After the run we were ready for breakfast and we found a nice cafe in bright called coral lea. Mine was amazing!
After a quick change of clothes we hit the markets, wineries, apiaries, and cheese factories. We got so many sauces, wines, cheeses, honeys, meads, and gifts. We even bought a tree and a case of highly discounted white wine - all of this eventually returned with us in the car back to Melbourne!
Day two was Mt. Feathertop. (By Damo) Damo was slow getting out of bed and the weather was getting increasingly overcast by the time we commenced our ascent. Maddie kept to the back of the pack due to a tummy ache, but this eased off after a mile or so. The climb was gradual but unrelenting and the weather continued to threaten ominously. After 1.5 hours of climbing the heavens opened and the mother of all storms unleashed mercilessly on the defenseless athletes. Damo and Maddie quickly slipped on waterproof rain jacket but the torrents were so strong that we ended up soaked through. Adding to our woes were the thunder and lightening that was striking perilously close. A jovial competitor commented that Maddie would be saved as long as Maddie remained in the immediate vicinity of Damo since his extra height would divert the bolt in his direction. Unfazed we fearlessly continued our climb, even persevering as dozens of our competitors told us that the race organizers had closed the summit as lightening had been seen below the top. Eventually we were ourselves turned back after Maddie said "Noooooooooooooo, I'm not in the race" they didn't believe me. And Damo called me a bad liar. We did make the top of little feathertop. Look at our pretty pictures:
We stumbled back down. Maddie had a couple trips but no injuries. Back at the bottom was nice and sunny.
We drove straight to Wangaratta, by way of cafe in myrtleford because Maddie was getting hungryloopy. Wang was abuzz with jazz enthusiasts, as half of the streets downtown were shut for outdoor stages and food/drink stalls. We were particularly excited to be there as we were meeting friends from Melbourne who were also there for the weekend, and a Wang friend who was unimpressed by the transformation of her local streets in order to promote what she perceived to be a very mediocre genre of music. As fate would have it, the festival did come to an abrupt end as the next front of the mother of all storms hit Wang that afternoon. We sprinted off the street just as water came gushing down the sidewalk and left us helplessly huddling in a front door alcove. We then wished our friends a snorkellingly fond farewell and trekked back to our beautiful chalet next to the golf course. Wiped out physically and spiritually, we headed to the local pizzeria for a large pizza each.(plus a salad) 
Day 3 mt. Feathertop try 2. Because so many of us didn't make it up to the top of Mt. Feathertop yesterday, the race organisers gave us a second try at climbing up. This time we went up the steep side. It was still the same elevation of ascent but over 9km instead instead of 12. When the race started with 4km's of flat rolling path I knew that it was going to be a hard climb. Eventually the uphill started and it was quite steep. We trudged along in a group of 5 people no one wanting to take the lead. Occasionally a very fast runner would amaze us while running past.
We made it to the top in 3 hours. The view was only slightly better from the top.
When we got to the summit Dan called us to tell us that he was in Bright and that we should hurry down. We ran as fast as we could and got back down to the base 2 hours later. We got some ice cream and went to meet Dan. We took a tour of Bright brewery and got some lunch. Then we went back to our Chalet and played pandemic all afternoon. For dinner we went to a delicious restaurant called 13 steps. 
I liked it but Damo thought that it was very overpriced.
Day 4: Mt. Buffalo somehow we managed to talk Dan into climbing up the mountain with us. 
Dan complained about how hard the climb was, so we carried his gear for him. We went slowly and chatted all the way up. 2km from the end Dan decided that he felt good so he sprinted off. After 4 days of climbing mountains, my legs were a bit tired so I couldn't quite keep up. The boys just got around a corner, I made a wrong turn and added an extra 500m to my run. In the end Damien just beat Dan and I came in just a few minutes behind.
We had a bit of trouble getting a ride back to the foot of the mountain and my car but did eventually get a ride from some fellow runners.
For lunch we ate at a cafe in Bright before packing up to leave. We headed to Benalla by way of milawa so that Dan could try some cheese and wine. We stayed at a guest house that Olivia's mum rents. It was huge and beautiful. Dan came along for an hour and we had a few games of carcassone before getting the train back to Melbourne. Damien and I tried to find dinner but nothing in Benalla was open so we went to the store and bought ingredients to make noodles.
On Wednesday we started with an art, bakery and bookshop tour of Benalla some of the street art was very cool but Damo has the pictures. Then we headed down toward lake eildon 
It was a slight detour but very worth the time. We were going to go for a bit of a hike but the tire pressure light came on and we freaked out so we headed back toward civilisation. When we checked the tires the pressure was fine so we continued with the tour by car. 
The lake is dammed and they have minimal hydroelectric operations. Damien was excited, I was unimpressed. We stopped for some pretty terrible burgers and got back to Melbourne so that I could get a bit of school work done before work Thursday.
And that was our awesome 5 day weekend.
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