North eastern Victoria is Kelly country. On a trip down the Hume highway to Melbourne, you’ll pass Glenrowan, 16 kilometres south of Wangaratta, where the Kelly gang made its last stand in 1880 at Anne Jones’ hotel.

The pub is no longer there, and in truth Glenrowan is a bit of a tourist extravaganza these days. There’s even a Big Ned Kelly statue, though the museum is worth visiting. Twenty five kilometres south, at Benalla, you can see Sir Sydney Nolan’s “Siege at Glenrowan” tapestry in the art gallery.

In the Benalla Costume and Pioneer Museum is a portable cell once used to hold Kelly, and the green sash presented to him for bravery when, aged 11, he saved a boy from drowning in a creek near Avenel.

Ned’s accomplice, Joe Byrne, is buried in the local cemetery. Ned’s family made regular appearances at the Benalla courthouse, while the boot shop in Arundel Street was the scene of one of his many fights with the police. However Ned usually only visited towns when he wanted to rob the bank. He spent most of his life as an outlaw, hiding in the deeply creased folds of various mountain ranges in the foothills of the Victorian Alps.

You need to get off the beaten track to see Kelly’s bush haunts, though, as is usual in Victoria, distances are short and you’re never too far from good wine and food.

The 115 kilometre drive from Wangaratta to Mansfield, via the King Valley, is such a trip. The King Valley is one of Victoria’s less well known wine and food regions, but this has its own attractions. You won’t find million dollar tasting rooms and designer label chefs here.

Instead, you can visit wineries like Pizzinis, where in the packing shed the descendents of Italian-born tobacco growers will show you their range of Australian and Italian style wines, including Nebbiolo, Verduzzo and Arneis. 
Dal Zotto and Ciccone Estate are other wineries which specialise in Italian varieties; the King Valley also has several others which produce Australian style reds and whites.

Station Creek wines at Cheshunt operates a café where you can buy their small range, the highlight of which is the sauvignon blanc. They’ll also do lunch, or picnic hampers of local produce.

The Pizzinis also own the Mountain View Hotel at Whitfield, where the award winning restaurant serves sensational food at reasonable prices. Red gum smoked Black Range trout is a specialty.

The King River café at Oxley is also renowned for its Mediterranean/Asian cuisine. The drive from Whitfield to Mansfield takes you over the ranges, from where there are some spectacular views across the King Valley and the Victorian Alps further to the east. The best view is from Powers Lookout, 17 kilometres from Whitfield.

Harry Power was one of the last of the highwayman-style bushrangers. In 1869, he met the then 14 year old Ned, who became his “apprentice” and together they conducted many stick ups in the King Valley. 

Power used the lookout as a base camp. It provided clear views over the valley, and Ned’s relatives, the Quinns, had a homestead at the base of the 300 metre crag from where, according to Ian Jones’ Ned Kelly. A Short Life, a peacock would screech a warning if anyone happened to be passing by.

Powers Lookout is a few kilometres off the Whitfield-Mansfield Road, via an easy but narrow dirt track. You can walk out to the crag – there are some steep sets of steps involved -- where Power observed the goings on down below, and a detailed display has information about his career and the beautiful Victorian high country towards which you look.

Ned escaped Powers’ influence when the bushranger accused him of cowardice during a bungled holdup in 1869.
A short distance down the Whitfield-Mansfield road from Powers Lookout, in the Wombat Ranges towards Tolmie, is Stringybark Creek.

In 1878, Ned, his brother Dan, plus Joe Byrne and Steve Hart ambushed and murdered three policemen, thus changing their status from petty criminals to outlaws and sealing their fates.

While the “Ned Kelly: hero or villain?” debate is one on which nearly all Australians have a view, it is particularly energetic in this region, where the Kellys had, and still have, many sympathisers.

However the contrary position – that the Kelly gang was nothing more than a bunch of horse thieves and, finally, murderers -- is strong in Mansfield, where the three police officers lived. 

The site, which is now a picnic area, is about 10 kilometres off the main road, again via a dirt track. In the clearing is a memorial to the three officers – Sergeant Michael Kennedy, Constable Michael Scanlon and Constable Thomas Lonigan – killed “in the execution of their duty” by the Kelly gang. The memorial bears the Victoria police crest and the names of two of Sergeant Kennedy’s descendents. A large tree, 100 metres south of the clearing, marks the spot where the ambush occurred. On the other side of Stringybark Creek is a large, grassy open camping area.

Within days of news of the Stringybark Creek killings reaching Melbourne, the 1878 Outlawry Act was proclaimed. It permitted any member of the Kelly gang to be shot by anyone at any time. They lasted another 20 months, until the siege at Glenrowan. Kennedy, Lonigan and Scanlon are buried in the Mansfield cemetery; there’s also a memorial in town.

Mansfield is a good base for several 4WD trips into the Victorian High Country. Parks Victoria has established a network of 4WD tracks in this area to encourage safe, responsible off road touring. The tracks, which are usually open from April-May, are graded for difficulty, clearly marked and signposted.

From Mansfield, you can take a five hour easy/moderate track to Craigs Hut, then head to Lake Cobbler following the King River (easy/moderate.) Mt Stirling to Bluff Hut via the Howqua and Delatite Valleys is a 10 hour, moderate/difficult drive.

If you would prefer an accompanied 4WD tour, or have someone else do the driving, Mansfield also has several guides and tour packages available.

If you do head into the mountains by yourself, let someone in Mansfield know. Unlike the Kelly gang, you presumably wish to be found, if necessary, by the local police.