Christmas on Top of the World!

We arrived in Canberra and were so blessed to be able to stay with our lovely cousins Debbie and Brett. We stashed the caravan in a side parking and for the first time in weeks did not sleep on wheels and had a bathroom near us..bliss. Thank you!!Canberra is a wonderful city, our Capital ..but first to Christmas.
We decided to do something completely different this year as I knew we would miss the family and togetherness which we have always had on Christmas day. So we decided to drive to the Snowy Mountains and climb Australia’s highest peak to have a toast to us all from there. The Australian Alps have many ski resorts and more snow than Switzerland in winter ( bigger area). The biggest rivers also have their source in these mountains, including the Murray, the Murrumbidgee and of course the Snowy River. The latter has been made into the biggest Hydro scheme in Australia hailed as one of the engineering wonders of the modern world. It is a complex infrastructure with 16 major dams, seven power stations (two underground), pumping stations, 145 kms of interconnected tunnels and 80 kms of aqueducts. To build this scheme in these wilderness mountains with unforgiving weather is a true marvel, and when you see the size of the tunnels and pipes (30ft inside) it is breathtaking.
We stayed in a caravan park overnight and on Christmas morning drove into the heart of the mountains to Thredbo which is a ski resort with multiple chair lifts etc in winter. We took the chair lift 500 odd meters to the top of the ridge, then hiked the 6 and half kms to the top of Mt Kosciuszko at 2229 meters. While that does not sound all that high, most of Australia is very flat and low, so these mountains rise abruptly from the plains and we could see 360 deg views of the mountains. The lower parts of the slopes had amazing wildflowers growing among the granite tors, looking truly like God’s Garden. However as we climbed higher there was only spongy alpine moss and grasses with patches of snow. Being at the top was an exhilarating experience, and we felt a real sense of achievement. Christmas lunch was smoked salmon sandwiches, fresh cherries, nuts, and a swig or two of Port! We got a real buzz from being able to phone Joe and Geoff from the peak to wish them Happy Christmas, because believe it or not there was a signal (intermittent but usable).We thought we would be one of the few people daft enough to do something like this on Christmas day, but there were quite a few other brave souls and the atmosphere was festive! The weather was a brisk 10 deg (less with wind-chill) but bright blue skies..magic! We felt for our Perth family who were sweating it out in a heat wave of 40 deg. The trip down was great with views all around us, and we also got a buzz from standing at the source of the Snowy River! I used Australia’s highest loo with views of Kosciusko. From the chairlift we could see for miles (and even saw a little echidna scuttling around below us). We drove back and had a spa at the caravan park which eased our muscles!
The next day we drove back to Canberra through the centre of the Great Dividing Range with wonderful views, hairpin bends, and saw the highest reservoir, the highest town in Australia ( Cabramurra), and some historic mountain huts straight out of “The Man from Snowy River”.
It was a wonderful and very different Christmas!

The Lakes, and the Croajingolong National Park

We headed east resolutely and aimed for the Lakes District. These are 3 huge inland fresh water lakes into which 5 rivers flow enroute to the sea. In actual fact they are really big lagoons, but are the biggest fresh water expanses of fresh water in the Australia, and support a huge fishing industry and tourism. As we passed a little town called Bairnsdale we stopped off at the Catholic Church of St Mary’s as we had been told that it was worth a visit. The church was not huge, and was about 150 yrs old and big for a small town with soaring ceilings and alcove over the altar. But what made it special were the frescos decorating the ceilings and walls. An Italian artist had come out to Australia after WW1 and during the depression had to find work. The local priest offered him a job to paint the ceiling of the church and this he did..the whole ceiling is covered with murals of saints, angels, scenes from the Bible etc. The Altar area had depictions of the judgement and heaven..very impressive. It was not the Sistine Chapel, but very inspiring none the less.
We drove by the main town of Lakes Entrance intending to stop further along the road and return the next day. However we decided it was too touristy and that we had seen what we needed to see and so pushed on towards the NSW border. The whole south eastern corner of Victoria is covered by National Park called the Croajingolong and is a wilderness coast. It covers a huge area and most of it has never been cleared or logged so is untouched. Only a few roads penetrate into the temperate rain forests to the coast, and the whole area is thick and wild. We stayed at a little fishing village called Bemm River where the river flows into a huge lagoon, and went for a walk into the forests on the few overgrown tracks to the river banks. We heard and saw lots of bird life, but not much fauna (most of the Australian wildlife is nocturnal) except for FLIES! We also drove to the beach past the lagoon on a rutted track and then had to scramble through thick overgrown bush to get to the beach which was utterly beautiful and completely deserted...it is called the 90 mile beach and you feel like you are the only person to ever have walked on it. We decided to try our hand at fishing for Bream in the river with what they told us was the local fish delicacy..sand worms. These sea creatures are dug out of the sand using a small prawn or cockle as temptation before they peep out and are nabbed by the experienced sand wormer. They look disgusting..small red/orange things with lots of wriggling legs and big mouths...ugh. Anyhow, the Bream were not that interested, but we had lots of fun anyway. As we sat on the banks in this isolated spot, every now and then a huge fish (18 inches plus long) which we were told were some kind of mullet would suddenly LEAP out of the water quite a height and then flop back into it with a huge splash. Not sure why, probably to catch the mossies and flies. This happened randomly every couple of min or so, and we had great fun trying to predict with the camera where the next splash would be. It rained most of the time, but we still managed to see quite a bit.
And so to Canberra.....

