Boulderfields to Adaminaby

This length of the Snowy Mountains Highway is fairly flat and very boulder-strewn. But the horizon tells us another climb is ahead before we escape the Great Dividing Range.


After a few short hours, we find ourselves in Adaminaby, and here at thier Big Trout we found a lovely place to set up the camp stove. A sign at the base of the trout reads that it was erected in 2007 to mark the 50th anniversary of the moving of the town of Adaminaby.


Seems Old Adaminaby was in the way of the new Lake Eucumbene, which was formed as part of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric scheme.

Now the new town does a fair trade with trout fishermen during the summer, and the ski set all winter. Locals told us that with the drought of the last few years, the water level is low enough that you can still see the old town. Can you imagine it? We would have gone to see ourselves, but time urged us onwards.

Echidna - Tachyglossus, well most of one anyway.

How did The Most DH spot this from the Rover at 100 Kph?


At the sound of us skidding in the gravel at the roads shoulder, this Echidna made for what cover was closest to hand. Now, I dont expect anyone outside of Australia to believe me when I say this is an actual animal. So here is a link to Wikipedia's Echidna page, that will sort you out.

Tis a pity this one wouldnt show his face for us, we waited as long as we could to see if he would pull his head out. But he stayed put, and I am not one to force the issue. They are actually very sweet with thier small eyes and charming beak. Yes, really. A charming beak. Im telling you, you really want to click Wiki's Echidna page link.

Boulderfields

Out of Jindabyne, pick up the Snowy Mountains Highway. Fabulous boulderfields as you go. Ive been pretty verbose lately, so nuff said today, Cheers!

A 'spa bath' is not a 'hot tub'

After the Gang Gang sighting, we continued to wind our way gently back down into Jindabyne. After a quick shower, we hoofed it off to the pub for some dinner. Being Christmas eve, we weren't expecting them to offer much other than standard pub-grub. Which didnt fuss us. We were aiming to keep things simple, and as a back up plan had packed the esky (cooler) with a sufficiency of comestibles in contingency*.

Lo! We were pleasantly surprised to find the pub doing a rather brisk trade, with a full menu on offer. Bonus! Details of the meal itself are sketchy (The Most DH had prawns, and I a rare rump steak), but also irrelavant...

It was very interesting to look around the dining room, and attempt to discern everyones story. A few tables were obviously visiting family, just gathering for a dinner out. Other tables seemed to be occupied by overseas travellers. A few tables may just have been people giving up the road for the day, to push on fresh tommorrow for thier final destinations. To me, it felt a bit like we were all Christmas Refugees, one way or another. I so dislike Christmas.

But we did enjoy ourselves. Had a walk down to the shore of Lake Jindabyne. Then back to the pub for some 'afters'. Eventually ending up back in the room, where we admitted to each other that we had both mistaken 'spa bath' for a 'hot tub'. The latter being what we were imagining when we booked the room.

Ah well, open the peach sparkling wine! Time to play human tetris...hmmm, also irrelavant. For this blog anyway.

But we did enjoy ourselves!

In the morning, we were up before the sun. From the balcony we sipped some instant coffee (ptfftt!) while watching this young Galah give his parent some cheek.


________________
* = Caution!
Iam uncertain as to whether "in contingency" is grammatically correct.

Gang Gang Cockatoo, Callocephalon fimbriatum

...another of Australia's colourful characters by the side of the road. As we pulled over to the shoulder, such as it was, I slid from the Rover in stealth mode. But Ack! He's off!



On the road there is no where to hide from prey that has a better vantage point, and escape method, than you. So it was time to deploy some of my Trademark Stalking Techniques.



I'd share them with you, but you wouldn't want to actually do them. They all involve looking totally ridiculous, which Ive noticed most people tend to avoid doing when given the chance. And they dont always work.


But in this case, I successfully amused Mr Gang Gang. So much so, he even gives us a smile. Thanks Mate!

____________

This is the first one Ive seen live in the wild, Im stoked!

For more information:
Gang Gang at Wiki
Gang Gang at Birds in Backyards

Descent from Olsen's Lookout, Yipes!

A lovely flowering shrub at Olsen's Lookout.


And a last shot through some trees at the top of the trail down.

Well they say, what comes up, must come down. But you will notice, they never make mention of the manner in which it will!

As I mentioned yesterday, the "visitor facilities map" shows this road to Olsen's Lookout as an unsealed road, but we think a designation of 4WD track would better suit it. So we knew the 10Kms back down to the main (sealed) road was going to be a bit of work, but with no other way down, we were off.

However, you really can not plan for all eventualities. In this case, the lay of the land required more brake use than one would normally expect to need, and quickly our brake fluid boiled.

If this has never happened to you, you are not missing anything! The brakes go very spongy (USELESS!!!) very quickly - and brake failure becomes imminent! This is not good whilst descending mountainous terrain. Just take my word for it.

Now, obviously, we made it, so thats the end of the suspense, Drats!

The Most DH knew how to nurse the Rover down. Hooray! Despite the many long, tense, minutes wondering if we would make it alive or intact. My Hero! Probably some out there would think this was the most exciting part of the whole journey. Nutjobs!

When finally we re-joined the main (sealed) road, we pointed the Rover back in the direction of Jindy with a sigh of relief. We continued gently along the less challenging terrain to give the brakes more time to cool, when suddenly we spied....

Olsen's Lookout, spectacular

The photos do it no justice, no justice at all. I do need a wide angle lens, but even that I dont think could have helped me here. Well, a polarizing filter would have gone a long way, but enough of that!

It was a spectacular view, and this gives you just a tiny taste of it. The visitors facilities map has the road up to Olsen's Lookout labeled as an 'unsealed road', but we really think it deserves the designation of '4WD trail'. Lucky for us, we are in our Land Rover, and have suitable recovery gear on board, in case of emergency.


After a (surprise!) challenging drive up, we discovered that it was after 4:30pm, and we had this gorgeous view to contemplate. So we set up the camp stove to enjoy a nice cuppa and snack before tackling the descent.