The road leading up to the town had been long and windy. My father had refused to stop at the last town and the town before that. It had been ages since any signs of civilisation. So when the a row of trees on either side of the road began and a sign with the letter “BRIGHT” appeared, he knew we had to stop. My brother and I were getting restless. The weather outside was perfect for running around and playing in, even though we had long outgrown those days we still wanted to get out of the small, cramped car. When the car pulled up beside a river, we all jumped out as soon as possible.
And we weren’t disappointed with what we saw.
“Don’t go too far kids!” I could hear my mother saying as I walked towards the river. It was surrounded by many people. The locals tourists had come out during the nice weather.
The warm sun glistened off the small river, reflecting trees and other shrubbery that surrounded it. the water was clear as crystal and the bed underneath could be seen. It was too tempting. The grass beneath my feet tickled as I took my shoes off and dipped my feet in. The cool water a drastic contrast to the warm sun beating down on my back. I almost retract my feet from the difference, yet the calm sensation the water brought compelled me to leave my feet in.
This place felt like it had come straight out of my childhood dreams. I almost expected fairies to begin flying around, but I knew better than to believe fairies would fly around in the open air as apposed to the woods. On the other side of the river was lots of trees and I began to wonder if there were any fairies in there.
Children giggled a few metres away, completely soaked from the small body of water. The water level must have been lower than usual, the banks of the river much higher than the surface of the water and the bridges built across looked unnecessarily high. The water only came up to the waists of the children that splashed about. Yet everything was still green, pink and blue.
“Kids, come have a cup of tea and a sandwich,” this time it was my father’s voice that could be heard. I splashed my feet a little, not yet willing to give up the cool sensation.
“Natasha! Come eat something proper!” My mother’s voice was more stern. Reluctantly, I dragged my feet up and out of the clear water, slipped my shoes back on and returned to my parents.
They had found a small picnic table not far from the car park. The small containers with sandwiches, boiled eggs and fruit were already open, laying on the table. Small cups of tea were steaming close by and I wondered if I wanted a hot cup of tea in this weather, but once I smelt the hot liquid, that’s all I could think of.
That and wanting to stay here forever in the place from my childhood dreams, with low rivers and hidden fairies.
Hello!
I hope everyone has doing well and is ready to strap themselves in because today I’m going to take you on a time trip.
Ooohhh.
Let’s rewind back to 2014 when I was 16 and had gone on not one but TWO road trips with my family during the September school holidays. Although I didn’t get to see my friend for the whole duration of the holidays, I had a great time with my family and made memories that will last a lifetime, memories that I want to share. For the next couple of weeks I’m going to focus on the these two road trips and bring you all along to a time when life was much more simple.
For those who don’t live in Victoria, Australia. The September school holidays only lasts for two weeks and is in the middle of Spring. In the first week and a half of these particular school holidays, my family went on a long road holiday up to Sydney and back. In the last few days, we went on a last minute trip along the Great Ocean Road. Yes, my family are travel bugs and love to get out whenever we can.
My memory isn’t all that great so I will talk about some stand out places that I visited during that time and share some family photos. During the time of year it was still a little chilly in Australia, however, it wasn’t raining and we didn’t have any terrible weather.
In the little vignette above is a strong memory I have from stopping by a small town called Bright. And yes, as a child who loved fairies, elves etc., this place was one of my favourite places I have visited to date (there will be a few more of these in the coming weeks, haha). Mostly because the weather was perfect on the day and it seemed like the perfect place to find fairies. It was a great stop over town to break up a long day of driving, especially if there are kids in the car.
The town itself is pretty small with not much going on, but the river was definitely a highlight of the whole road trip. There was plenty of small paths to explore, especially along the river, although I wasn’t able to explore them myself due to time constraints. I remember the drive into Bright being very scenic, in the sense that the trees that lined the road in made everything look like something out of a fairy tale.
Getting to the town isn’t difficult. A tourist website for Bright states that it’s only a 3 and a half hours drive from Melbourne. If I remember correctly, my family was on the way back from Sydney at this point.
Overall, I quiet enjoyed Bright as a teenager. It is a great stop over and would recommend exploring the paths around the river.
Have a good one,
Natasha xx
A Hiking Koala 