Snowy Mountains
If we were to visually plot our path through South Eastern Australia it would look like a bit of a zig zag – coast, Murray, mountain, coast, mountain. But we reckoned that no visit to NSW would be complete without going to the Snowy Mountains - especially with our new (or previously latent) love of mountains.
We did our slow crawl up past the picturesque Budawang mountains – good old Elsie, she doesn’t move fast, but she gets us there. We got a little delayed at Braidwood, a laidback, arty little town. Being so close to Canberra we decided that it was ideal for 30/40-ish public servant types with a conscience. And then we realised that pretty much described us – no wonder we enjoyed it!
Because of our delay in Braidwood, we didn’t make it as far as Cooma, and so looked for the nearest national park with camping and ended up in Wadbilliga NP. And when we went for a walk the next morning we discovered the Tuross cascades and waterfall was really quite stunning, some steep gorges cut into the granite. We both love the randomness of our decision-making process and how often it turns out so well.
We did finally arrive in the Snowy Mountains proper and found a great campsite just inside the Kozciusko NP on the banks of the Thredbo River. Spent a bit of time chatting to another couple there, with a very similar ‘rig’ to ours - camper trailer, Landcruiser (albeit substantially newer & smarter than our Elsie) and a tinnie on top (albeit substantially larger than ours). Turns out Chook & Chub (for real, that’s how they introduced themselves!) had been on the road for 12 months - the first couple we have met of a similar age doing a similar trip!
Chook & Chub warned us about the cold, and with a thermometer they were able to tell us quite precisely how cold it was getting, like –4 degrees before dawn. That evening Nic got into a bit of campfire cooking – a kangaroo stew followed by scones – appropriately hearty, warming, high-country style cooking.
The next morning everything was very icy when we woke up, even our breath on our blanket had condensed and iced over! After the mist cleared we went to Thredbo and took the chairlift up 500m to the start of the walk to Mt Kozciusko. And it was COLD on top of the mountain, with a freezing wind blowing through the sunny day. As far as they go, Australia’s highest mountain is kind of underwhelming to look at, a rounded hill that sticks out of an enormous, high plain. Still it was a 14km walk with a gradual climb of about 500m to the top and appropriately stunning views all the way up.
Nic, who went through an intensely obsessive horsey phase as a youngster, has always wanted to emulate The Man from Snowy River. What she actually got was to accompany a very nervous learner rider on a beginner’s trek – Tim’s previous horse riding experiences haven’t been entirely positive. But the gentle trek through the foothills of the Snowies was a great experience – winding through the beautiful eucalypt forest flushed green after recent rains.
And of course the Snowy Mountain hydro, which we only saw fleetingly on our sunset drive from the mountains to Canberra.
We did our slow crawl up past the picturesque Budawang mountains – good old Elsie, she doesn’t move fast, but she gets us there. We got a little delayed at Braidwood, a laidback, arty little town. Being so close to Canberra we decided that it was ideal for 30/40-ish public servant types with a conscience. And then we realised that pretty much described us – no wonder we enjoyed it!
Because of our delay in Braidwood, we didn’t make it as far as Cooma, and so looked for the nearest national park with camping and ended up in Wadbilliga NP. And when we went for a walk the next morning we discovered the Tuross cascades and waterfall was really quite stunning, some steep gorges cut into the granite. We both love the randomness of our decision-making process and how often it turns out so well.
We did finally arrive in the Snowy Mountains proper and found a great campsite just inside the Kozciusko NP on the banks of the Thredbo River. Spent a bit of time chatting to another couple there, with a very similar ‘rig’ to ours - camper trailer, Landcruiser (albeit substantially newer & smarter than our Elsie) and a tinnie on top (albeit substantially larger than ours). Turns out Chook & Chub (for real, that’s how they introduced themselves!) had been on the road for 12 months - the first couple we have met of a similar age doing a similar trip!
Chook & Chub warned us about the cold, and with a thermometer they were able to tell us quite precisely how cold it was getting, like –4 degrees before dawn. That evening Nic got into a bit of campfire cooking – a kangaroo stew followed by scones – appropriately hearty, warming, high-country style cooking.
The next morning everything was very icy when we woke up, even our breath on our blanket had condensed and iced over! After the mist cleared we went to Thredbo and took the chairlift up 500m to the start of the walk to Mt Kozciusko. And it was COLD on top of the mountain, with a freezing wind blowing through the sunny day. As far as they go, Australia’s highest mountain is kind of underwhelming to look at, a rounded hill that sticks out of an enormous, high plain. Still it was a 14km walk with a gradual climb of about 500m to the top and appropriately stunning views all the way up.
Nic, who went through an intensely obsessive horsey phase as a youngster, has always wanted to emulate The Man from Snowy River. What she actually got was to accompany a very nervous learner rider on a beginner’s trek – Tim’s previous horse riding experiences haven’t been entirely positive. But the gentle trek through the foothills of the Snowies was a great experience – winding through the beautiful eucalypt forest flushed green after recent rains.
And of course the Snowy Mountain hydro, which we only saw fleetingly on our sunset drive from the mountains to Canberra.
posted by Tim and Nic at
3:22 pm
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