Marysville, Victoria: Where I would Rather Be
The Beast
I was up early on Sunday Morning; camera bag was packed, and my brand new (second hand) lens was affixed to my camera. This was to be a trip with a purpose, one to make up for slacking with my photography. I had one main goal, photograph as many waterfalls and dams as I could find. My friend Blair and I had decided to camp somewhere in between us both, him in Canberra and me in Melbourne. We decided on Marysville. We had been there together once before but did not really get to experience the town, we agreed that 2 days would give us the experience we longed for. I hopped in the Van and hit the road.
I first visited Marysville when I was a teenager on a trip with my family around Victoria, I am from Queensland and have always felt like the world was too hot, so discovering this cooler climate was a massive moment for me. From that first visit I had an itch to go back and in the last 3 years I have been out there as much as possible.
Normally I write about towns with a storied past, Marysville has a pretty mundane history. The town was founded in the 1860’s and named after Mary Steavenson the wife of the towns founder (John) and used as a campsite for people walking between Healesville and the Woods Point and Jordan Goldfields. By the 1920’s an everlasting tourism industry had begun, boasting the biggest trees in the British Empire and convenient positioning next to Lake Mountain. When we first arrived, I walked around the town center and Gallipoli Park (a large park located on the main strip) and was confronted by close to 100 tourists, which was worrying as we had tried to book during the off-peak time for some peace and quiet. The town is quite popular with Melbourne residents as it is only an hour and a half from the CBD. By 5pm the Melbournite's had head back to their big city lives, leaving a peaceful stillness in the crisp air.
We had not seen each other in a while so Blair and I sat at the Duck Inn for a Pint and a Parmi which allowed us to witness the locals in action. We used to work at Tangalooma Island Resort in Queensland together and noticed the similarities between there and Marysville were uncanny. We saw a lot of familiar faces enjoying the Inn, people who had served us throughout the day and even the Leaf Blower man, who seems to have a full time, 8-hour a day position blowing leaves from the roads. It was nice getting to sit in this atmosphere, the only thing that anyone In the Inn cared about was who was getting the next round and the AFL game on TV. There is a certain type of person that chooses to work in tourism, and it seems that whether it's on a beach or in the mountains the vibe is the same, I felt a healthy level of disconnect from the rest of the world.
The next morning, we got up, had some bacon and eggs, and headed to Keppel Falls in my van with very bald tires. We made our way along a windy gravel track reminiscent of a Rally course and I did my best to implement some of the skills I have learned from years of Forza racing, much to Blair’s chagrin. Arriving at the beginning of the Keppel walking track we began our hike through the bush and along the Taggerty river taking photos as we walked. I found the perfect spot to capture the very bottom of the falls on a rock at the base of them. I set up my tripod in a precarious position and began capturing the chaos of a violent waterfall while adjusting myself every now and then to avoid slipping into the shallow but dangerous waters below.
The Yarra Ranges are known for their incredible wineries, which became our next stop. We had earned a bottle of red and visited Boat O'Craigo a winery just outside of Healesville. The Winery was located at the base of a beautiful mountain and is extremely picturesque with its vast fields of grape vines below. The entry into Marysville is via Black Spur Drive a stretch of road that winds along a cliffs edge through some of the tallest gum trees you have ever seen and lush ferns straight out of Jurassic Park. One must have a strong constitution, however, as the constant winding can cause some potent motion sickness.
The next morning, we were heading home but not without a stop at Maroondah dam. To be entirely transparent, I was a little hungover, not in a ‘I should not be driving way’ but in a ‘that was too much wine just before bed and my head feels like it is going to pop’ kind of way. We decided to climb to a dam lookout, which would have been amazing had it not been thick with fog. So as my headache was reaching its crescendo, we hiked back down to the dam wall just in time to witness the fog clearing. The photos I took here have made for some of my personal favorites, the moody effect that vanishing mist creates is quite enchanting and I feel lucky to have witnessed it.
Marysville has always lived up to my expectations, which is a hard feat to achieve. The town's closeness to my home of Melbourne and the feeling of being in complete nature that I have when I am there is important and helps center me when daily life gets a little hectic. While I would like to keep it as my place, I encourage everyone to visit and appreciate it as much as I and many people over the last 100 years have.
