Craigs Hut in the VIC High Country Near Mt Buller

by David Sloane | Dec 31, 2018 | Day Trips, Our Travel Blog

Craigs Hut in the VIC High Country Near Mt Buller

We have been up to Craigs Hut. We were camping at Lake Eildon for the NYE weekend with a big bunch of friends and last time they had all camped there I noticed a Facebook post by Kev and Deb Smith where they went up to Craigs Hut for a day trip back in November and I thought it was something we’d like to do.

We went up with our friends Simon and Tracy Kelly and it was a magnificent day out. The views from not just the hut but everywhere else up there are incredible. You can see for miles, literally from one mountain top to another. The roads are very easy to get along if you stick to the main ones. Next time we visit up there I would like to have a crack at one or two of the more difficult tracks.

It was a really good experience and I highly recommend that if you have the chance to give it a go that you do.

View From the Back Verandah of Craigs Hut

About Craigs Hut

Craigs Hut is a replica of a high country cattlemen’s hut. It is located on Mt Stirling about 51 kilometres from Mansfield. Craigs’ Hut was originally built for The Man from Snowy River film made in 1981–82. Craig’s Hut was burnt down by major bushfires in 2006. It was rebuilt and opened back up in January 2008.

Inside Craigs Hut Mt Stirling

How to Get to Circuit Road

Head towards Mansfield along the Mt Buller Road towards Mt Buller. Take a left at the Mount Stirling Road which commences at the toll gate at Mirimbah and this takes you to Circuit Road. The toll gate at Mirimbah only operates during the snow season. There is no charge for access outside the snow season. Mansfield to Mirimbah is about 30ks. The Circuit Road complete round trip starting and finishing at Mirimbah is about 80 kilometres if you do the 10k return Bindaree Falls detour.

Circuit Road is ok for 2WDs however it does have some corrugated rough sections. Circuit Road and many of the tracks in this area are subject to seasonal road closures. Those in State Forest and National Park are closed to vehicles from about the Thursday after the Queens Birthday long weekend in June until the Thursday before the Melbourne Cup weekend in November. Contact Mt Buller and Mt Stirling Alpine Resort Management Board on 03 5777 6077 to check the status of closures within resort.

How to Get From Circuit Road to Craig’s Hut

Access to Craig’s Hut is 18 kilometres from TBJ along Circuit Road. A 4WD track accesses the hut from Circuit Road. The road up is very steep and you’ll need a 4wd with low range and good ground clearance to get up and down it. It’s easy if you just take your time. Also make sure to keep an eye out for others coming up and down the track as it’s very narrow with limited passing spots. If you can’t get up the track don’t worry you can walk up from the bottom. It’s only a couple of kilometres although quite steep.

Near Circuit Road Mt Buller

Camping By The River And Just Doing Nothing

by David Sloane | May 17, 2018 | Cameron Corner & Farina, Our Travel Blog

Camping By The River And Just Doing Nothing

A relaxing day camping by the river, enjoying homemade damper, exploring the area and appreciating simple outdoor moments. I got up early and got the fire cranking so we would have some coals to make a damper. Was a bit of a cool start to the day but be we were nice and warm overnight in the van. I don’t really get why people fit diesel heaters etc, we’ve had plenty of nights around zero and below and all you need are some warm clothes and a decent quilt. Was the same when in the old camper trailer.

Camping By The River Some Firewood Collected

Anyway, Amanda made us up some nice mini dampers in the camp oven. Normally we just do one big one but this morning she made up smaller bread roll size jobbies. They were very nice.

Exploring The Area While Camping By The River At Happy Valley Landing

We were camping by the river at Happy Valley Landing campsite on the Murray River near Robinvale. I went for a bit of a walk around the area we were camping in and found quite a few other nice spots. One of them even has a nice smooth walk down the bank of the river to a sandy beach. The track at that point had a tree fallen across it however you could clear that out of the way easily enough with a chainsaw and towing strap. Another spot had a massive old tree in the middle and then a circular track around it, could get maybe half a dozen vans all camped around the tree with your fire off to the side. It’d be excellent for a small group.

Mini Dampers In The Camp Oven

We just sort of sat around all day reading books and had another go at playing UNO. I got the chainsaw out and cut us up some more firewood. I also cut up a fair whack more to take home with us to use at the NSW Muster we are going to on the June long weekend with the Martian Enthusiasts Camper Trailer Group we are a part of.

Happy Valley Landing On The Murray River

All up it was a really relaxing day. Amanda and I love doing outback touring type trips but we have also rediscovered just how nice it can be to be camping by the river with a fire going and just doing nothing. It’d be great if we can do a bit more of this type of thing in the future.

Free Camping Near Robinvale On The Murray River

by David Sloane | May 16, 2018 | Cameron Corner & Farina

Free Camping Near Robinvale On The Murray River

Free camping near Robinvale at Happy Valley Landing on the Murray River. It’s a nice, quiet secluded spot. I found it on WikiCamps not that far from Robinvale VIC. I’m not going to tell you the name of it or exactly where it is suffice to say it’s on WikiCamps. You can look it up for yourself.

It’s such an awesomely great spot that I’m not going to plaster it’s precise location all over the interwebs. Otherwise the nice quiet secluded spot could be overrun with people. Running generators 24/7 and blasting about on their quad bikes scaring the sheep. Send me an email if you are interested and I will give you the exact location.

Happy Valley Landing On The Murray River Near Robinvale VIC

From Berri To Robinvale

We drove through from Berri to near Robinvale in VIC, the roads were excellent. Most of the way we were on B and C roads so traffic was at a minimum. Mostly local trucks and a few cars travelling between small regional towns. If you don’t know the difference between what the M, A, B and C classifications for example “C727” mean for roads within Australia it’s worth your time to look it up. WikiCamps has a good explanation of it here. It can help you assess the quality of road and the amount of traffic you are going to encounter. All of the states we have been in use a similar system.

Free Camping Near Robinvale On Murray River

The track in is a bit tricky. It’s not too bad but you definitely need a 4×4 and an offroad camper trailer or SMALL high clearance offroad van to get in to it. No it isn’t suitable for on road vans. Same goes for semi-offroad vans, motorhomes or big rigs and you can forget bringing in your 5th wheeler. It’s quite sandy in patches with some fairly tight turns and some humps and hollows to climb up over or through. It’s really 100% guaranteed your effort if you can get in there though. At a few places the track forks off and it’d be worth your effort to get out and go for a walk down them to assess their suitability. All up I reckon there are about a dozen spots all spaced well well from each other along the track.

Awesome Spot To Get The Camp Oven Out

And there is heaps and heaps of deadfall firewood lying about for you to cut up. There’s literally more than you could poke a stick at. After setting up camp we got the fire going and sat around all afternoon reading or books and playing UNO, it was very relaxing. Just before dark a big mob of sheep wandered down the bank for a drink on the other side of the river. They were the only other things we saw all day, very peaceful.

Lamb Shanks In The Camp Oven

For dinner we cooked some lamb shanks in the camp oven and they were absolute monsters, the biggest lamb shanks I have ever seen. They were absolutely beautiful. Later in the evening while sitting by the fire and having a drink Graciee got all stirred up about something – scared shitless would probably be a more accurate description. Turns out it was an echidna that had wandered in to camp for a bit of a poke around.