Cape Conran, in the far south-east of Australia, and at 
last some decent weather. We camped in a shady spot set back about 150m from an excellent beach providing a combination of sweeping sands and rocky inlets with walks in both directions – we didn’t move for 3 days. After Sandra doing a final stock take for the markets in Sydney we did the typical beach thing – beach walking, rock-clambering and setting up chairs under the umbrella, reading books and getting sunburnt – this was the life! Apparently during the summer school holidays this area gets quite crowded, however being a little out of season we had the place almost to ourselves with very few other campers and hardly any day trippers. 
Night time saw the return of The Possums. Absent for most of our trip round Australia we had become a bit slack about locking food and scraps away before going to bed. In the wee small hours I heard a noise and upon investigation found a large possum sitting on one of our tables calmly gnawing away on a banana – and, bold as brass, refusing to move when asked. By the time I dug out the camera mum, and baby, had climbed up a nearby tree to pose for photographs. Food has been put away at night ever since.
We also caught a glimpse of another creature which had so far eluded us on our travel – the echidna. However wombats in the wild are still proving elusive except of course for the roadkills.
With food running low, along with a shortage of beer and wine, we were eventually forced to get on our way. Passing through the village of Marlo we stopped at the pleasant little
country town of Orbost to get fuel and provisions – and of course for Sandra to visit the town’s two craft shops. Heading north back towards New South Wales the distances between places are much less than in the vast emptiness of Western Australia and after a mere 150k of narrow, winding roads we found ourselves at the Delegate River which marks the boundary between Victoria and New South Wales. Despite the road going over the river across a fairly dodgy looking bridge with wooden supports we decided to do it the old fashioned way and forded the river – we felt we were sneaking into NSW by the back door.
last some decent weather. We camped in a shady spot set back about 150m from an excellent beach providing a combination of sweeping sands and rocky inlets with walks in both directions – we didn’t move for 3 days. After Sandra doing a final stock take for the markets in Sydney we did the typical beach thing – beach walking, rock-clambering and setting up chairs under the umbrella, reading books and getting sunburnt – this was the life! Apparently during the summer school holidays this area gets quite crowded, however being a little out of season we had the place almost to ourselves with very few other campers and hardly any day trippers. 
Night time saw the return of The Possums. Absent for most of our trip round Australia we had become a bit slack about locking food and scraps away before going to bed. In the wee small hours I heard a noise and upon investigation found a large possum sitting on one of our tables calmly gnawing away on a banana – and, bold as brass, refusing to move when asked. By the time I dug out the camera mum, and baby, had climbed up a nearby tree to pose for photographs. Food has been put away at night ever since.
We also caught a glimpse of another creature which had so far eluded us on our travel – the echidna. However wombats in the wild are still proving elusive except of course for the roadkills.
With food running low, along with a shortage of beer and wine, we were eventually forced to get on our way. Passing through the village of Marlo we stopped at the pleasant little
country town of Orbost to get fuel and provisions – and of course for Sandra to visit the town’s two craft shops. Heading north back towards New South Wales the distances between places are much less than in the vast emptiness of Western Australia and after a mere 150k of narrow, winding roads we found ourselves at the Delegate River which marks the boundary between Victoria and New South Wales. Despite the road going over the river across a fairly dodgy looking bridge with wooden supports we decided to do it the old fashioned way and forded the river – we felt we were sneaking into NSW by the back door.
Next port of call – the Snowy Mountains. Let’s hope they don’t live up to their name!
Passing through Bombala and Cooma we found ourselves fairly late in the day at Jindabyne, a lakeside resort town, and the gateway to the south part of the national park. At the beginning of our trip heading north from Sydney we bought an annual pass for the NSW National Parks which
we thought would save us money in the long term. Much of the Snowy Mountain Range, including Australia’s highest mountain Mt Kosciuszko, are found within one of Australia’s premier national parks – the Kosciuszko National Park. Arriving at the park pay station we confidently flourished our rather worn looking pass only to be informed we had the wrong kind of pass. Our New South Wales Multi Parks Pass covered all national parks – except this one. We had to pay $16 to get in.A warning to potential travellers visiting parks around Australia – it is very confusing. There are National (which aren’t really “national”) Parks, State Parks, Commonwealth Park
s, State Forests Parks and all manner of Reserves and other oddities. Some allow you free entry but you have to pay to camp; some offer you free camping but you have to pay to enter; for some you have to pay to enter AND pay to camp. Some appear to offer free entry AND free camping – although I suspect we just missed the pay point. Most States offer a variety of passes, the small print on which clearly states the various rules and regulations and exceptions to the rules and regulations. None of the passes are multi-state passes so when you cross a state border you have to start all over again. A multi-state Parks and Camping Pass would be very convenient. End of Rant!
Anyway we paid our $16 after a slight rant with the parks officer who in retort to Sandra saying when you visit Scotland at least the NP are free, responded I know I’ve visited but the weather is better here which led on to my Australian weather rant and set up camp at a beautiful spot called Island Bend.
Our campsite came with its own mob of kangaroos. With wine glass in hand I was strolling around admiring the views when I felt I was being watched. Turning around I was confronted by the biggest kangaroo I had ever seen - if he had reared up on his hind legs I would have had to look up to stare him in the face. Surrounded by his harum I suppose he was only being protective as he glared at me with a malevolent eye. Stopping only long enough to get their photo taken they ambled off into the bush.
The Snowy Mountains (still with snow on them) are fabulous
and were the site of one of the most ambitious engineering projects of all time – to divert the flow of water from the mountains inland to provide both power and irrigation. Starting in 1949 and taking 25 years to complete over 100,000 workers from 30 countries diverted 5 rivers and constructed 16 major dams, 7 power stations, a pumping station and 145k of inter-connected tunnels. In addition there are several large ski resorts including the well named Perisher Valley.Setting off over the mountains we came across a hut. Readers of this blog will know that Sandra and I have become quite partial to living in huts – it saves having to put the tent up! H
owever, with the mountain winds blowing and local insects looking for blood, we decided to give it a miss and look for somewhere at a lower altitude to spend the night – and so here we are at Yarrangobilly.Still within the Kosciuszko National Park but in the northern section, we came across a grassy site beside a fast flowing stream and some nice, big shady trees.. We set up camp last night in what appeared to be idyllic surroundings and the problems didn’t start until later. Of course it could have been my cooking to blame as gradually the vague, insect-like hum built up to an intense buzzing crescendo. As I stirred the cheese sauce (Sandra had had a fraught day negotiating mountain hairpin bends from the passenger seat - cauliflower and cheese calms her down) I thought we had disturbed a nest of feral bees but no- they were giant flies. Horseflies, march flies, clegs or just enormous bluebottles – I don’t know what they were. We ended up having to eat dinner zipped up in the insect proof Oztent whilst flies swarmed outside and blanketed the remains of the cheese sauce still in the pot – we didn’t bother with second helpings!
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