Blogs from Snowy Mountains, New South Wales, Australia, Oceania

Walking back in Thyme...accidents happen when you lose the track.

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Snowy Mountains March 12th 2017

Walking back in Thyme. The Snowy Mountains for the Thredbo Blues Festival in January this year brings memories flooding back...of 5 day hikes...and tennis. Memories walking over mountains covered in mosses and acres and acres of the herb thyme. 8 days in a loft apartment overlooking the Thredbo ski fields in summer...no snow...just trees and grass...friends coming up from the Australian Tennis Open in Melbourne for a weekend of blues. Off to Guthega Power Station to see if the pipes I climbed when I was 15 were still there...which of course they were. In 1949 Australia engaged in one of the most ambitious engineering projects on the planet...the Snowy Mountains Scheme...sixteen major dams; seven power stations; two pumping stations; and 225 kilometres (140 miles) of tunnels, pipelines and aqueducts constructed between 1949 and 1974, generating hydroelectricity ... read more

Yarrangobilly

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Snowy Mountains November 17th 2015

Boxing Kangaroos

RFillingham

After leaving Canberra the Snowy Mountains were to be our next adventure. We headed straight for the town of Cooma where we found a great campsite. Here we were allowed to check out whenever we wanted to and there was free internet near reception. We took full advantage of these two things and left very late the next day. In our tourist information we came across the Yarrangobilly Caves which looked interesting. These were about two hours away from Cooma so we headed there. We passed through the town of Adaminaby where we wanted to withdraw some cash. This proved impossible as, despite choosing to purchase a giant trout sculpture, the residents of the town hadn't found it necessary to invest in an ATM. We drove on, hoping that everywhere would accept cards as we had ... read more

SMASHED & SHATTERED: How are we going to get out of this one?

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Snowy Mountains July 12th 2014

How are we going to get out of this one?

Dancing Dave

SMASHED & SHATTERED: How are we going to get out of this one? I thought I could impress her...thought she'd think this was the coolest thing she'd ever done...never thought what happened could ever happen..no one would. Fact is stranger than Fiction they say. What happened on this trip made Fact out of Fantasy...made Fact into Freaky Reality. ****** I had been caving with a Speliological Club in Coolamon Caves in the Snowy Mountains...extraordinary area not now open to the public...restricted to experienced cavers. Had driven there via Brindabella Track near Canberra...roughest road on the planet...traversing sharp boulders for miles and miles. One massive rock tried to climb through the floor of my Datsun 180B...caused a massive ding in the floor...had to jump on it to flatten the floor back...swore I'd never drive that track again. ... read more

This is when you REALLY need your 4WD. (part 1)

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Snowy Mountains July 25th 2011

aDSC 0113

brack1936

The Snowy Mountains are always a place of interest. There are many amazing places up there and for people like me who are from Western Australia, they are a must-go place. Of course, when I went there in May it was pretty darn cold and the chance of finding snow is slim but when you're sitting in Albury McDonald's lamenting over a cup of coffee trying to figure out where to go, the Snowy Mountains always hits the right spot. It's a wonderful drive there if you take the Riverina Highway west out of town and cross the Hume dam on the nifty little bridge. Little may be the wrong word to use - it's a very long bridge. You can follow the Murray River and there are many beautiful spots to stop for a bite ... read more

Conquering Cooper and Christmas

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Snowy Mountains August 21st 2010

Father Christmas

kangaroojack

Day 652 Yipppee! It’s the weekend already and I can tick off almost two weeks from Andy’s absence, thankfully the weeks are not dragging, despite being a little bit quiet at work, and I am finding myself fairly occupied at the weekends. Well, alright then I know it is only my second weekend, but there seems to be a lot on my list of things to do and today I will be able to tick Bredbo off that list! Let me start with the events of my week. I think I may have mentioned Cooper the Ragdoll cat who lives with Bec, I was going to say that Bec owns Cooper but it is the other way round, Cooper owns Bec. Anyway, he is somewhat skittish around me and always runs past me and makes every ... read more

Snowy Mountains

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Snowy Mountains January 10th 2010

