Snowy Mountains

13th We woke to beautiful morning and thought it would be a good day to explore a little of the lake. We hired a motor boat and chugged out of our inlet onto the lake.

Isaac took charge of the throttle which he kept firmly at warp speed apart from the occasional flip to full reverse.

It was great fun speeding around in our very noisy boat. There was a large island that we went to investigate. It was hot and rocky and felt very snakey but was deserted and exciting to explore.

There was a memorial for a 10yo boy made from skate boards.

The bed of the lake seemed to be granite so it was very clean and clear and ideal for cooling off - especially as we had hit 35C by mid morning.

We had a very enjoyable hour just splashing around and the boating experience went straight into our "best bits of the trip"list.

After a brief lunchtime rest we went west into the Koziosco National park. This area is famous (in Australia) for its skiing but actually a small percentage is given over to piste with the rest being forested mountians with some great bush walks. We stopped at Thredbo - the premier resort - and went for a short walk to a swimming hole in a stream. It was very picturesque and impressively cold being melt water from the mountain top ice. We all paddled but Rach was the only one brave enough to get in fully.

Afterwards we went for a walk through the forests to dry.

As we drove out of Thredbo the buildings were mostly Alpine styled.

14th After the success of yesterday's boat trip we decided to take out a canoe today. It was a triple and with the boys installed in the middle seat we headed off to the other side of our island. We quickly learnt that it was not very stable and that Al couldn't get his head around the steering. Nonetheless we made it to the island and made boats from sticks and discarded fishing line and threw stones into the water. We happily passed an hour or so and then needed to head home. Paddling away from the island was fine until we came out from its lee to find that the wind had really got up. The water was very rough and we couldnt make any forward progress at all into the head wind - the boys started screaming and general panic ensued. Luckily a nearby motorboat came to give us a tow but the spray and waves made it quite an intense 15minutes. The boys we really screaming so we passed them into the boat which didnt help much.

After that relaxing start to the day we drove out on the road to Threado for our riding session. Al had been wanting to ride in Australia and the home of The Man from Snowy River seemed the appropriate spot. The temperature had risen into the high thirties and as we arrived at the stockyard it felt hot and dusty and very authentically Australian.

Nav was a great guy and clearly very fond of his horses all of which were either saved from the knackers yard or were Brumbies saved from a cull. We had a brief reminder of the controls and then set off into the 300 hectares of farm.

It was mostly gum forest with occasional large clearing with a few scattered cattle. Al rode alongside Nav and chatted most of the way and learnt a lot about the local farmland and wildlife. A major bush fire had been through this area a few years ago and burnt out several hundred thousand hectares and the damage was evident all around. Nav was unimpressed with the treatment of the Brumbies in the national parks which, because they are not indigenous, are regularly culled often being shot from helicopters.

Bella was pretty steady and we had no problems going up and down the step inclines or through the creeks but there was a bit of excitment when she bit Strawberry on the bottom.

It was a great ride for a couple of hours through the bush and was exactly what Al had hoped it would be - although he did have a sore bum later.

Isaac then insisted on having a go and luckily there was a suitable pony. Lincoln was 26 years old and had to be regularly "encouraged" to keep moving but Isaac absolutely loved it and insisted on walking around and around the field. We think it is pretty clear who Banjo Paterson was talking about:

And the Snowy River riders on the mountains make their home,
Where the river runs those giant hills between;
I have seen full many horsemen since I first commenced to roam,
But nowhere yet such horsemen have I seen.
Banjo Paterson 1890

Charlie wanted to try the hat on but that was as far as it went...

15th It was another hot day and we were forced to spend most of the morning looking for accomodation on the internet. We had not really planned this section of the journey and combined with sleep deprivation, heat and restless kids it was a very stressfull morning. After lunch we went back to the Lake Crakenback resort to make further use of their (ahem) private facilities. There was a good walk through the bush with various low ropes courses, balancing poles and monkey bars along the way which the boys enjoyed. Rachel did not enjoy falling off the hamster wheel as much though. We were politely declined entry to the swimming pool and having got used to our lakes being at least 10km long we didnt fancy Lake (duck pond) Crakenback for a dip. Back in Jindabayne we swam and played catch in our own lake.

16th We had 330km to do today so we were on the road before 9. It had been impossible to find any accomodation on our chosen route between Jindabyne and coast so we were forced to go all the way to Lakes Entrance in one go. Heading south along Barry Way the scenerary alternated between heavilly wooded areas and cleared grazing areas and fairly soon we started to slowly drop out of the mountains. As we were coming round a tight bend a very large red kangeroo landed right in front of the car forcing an emergency stop and then in one bound cleared the opposite lane and up an 8' bank. The thing was huge and was within inches of coming in through our windscreen - this photo gives some idea of the size.

We stayed parked in the middle of the road for a minute or two speechless.

Shortly after this the sealed road ended and became dust and gravel - this was not part of the plan but a quick check of the map and the "Sav Nav" confirmed we were in the right place and on an A road. As it turned out we had 100kms of this dirt road to cover and when we got into the Paris - Dakar rally spirit of it, it was good fun. Every so often we would pass a homestead and although this was only the "bush" rather than "outback" it seemed a very lonely place to be. The views were stunning but despite several attempts we couldnt get photos that captured the scale of the landscapes.

Most of the way there was stock fencing running parallel to the road 5 metres or so in and at one point a pair of grey roo's hopped along side us, hemmed in by the fence. It was a great to see them bounding along effortlessly keeping up with the car for several miles.

On the 120km since leaving the Jindabyne road we had only passed 2 cars. We then hit the Monaro Highway which despite its title and being one of the main road south from Canberra to Melbourne was twisty and single laned. We stopped for a quick break in "Bombala - A timber town" which - of course - had a great playground including a vintage tractor and plough. (Having said vintage it looked significantly more modern than the photos of Pip's first tractor).

We accidently drove through a logging yard which was clearly the biggest operation in town with some impressive sawdust heaps.



Not long afterwards were passed from NSW into Victoria and the landscape changed almost immediately. As we dropped from 700m to almost sea level everything became greener and the woodland was more like rainforest with dense ferny undergrowth. Eventually we turned west onto the Princes Highway at Cann River and stopped at Orbost for lunch. Not a very exciting town but we managed to buy some secondhand Redbacks (boots) for Charlie for 50cents and post birthday presents for Ollie and Angus.

We reached Tambo Lodge at 4ish and it turned out to more of a motel on the highway rather than a campsite but the rooms are large and we have a 5 acre garden to explore.

Travelling inland from Batemans Bay, through Canberra and the Snowy Mountains had taken us to some amazing places and we will remember the landscapes for ever.