Oz Trip - Day 160

Day 160 – 8/10/2012 – Tumbarumba Rest Day

A nice cool night again which was perfect for a sleep in. The temperature went down to 0.6deg over night. Our body clocks were all over the place due to travelling a the different time zones over the last couple weeks, getting back to normal for a few days and then day light saving started with through us out again.

It was pretty much our first relaxing day of the whole trip so far. We didn't have anything planned. No jobs to catch up on and no driving. We walked up to a local cafe for lunch and then pretty much just sitting back taking it all in before we did the final push for home :-( .

Oz Trip - Day 159

Day 159 – 7/10/2012 – Mt Selwyn and Cabramurra Day Trip

Because it was pretty cool overnight, (min 1.4deg), and for the last couple of days, and there was plenty of moisture around, we decided to head up to Cabramurra and Mt Selwyn to see if we could find any snow – unfortunately we didn't. We might have if we had headed to Thredbo instead. It would have been pretty cool to do desert to snow in one holiday.

I didn't end up taking any photos of the day trip either as we had covered all of this ground before. So here is the link from the previous day trip around this area.

http://blog.sjbowden.com/2011/04/snowy-mountains-trip-day-5.html

On the way back to camp we stopped in at Paddy's River Falls. Due to the rain over the past few days the falls were running really well.

Paddys River Falls

Oz Trip - Day 158

Day 158 – 6/10/2012 – Tumbarumba

Again another day of driving through a lot of small towns in picturesque countryside. It was just a shame that it was pretty much raining all day. We packed up in the wet and it pretty much rained all day until setup that afternoon.

When we left Cobrum we headed out through Yarrowonga

Yarrowonga

Crackenback Trip - Day 11

Day 11 – 3/4/2012 - Yarrangobilly to Lake Burrendong

We said a temporary goodbye to Allan and Evelyn this morning – they were heading up to Conowindra for the night – we were off instead to Lake Burrendong (near Wellington).

Yarrangobilly in the morning

Crackenback Trip - Day 10

Day 10 – 2/4/2012 - Crackenback to Yarrangobilly

We new that we weren't going to get an early start because we had to say good bye to everyone. Because of this we only planned to go a small distance. A couple of hundred kilometres up the Snowy Mountains Highway to a place we found on our trip last year. The place was called Yarrangobilly. It use to be the site of a small town on top of the Snowy Mountains and is very close to the caves and a thermal pool.

The camp ground

Crackenback Trip - Day 9

Day 9 – 1/4/2012 - Packup Day

Well it was out last day at the Crackenback House so we had to start loading everything that we had dragged out of the van back into it.  This was a job that took most of the morning.

A new downhill mountain bike track had opened at Thredbo so Ian and John spent most of the day riding.

After the van was packed, I was finally able to spend a bit of time taking some photos of the house that we had all stayed in.

Main lounge room looking out

Crackenback Trip - Day 8

Day 8 – 31/3/2012 - Recovery

Due to the celebrations the day before, it was a bit of a slow start to the day by most people.

John knew how much Lisa and Ian love the “My Family” stickers, so John and Michael decorated their Subaru.

Crackenback Trip - Day 7

Day 7 – 30/3/2012 - Wedding Day

The girls had to be down at Jindabyne by 9am to get their hair and makeup done, so they were up and going pretty early. To keep the boys occupied Ian had arranged for the boys to meet up for brunch at the Jindabyne Old Town Centre.

The weather was fantastic so we found a cafe with outside seating and all had a great feed and followed it with a walk along the lake's edge to wear off the breakfast and kill a bit of time. It was amazing to see how far up the water had come due to all of the rain that the area had received over the previous months.

Ian didn't return to the house instead he went back to the Crackenback Farm to get ready and to let Lisa get ready in the house.

