I was fortunate enough to spend some time in Bright, Victoria and surrounds this easter break. It’s been about 5 years since I’ve been to the area, and wow has it changed (for the better). The Bright Brewery is still there, but now there is the Bright Chocolate Factory as well, pumping out delicious bean to bar chocolate. In addition, there’s some great new cafes, restaurants and bike trails.
We hired some bikes from one of the local shops and did a nice leisurely 25 km loop from Bright up through Porepunkah and stopped for a leisurely lunch at Boynton’s Winery.
The above shot was taken in the back streets of Porepunkah, just off the rail trail. Incidentally, if you feel like a coffee, the Rail Trail Cafe in Porepunkah does great coffee and Mexican food if you’re hungry.
We stayed in Air B and B accommodation about 5-10 minute walk from the town centre of Bright. This was a nice scene I saw as we were walking back to our accommodation in the afternoon.
Bright has some great easy walks starting from the town centre which follow the course of the Ovens River and really show off the autumn colours at their finest.
Some beautiful morning light on Delany Avenue, which has some great Autumn colours when the time is right.
Poplars along the Ovens River.
Some beautiful back-lit autumn leaves, taken just outside Boynton’s winery as I recall.
More autumn colours.
Some great afternoon light at Huggins Lookout. Make sure to come early, it can get crowded in Autumn. Also don’t forget the mosquito repellant, they really come out in force when the sun starts to set. This is a great spot to see all the Autumn colours in bright.
Another great part about Bright in autumn is the wild chestnuts, which drop from trees in various laneways in the area. The more shiny, the fresher the chestnut. Make sure to bring some gloves as those chestnut husks can get spiky.
As we didn’t find too many wild chestnuts, we decided to cheat and go to a chestnut farm at Wandiligong. The folks at ‘Wandiful Produce’ will let you roam their orchard and pick chestnuts for a small fee. If you can’t be bothered, you can always just buy fresh chestnuts from their store. They also stock chestnut flour and various other local ingredients.
A fresh chestnut from the farm.
I would also recommend catching the ‘Wandiligong Nut Festival’ if you are there at the right time – a celebration of all thing’s nutty and showcasing local produce such as chestnuts, which apparently only have a very short season in autumn. The ones you see outside of autumn have likely been kept in cold storage for months.
If you’re in Bright, about 1 hours drive away you will find Mt Buffalo, one of Victoria’s most underrated national parks. The view above was taken from one of the walks there.
Soaking in the sunset from The Cathedral walk. Up here, it feels like you’ve got all of the Australian alps stretching out underneath you.
Last light from above The Cathedral, looking west.
The fiery rays of sunset above illuminating the various faces of The Cathedral. Truly an awe-inspiring sight to see the sunset in this part of the world.
Also, you can make a day trip out of your visit to Mt Buffalo by getting a picnic hamper from the ‘Loaded Basket’ in Bright. Something I must do the next time I go.