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Posted on by Debbie

A cheeky little getaway across the border #SundayStills

What makes a good holiday getaway?

It all started with an early morning dentist appointment which meant leaving home at 7am on a Thursday morning.

Don’t all holidays start this way? 🙂

We decided to work around this ‘opportunity’ by arranging a short cycling getaway, making an extra long weekend of it – hence the ‘cheeky’ in my title.

Sometimes the best holiday is the one you’ve just been on.

We initially asked other friends to join us and had loose plans in place for a fun long weekend away with a group of us. Closer to the day, our friends were unable to join us, and for a minute my sister and her husband were going to come along, but sadly that too fell through.

My search for accommodation went from looking for houses for a group of six to share to something for just the two of us.

I contacted a friend who had holiday accommodation in a nearby rail trail area, and luckily (for us) she had had a cancellation for her loft apartment for that weekend. We were in!

Sometime spontaneity is a good way to have a holiday.

Holiday Destinations – how do you decide where to go?

Usually for us any favourite holiday is one that involves family and second on the list would include cycling or some other activity. Over the years we’ve been on some amazing holidays, all over the world, combining family and cycling. Those heady days are long gone given the fact that we can’t leave Australia at the moment and so a more local getaway was on the cards. Travel, for us anyway, has been limited to family visits and we know we’re very fortunate to be able to get together at all.

We only live an hour or so from the Victorian/NSW state border and always enjoy riding on the Victorian Rail Trails. We realised as we were driving, that we hadn’t been into Victoria for over two years – yet we live so close to the border!!!! Last year with the lockdown on, it was difficult to get out of NSW and we needed border passes to get into Victoria and with everything else we had on our plate we just didn’t look over the border, although we missed seeing my sister and her husband.

Carefree and fun

So off we went to Myrtleford to ride sections of the Murray to Mountains Rail Trail, staying in a cute loft apartment with perfect autumn weather forecast for the whole weekend.

We ended up riding roughly 175kms over the four days away and loved every minute of it!

Our accommodation was perfect for our needs and was on top of a previously very popular cafe – Lupo’s Kiln Cafe – I say previously, as the cafe is for sale and waiting for new owners to take on the venture started by our friends.

The building is unique, based on the old tobacco drying kilns that dotted the area back in the 1940s and 50s. Once tobacco went out of favour the mainly Italian families in the area had to look at alternative crops to make a living, and have since moved into blueberries and hops. The kiln buildings are made of corrugated iron with a little window near the top so they could climb up and check the temperature inside. The loft has been made very homely and is nothing like the original buildings on the inside, apart from the high roof line and distinctive styling.

I loved the little window to the world and made sure I took a photo each morning. It was like a photo on the wall when the window was open.

the window from the inside
autumn colour from the window
Foggy window shot
afternoon view from window
Frosty views from window
Day of Departure window shot

Bike Rides

On Thursday afternoon we unpacked and rode through Myrtleford and onto almost Everton – a ride of 38km up a big hill, down through farmland and bush and then back to our warm and cosy accommodation for takeaway pizza and bubbles (the bubbles were kindly left for us as a welcome).

I decided to share our little trip on my Facebook page as it felt so good to be out and about again. I’ve included my posts here.

Day 1 Thursday afternoon

We had an unremarkable trip to the dentist and headed out to Yackandandah for a walk around and lunch in a delightful little cafe, before making our way to Myrtleford.

My facebook post reads: Some shots from Day 1 of our little cycling getaway to Myrtleford, riding the Murray to Mountains Rail Trail – Ride High Country. We managed a decent 38km ride from Myrtleford to (almost) Everton and back yesterday afternoon in lovely autumn sunshine. Our accommodation is in the fabulous loft apartment at Lupo’s Accommodation. I just love the little window to the world.

Lupo's Kiln Cafe and accommodation
quirky things along the trail
Lupo's kiln

Day 2 Friday

Friday morning was foggy but we knew the day would clear into a sunny day so we set off early-ish for nearby Everton and rode to Beechworth.