Vislava

Jezero Adaminaby naj bi bilo pred leti se vecje kot je danes. Susna leta so znizala jezersko gladino za tretjino, tako je povedal Ivan, ko naju je popeljal po jezeru. Gladina jezera je bila danes razburkana. Veter je potiskal vodo naravnost v kljun colna, da nas je ob precejsnji hitrosti colna posteno potusiralo. Obala je bila travnata, posusena trava in pesceni zalivi, strlece drevje brez listja, ki je ostalo po kaksnem pozaru, ali jih je posusila soncna pripeka. Obzorje je bilo puscavsko, voda prijetna za kopanje. Zasidrali smo se v zalivu, ki ga je izbral gostitelj. Pescena plaza in drevo (brez listja), ki smo ga izbrali za senco nasi malici. Vrgli smo se v vodo in plavali. Popoldne smo se z avtodomom vrnili v Canberro. Voznja je bila prijetna, sedeli sva za mizo, lahko bi lezali, ... read more

Snowy Mountains

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Snowy Mountains January 9th 2010

Vislava

V koci moras za seboj pospraviti, ocistiti kopalnico in posesati sobo, posteljno perilo smo prinesli s seboj. Prijatelj se je javil prejsnji vecer, da bo posesal se skupne prostore. Ko smo vse postorili, smo se odpravili novim dogodivscinam naproti. Za zadnji dan smo nacrtovali krajso pot. Ko smo se vracali, smo se ustavili v Perisher Valley in se po ozki stezi povzpeli do Porcupine Rocks, 5 km oddaljeno vzpetino z zanimivimi granitnimi monoliti in lepim razgledom v pogorje Main Range in dolino Thredbe Valley. Splezali smo po granitnih zaobljenih skalah na vrh, a se nismo dolgo zadrzevali, ker je divje pihal zahodnik, da nas je skoraj odpihnilo. Zdrsnili smo na stezo in se pocasi vrnili po isti poti. Na stezi smo opazili iztrebke divjega prasica in zajckov. Opazili smo tudi velike okrogle odprtine, iz katerih kukajo ... read more

Snowy Mountains

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Snowy Mountains January 8th 2010

Vislava

Main Range Track je 22 km dolga pot, ki smo jo drugi dan izpeljali od Charlotte Pass prek Blue Lake, kjer zivijo celo ribe (Galaxias oledius) in so prilagojene za zivljenje v hladni vodi. Prvic smo precili Snowy River preskakujoc iz kamna na kamen, drugic ko smo se vracali po drugi, meni ze znani poti (Summit Walk), pa prek mosta. Ob poti so zuboreli potocki, pobocja je prekrivalo nizko rastje in mahovje, pisane zaplate cvetja. Vse zeleno in cvetece, pravo nasprotje pokrajinam v nizinah, ki so od sonca povsem porjavele. Pot se je vstrajno vila navzgor na Main Range in ponujala lepe razglede dalec naokoli, na jezero Club Lake, na jezero Lake Albina, na Rawson Pass in Mt. Kosciuszko, ki smo se mu pocasi blizali. Veter je prijazno odganjal muhe, kar mi je nadvse prijalo, saj ... read more

Snowy Mountains

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Snowy Mountains January 7th 2010

Vislava

Nakljucje me je ze tretjic popeljalo v pogorje Diviling Range, ki se mu tezko izognes, saj se razprostira od Viktorije, prek New South Walesa do konca Quenslanda. Ze drugic se podajam v Avstralske alpe ali Snowy Mts. (Snezne gore ali Kosciuszko National park). Gore so v poletnem casu zelene, posute s cvetjem, videti pa je se zaplate snega, ki jih sonce ni pokopalo. Nastanili smo se v Charlotte Pass, v koci: skupna kuhinja in jedilnica in sobe z WC-jem in tusem. Vse je bilo lepo organizirano. Imeli smo svojo omarico za hrano, svojo polico v hladilniku, vse ostalo smo si bratsko delili. Prijetno je bilo v druzbi kuhati ali pomivati posodo. Prvi dan smo jo urezali proti vasi Guthera na Schlink Hut Walk, ki v krogu znese 22 km, vendar smo se odlocili za ¾ poti, ... read more

Can you call this work?

Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Snowy Mountains December 16th 2008

This is your copilot speaking

Matt and Heidi

Matt here, just to give you a quick peak into the life of an entomologist in Australia. Normally, these blogs are reserved for vacation and activities Heidi and I do in our free time, but I wanted you guys to see what I am getting paid to do as well. Just before christmas, I headed southwest to Australia's most popular ski area, the Snowy Mountains. This isn't Colorado, but the tallest mountains reach 2,228 meters. We were hired by a company that runs a hydro-electric scheme in the series of catchments contained within the mountain range. To help bolster winter snow pack (which translates to more electricity come summer time), a technique is being trialed whereby they release atomized particles of Silver iodide into the atmosphere which stimulate clouds to snow during Winter. This cloud seeding ... read more