Gippsland: Tree Ferns, Scenery and Giant Earth worms!

Gippsland is the area east of Melbourne and is by far the most scenic, lovely countryside we have been in so far. The whole area was originally covered by Temperate Rain forest, and the hills and mountains had towering Mountain Ash, Myrtle Beech and tall tree ferns. The early settlers cleared a lot of the land for farming, and the area now looks like driving through Scotland with green hills, tree lined valleys, and fertile farms. The National Parks have preserved the original Forests which have rare and endangered species dating back to the Gondwanaland era. Every drive and corner is prettier than the last, and the weather cool and moist the way we love it. We stayed at a lovely campsite in Korumburra where we got a spot under two huge Oak Trees which must have been at least 100 years old. We were almost the only people in this delightful park which backed onto an arboretum, and little brook with nature walk. There were wombats in the park, and possums in the trees. We did some scenic drives along the Grand Ridge Road, and went to some galleries where the artist’s studio looked out onto the mountain ranges for inspiration! (lucky things..they had peacocks strutting around the lush gardens, huge trees..what a place.)An interesting fact about this area is that it is the only place in the world that you find Giant Earth Worms. These worms live in the boggy ground near river banks and grow from 80 cms to 2 meters and are about 2 cm wide..otherwise the same as other earth worms ( David Attenborough had a programme on them, and Bill Bryson mentions them in the Down Under ).Of course we did not see any ( but then do you see ordinary earth worms just lying around on the surface?) But the blurb said you would k know they were around by the slurping sound, like water going down a plug...So of course we walked around listening for the slurping sound!
After 4 days we tore ourselves away and drove down the coast towards Yarram where we came to the Tarra Bulga National Park which is my little bit of heaven. Huge trees, 1000 yr old Myrtle Beech, Towering Tree Ferns, birds everywhere..a precious remnant of the Temperate Rain forests that only exist now here, NZ and a bit in S. America. We could not believe that the campsite was on the bubbling Tarra River, and we were the only campers there! Every corner has moss, ferns and streams. There are colourful parrots in the trees and even the lyrebird ( heard but not seen).We could stay here for ages, but need to keep moving and find a spot for Christmas as we have not booked in anywhere and all the popular places will be booked out for the Christmas holiday period. We were originally hoping to make Sydney to be with our family Hanneke and Steve for Christmas, but that will be rushing too much.

The Spa Country

Goodbye to the Grampains as we drove into the area north of Melbourne known as the “Spa Country” because of the extensive Mineral Springs found in the mountains and forests of the area. We found the most idyllic campsite in the middle of a huge National Parks called the Lerderberg. It is a small hamlet called Blackwood and has the sweetest old cottages with pretty gardens..but the caravan Park is in a clearing surrounded by huge trees and forest on the banks of the river...the only sounds were the birds and gurgling of the river. We put up our annex (side tent) which we don’t do for short stops and our Sat disc and decided to stay for awhile. The reason they call it the Spa country is that the mineral springs that bubble up in various places are full of minerals and trace elements and are supposed to be therapeutic. As a result commerce has cashed in and made the region a hedonistic paradise for those wanting every kind of Health Spa experience from Massages to mud baths. As it happens our Blackwood has a mineral and Soda spring called “Soda Fountain” and we went and tried both. We could not believe it, the water had a sparkle and tasted just like the bottled soda water! Very pleasant, and quite a surprise. We added a little fruit juice and it was like those posh flavoured mineral waters. The area is also known for the mining boom which was so huge in the early 1800 that thousands of men from all over the world, incl China, California, and of course UK flooded in to try and make their fortunes. The area is riddled with old mine shafts and very historic buildings and towns..many of the little diggings and shafts we found while doing hikes in the forests. We drove into historic Ballarat where the famous Eureka Stockade took place (the miners revolted against the gov because of unfair taxation and laws) and so is regarded as the birthplace of the Aussie spirit of “fair go” and the trade unions. Ballarat is the second largest Victorian city and has grand Victorian buildings and gardens dating for the Gold Rush area and prosperity. It had a wonderful Art Gallery where they had some priceless paintings from all over the world and well known Australian artist. On Sunday we drove into Melbourne for the day and had a wonderful day going to the Craft Market, the famous Victoria St Market, and the National Art Gallery of Australia. The latter was awesome, floor after floor of famous paintings by Monet, Rembrandt, Constable, Turner and more. Eventually we could not absorb any more, so went to the markets where we got some real bargains as it was close of the weekend. We have loved this area of lush forests and deep gorges, and our 5 days here have been very restful.
From Spa Country we drove over the “top” of Melbourne and went into the Yarra Valley, which is a beautiful mountainous and forested area, also known for its wines. We stayed in Yarra Glen on the banks of the Yarra River where we saw amazing birds. Paul even thought he heard a platypus during the night (but it could have been a wombat). The Yarra River is the main river that runs through Melbourne. We could not get over how picturesque Victoria was even a close distance (80 kms) from Melbourne.