Facebook entry for Friday reads: Cycling some of the Murray to Mountains Rail Trail – Day 2: a foggy cool start to the day which brightened into the most glorious autumn day, saw us drive to Everton and slog (mostly uphill) to Beechworth along the very pretty trail. Stopped for refuelling in the always popular town of Beechworth, where the trees are red and almost at the end of their autumnal showing, then back to Everton at a very fast pace! The downhill trip was amazing and saw me rolling most of the way (no pedalling was required) at an average speed 35kph! Total distance for the day 52km. Finished the day with drinks with our host Michelle and a demonstration of how to make gnocchi from scratch – and it tasted delicious!! Then our little loft beckoned….

Gnocchi
gnocchi ready to eat
Rail trail into Beechworth
Rail Trail into Beechworth
Gold panning in Beechworth
sign in Beechworth
red leaves

Day 3 Saturday

Saturday was a frosty morning but the forecast was for warm autumnal sunshine later in the day. The ride into Bright was cold in places but it was very enjoyable seeing so many happy people out riding and walking.

Saturday morning (Day 3) started a tad frosty and fresh, but after rugging up, we set off from Myrtleford to Bright along the Murray to Mountains Rail Trail. Wow was this part of trail busy! Maybe because it was the weekend, perhaps because it was a beautiful day or maybe it’s always a busy trail – whatever the reason, it was great to see so many people, of all ages and capabilities out there enjoying themselves. The ride was flat all the way and passed by some picturesque scenery – hop fields, cattle farms, vineyards, the Ovens River & was full of fading autumn colour. A stop at the Rail Trail Cafe at Porepunkah is always worth the break and then onto catching up with family friends in Bright. Return trip was faster and we clocked up another 60kms, making our total so far, in excess of 150km for the 3 days. Not bad at all! And I’ve been practicing my photography skills along the way!

carpet of leaves
My bike
Selfie time
On the Murray to Mountains Rail trail
Lupo's Loft - me at the window

Day 4 Sunday – end

This morning we had a late start and packed up our gear. Before we left Myrtleford Michelle wanted to show us their Iso Project – a hut they built on their property overlooking the river. It was amazing and a credit to them. A great little spot to escape the world, go fishing, canoeing and relax with friends.

We had a quick look around town as we’d been far too busy to do much else than ride, eat and sleep, and then we headed home via Hume Dam and Lake Hume. We parked the car at the Huon Reserve on the banks of the lake, along with many others, removed the bikes and went for a ride to Tallangatta, for a late lunch, about 12kms away. I always love the Sandy Creek Bride and the water was sparkling in the afternoon sunshine, with the drowned trees reminding me of a synchronised swimming performance.

Lake Hume
Original Kiln house
Grant and his bike
Sandy Creek Bridge
Sandy Creek Bridge on the Rail Trail

Sunday Stills and Life this Week

Favourite Vacation Spot is the prompt for Terri’s #sundaystills this week, although Terri uses the word ‘vacation’, here in Australia it’s more like ‘holiday’ or ‘getaway’.

I’ve also joined in with Denyse for her #lifethisweek prompt of Self Care – this is my idea of self care, getting away for a few days can be so good for the soul! It was the first time in absolute ages that we have had a carefree and totally fun few days away – it felt so good!! I’m also doing a short on-line photo editing course with some friends and used the time away to practice my photography – more on that to come later. It’s all about self care!

pop of red trees
pop of red trees

Although the trees had passed their best autumn colour we were still surprised and pleased. This photo is one of my favourites from our time away. I’ve used an app to highlight the pop of red and it makes the photo something special doesn’t it?

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you enjoyed our few days away too. It was so good to write a post with the word travel in it!

Debbie 🙂

PS. Meaning of cheeky: (of something pleasurable) consumed or done in an unplanned, rather self-indulgent way – ‘a cheeky pint’ or in this instance ‘a cheeky long weekend away’

All my Sunday Stills posts can be found here

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Everyone has a story to tell!

Debbie - mother of a 40 year old

Deb is a young-at-heart & active 60+ blogger/retiree, after being made redundant from her 22-year career managing education programs in a men’s correctional centre (jail). She now spends her time reading, blogging, riding her ebike and travelling. Deb was awarded a Bravery Award from the Queen when she was 17 after a tragic accident – a definite life changing moment! She is married with 3 grown-up daughters & has 4 grandchildren. You can read more of Deb’s story here

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44 Replies to “A cheeky little getaway across the border #SundayStills”

  1. What a busy week you have had, Deb. I love the swimming trees. What a cute way to describe it. Sounds like something an author would say. What kind of a photo editing class are you taking? That sounds like a fun thing to do with friends. 🙂

    Your Story Chat is getting a lot of interest today.

