the bush fires in February 2009. We had watched from afar the devastation and could not even start to fathom how a whole modern community could be wiped out. Visiting the moving and emotional Phoenix Museum at the Visitors Information Centre is a must, to gain an insight of first-hand accounts of victims, and to learn how the town has since recovered. I left almost in tears, but glad I could donate something back into the town. Nearby the tree ferns at beautiful Steavenson Falls, another victim of the fire have regrown, the walking tracks and boardwalks repaired. Take some time out to visit Marysville, spend a little money in town, it needs our support, but like the name of the museum, Marysville has risen from the ashes like the legendary Phoenix bird. If ever there was an “if only” moment, it would be here in Marysville. We ran out of time and unfortunately had to miss visiting Bruno’s Art and Sculpture Garden. Bruno and his family escaped the fires; his home and gallery devastated. He has returned to Marysville, rebuilt, resurrected and restored his gardens and sculptures and is again looking forward to visitors.

Now you know where, what and why we chose the C511, better known as the Mansfield to Woods Point Road and the Warburton to Woods Point Road – but I think the” C511” has a sort of magical ring to it, don’t you?

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