The Bride

Crackenback Trip - Day 6

Day 6 – 29/3/2012 - Wedding Prep Day

This morning we did a bit of running around with Lisa & Ian into Jindabyne to confirm the hairdresser and florist bookings for the wedding. After that we went back to the house, before driving down to the Crackenback Farm in the afternoon to have a scout around for photo locations for the ceremony and for photos after the wedding.

Ian more interested in the tractor than the wedding stuff.

Crackenback Trip - Day 5

Day 5 – 28/3/2012 - Snowy Mountains Quad Biking Day :-)

Two days before the wedding, one really has to ask, is quad biking really a good idea???

Ian (the Groom), Lisa (the Bride), Megan, Oscar and myself all had an early start, (will I ever get to sleep in on our holiday!), to do a full days Quad bike riding on a property in the Snowy Mountains. We all headed out to Snowy Mountains Retreat which is about 30km South of Jindabyne.

The day was looking very overcast with the occasional shower coming across. We couldn't really tell what the day was going to turn into so we decided to go anyway and see how long we could withstand the cold and/or rain. As it turned out we had cloud cover most of the day and only a shower in the afternoon, so all in all it worked out perfectly.

On arrival we knew that it was going to be an interesting day. The guides were waiting for us at the start of the track into the property because the track was so muddy and slippery. We were in Ian and Lisa's Subaru Outback and even though it was all wheel drive, the low profile tyres weren't exactly useful in the thick sticky mud and it was slipping and sliding even on the flat part of the track just after the gate to the property.

Megan in the mud.

Crackenback Trip - Day 4

Day 4 – 27/3/2012 - Cooma to Crackenback

We woke up to a cold and foggy morning. We dropped the Pajero off at 8am at the mechanics. By staying the night in Cooma it probably worked out better. We were able to leave the camper in the van park 80% packed up while the Pajero was in getting fixed.

Snowy Mountains Trip - Day 15

Day 15 - 9/5/2011 - Charlotte's Pass and Cooma

A very sad day today - it was our last day at the house.  :-( .  When we got up it was about 0 deg and looking at the weather predictions they still said there was about a 40% chance of snow up in the snow fields, so we all decided we should go for a quick drive up to Charlotte’s Pass just to have a look before we left.  None of us were expecting to see much - maybe a bit of sleet if we were lucky.

We set off in convoy - with John playing the sound of baby Hannah crying non-stop on the 2 way radio.  We were lucky because we could turn the radio off :-) .  It was about 10:30-11:00 on the way to Charlotte’s Pass and it was about 2-3 degrees.  As we approached Charlotte’s Pass we started to see little patches of what looked like snow.  This was exciting enough but when we got right up to the carpark we realised it was actually snowing properly!

Snowy Mountains Trip - Day 14

Day 14 - 8/5/2011 - Mothers Day and Rest Day

Finally a rest day!!!!  Everyone had a bit of a sleep in this morning - but when we got moving it was a beautiful sunny day.  Still quite chilly outside though!  Ian fired up the BBQ and got some eggs, bacon, tomatoes etc cooking.  We all sat around the table on the deck and had a yummy breakfast and gave Evelyn her Mother’s Day cards and presents.

Masterchef eat your heart out!

Snowy Mountains Trip - Day 13

Day 13 - 7/5/2011 - Mt Kosciuszko Day Trip

Today was the day that Lisa, Ian and I were going to conquer Mt Kosciuszko!!!!  Again it was an early start because we knew the walk from the top of Thredbo takes 3 to 5 hours and the weather can change fairly quickly so the earlier the start the better.  It was a beautiful clear and cold day - couldn’t have asked for better for the climb!  The temperature dropped to -2.4 degrees overnight and there was a good frost in the morning.  It was a toasty 18deg inside the house due to the central heating.  When we left Jindabyne at about 8am, it was about 1 deg, so we knew it was going to be cold at the top of Thredbo and Kosciuszko, especially with the wind chill factor!