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    1. It really was fun Kirstin, made all the better because the week later the whole state of Victoria was locked down for 2 weeks due to COVID cases.

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  4. Self care done Deb & G style…well done, gathering back yourselves as a couple who enjoy these kinds of events and activities together. Really great to read about it. Seriously good news about the dentist.

    Thank you for joining in Life This Week Link Up.
    I’ve just added another 10 optional prompts taking us to October!
    It’s always good to see a blog post from you and I value your presence here. Denyse.

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    1. Thanks Denyse, yes our style of self care isn’t for everyone but happily it worked for us. It was great to share the fun with everyone, but I feel for Victoria as they now go into another lockdown!

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  10. Beautiful crystal clear pictures. Your blue sky untroubled with dust or smog looked so inviting. I love your red leaves. Those tin can people could make a post all on their own. How adorable they are. 🙂 Thanks for taking us on a virtual tour, Deb.

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    1. Yes Marsha, we are very lucky to have such clear skies here. I took your advice and gave the tin people their own post today! Glad you enjoyed the trip too 🙂

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  11. Hi Deb, what a lovely break you had. A stunning place in the world especially with the Autumn colours. We had to cancel a weekend away recently but we still aim to go – Stanthorpe is the coldest town in Queensland, where they have an abundance of orchards and vineyards. Hopefully we’ll make it there soon. Regards, Christina

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    1. Hi Christina, yes it was a really lovely time away, especially given what’s been happening lately in Victoria. Stanthorpe is a beautiful place to visit too, hope you can get there soon.

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  12. Hi Deb – I’ve enjoyed seeing the pics you shared on FB of your lovely time away. Also seeing you manipulate the occasional one for the photo class has been interesting to see too (along with the others from the group). Glad you got to go away and didn’t cancel when the others couldn’t make it. x

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    1. Thanks Leanne, I’m so glad we made the effort to get away even when everyone else dropped out, as Victoria is now locked down – what a difference a week can make!

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  13. Your weekend away brings back many memories for me. I love the Murray to Mountains Rail Trail. It’s beautiful in all seasons. Your photos are gorgeous Deb. I love the red. Sounds to me like you had the perfect weekend away.

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  14. Debbie that looks lovely and what great weather you had! I have a friend who’s a strong believer that the best holidays are ones planned at the last minute.

    I’d really love to have a little getaway somewhere. My mum and I are heading to Brisbane to watch my niece in a performance next week but it’ll be rushed and isn’t exactly very holiday-ish.

    If I had steady work I like to think I’d do more little trips around to see more of my backyard (particularly given the whole Covid thing).

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    1. We are lucky to be in the position we are Deb and can take these opportunities when they arise. We made the most of our time away and now that Victoria has gone into lockdown we timed it well. What a difference a week makes!

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    1. Yes flexibility is very important Janis and luckily we are both very easy going. Victoria has just gone back into a weeks lockdown so we were lucky to get our long weekend in with such perfect weather.

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  16. I love that very last image, Debbie! What a wonderful post to describe your getaway! I enjoy reading each country’s dialects to describe the same items. I am envious of your spontaneous bike excursion (our bikes are still in storage in Sacramento!). It probably worked out for the best for just the two of you to go this time, and how cool to find quick accommodation from a friend! We all need leisure time and a break from the routines of life, especially these days after the year we’ve had. Always appreciate your thoughtful posts and fab photos my friend!

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  17. Hi Deb I was so happy when I heard you were having a quick getaway with Grant. You’ve actually inspired me to try and be more spontaneous as we usually plan our trips ahead of time. COVID has changed many things so I think your long weekend was perfect timing for you. I love the autumn colours and the whole weekend looked so fun and relaxing for you both. The perfect medicine. Mike and I have a trip to Tassie planned in October which we are looking forward to. Here is to living Boldly and with more spontaneity #lifethisweek

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    1. Thank you Sue, our getaway was good for us both and now that Victoria has gone back into lockdown I’m so glad we managed to fit it in. It’s not easy to be spontaneous but it can be fun! Tasmania is a beautiful place and I’m so pleased to hear you’ve booked your holiday.

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    1. Thanks very much Anne, it was such a breath of fresh air to be able to get away and feel so carefree! The autumn colours have been fantastic this year,

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