Frost on the table

Snowy Mountains Trip - Day 12

Day 12 - 6/5/2011 - Murray 2 Power Station Day Trip (inc Old Geehi Hut)

It was an early start because it was our last chance to do a tour of a Snowy Hydro power station.  The tours only run during the week and this was our last chance before we started heading out of the Snowy Mountains region. Today Evelyn and Allan, (Jodies parents), joined us on a day trip to see the Murray 2 Power Station.  We knew the tours were only conducted at 11am and 1pm so we left at about 7.45am so we would get there in time for the 11am tour.  After talking to a few locals they said that it takes about 2-2.5 hours to go the 80 odd kilometers from Jindabyne to Khancoban due to the winding roads.

We drove from the house through to the centre of Jindabyne and then took the Alpine Way turn-off (near the Big 4 Caravan Park). On the way out along Alpine Way towards Thredbo and beyond, there was thick frost everywhere. You could see the water which was running out of the gutters and drains by the side of the road had frozen and was forming little icicles. It was just amazing to see the landscape with the light layer of frost over everything.  The Pajero was showing an outside temperature of -1 deg and the little warning light for “snow on the road”.  You never get to see that symbol in Bundaberg!!!!

It was quite a steep and winding drive from the west side of Thredbo to the Murray 2 Power Station. Part of this Alpine Way is not recommended for caravans. We stopped quickly at Leatherbarrel Creek Camping and Picnic Area - it was a beautiful spot - but absolutely freezing! The ferns on the ground were frozen solid - but the little creek was still flowing.

Frozen Fern

Snowy Mountains Trip - Day 11

Day 11 - 5/5/2011 - Jindbyne Big 4 to East Jindabyne House (The Point)

We drove over to Jindabyne this morning and parked the van at the bottom of the driveway of the house.  The house was just fantastic - 5 bedrooms - 3 bathrooms.  2 bedrooms are in one wing and 3 are in the other - so it’s fantastic for a large group of people.  Mind you we needed all of the space to house all of the people!

"The Point's" Deck

Snowy Mountains Trip - Day 10

Day 10 - 4/5/2011 - Tumut to Jindabyne Big 4

Again we didn’t have an early start - around 9 or 10am before we got on the road.  It took longer than we expected to get to Jindabyne due to climbing the ranges along the Snowy Mountains Highway and a few stops.  One stop was at Kiandra for a quick photo.  The old Court House is the only building remaining from the gold rush ghost town.

Kiandra Court House

Snowy Mountains Trip - Day 9

Day 9 - 3/5/2011 - Tumut
Today we decide to have a quiet day in Tumut and catch up on a few jobs and recharge the batteries.  As a result we had a nice slow start to a beautiful misty morning. Hopefully this meant that we once the fog cleared, there would be plenty of sunshine to fully recharge the batteries.

Snowy Mountains Trip - Day 8

Day 8 - 2/5/2011 - Lobs Hole Ravine Rd and Yarrangobilly Caves Day Trip

Today we were going to tackle Lobbs Hole Ravine Road that we aborted a few days ago.  We set off at around 8am this morning because the guide says the track takes about 3-4 hours - so we’d though that we would start early because you never know what the track conditions are like.  We entered the Lobbs Hole Ravine Rd from the northern end.

The start of Lobb Hole Ravine Road

Snowy Mountains Trip - Day 7

Day 7 - 1/5/2011 - Tumbarumba to Tumut

It was a slow start this morning - we knew that the Caravan Park in Tumut didn’t accept people checking in until 12.00 so we didn’t bother leaving Tumbarumba until around 10am.  It is only about an hours drive from Tumbarumba to Tumut.  When we arrived at Tumut we picked out an unpowered site right beside the Tumut river.  It’s a great van park - although the old amenities block was due to be renovated in May 2011 and you could tell why!  The river is right beside the park - and there are loads of birds and brumbies that use the river to drink and play in.  The river was flowing quite quickly - it was strange to see a river flowing from East to West - not what we are used to coming from the Eastern side of the Great Divide.  In summer it would be a great place for a swim.

Brumbies coming in for their afternoon drink