From sunny Cape Conran to The Snowy Mountains and a Muscle-bound Kangaroo

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.

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 Parks, 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! However, 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!

If we wanted snow we could have stayed in Scotland!

We have been cold, we have had wind and we have had rain …… surely things couldn’t get any worse? At least that is what we hoped. However a glance at the first photo tells a different story. Yes that is a snowball Sandra is making and the old dustbin lid improvised as a toboggan.

After three glorious days at Mt Samaria my navigator decided that we should “do” The Great Alpine Road. After breakfast and a trip to a craft shop in Mansfield we set off north through the King Valley area and picked up the GAR at Myrtleford. We were no sooner on the road when the navigator decided that Mount Buffalo seemed a likely port of call so we set off from the picturesque little village of Porepunkah on what was to be over 30k of climbing, twisting roads the last stretch of which was a dirt track – but it was worth it. The countryside was magnificent and the views were staggering. A series of waterfalls, including the very attractive Ladies Bath Falls, cascaded down the mountainside. This is where gentle womenfolk would take refuge from the summer heat and bathe in the cool mountain water. Despite my promising not to take any compromising photos Sandra was not impressed with my suggestion that she did likewise!

Knowing how cold the nights can be at even reasonable altitudes we were reluctant to camp overnight in the mountains and, on descending Mt Buffalo, we were faced with either an early stop on the north side of The Great Dividing Range or to press on. Unusually for us we decided to stop – a good choice as otherwise I would not have found the Bright Brewery.

The neat wee town of Bright is unashamedly a tourist town offering a wide range of outdoor activities including skiing, snow boarding, mountain biking, paragliding, hill walking etc. etc. With no bush camping available in the area and with the Dirty Washing Bag full to overflowing we checked into one of the several commercial campsites in the town. Our site was pretty idyllic with a grassy surface for the tent, the river literally feet away, three ducks looking for company and a launderette for Sandra to get the washing up to date - what more could a man ask for? Well how about a brewery.

Apart from the weather, Australia’s other problem is the beer – served icy cold most of the commercial brands hit the spot on a hot day but after a few there is something lacking – and that is taste. To fill this void in the market a growing number of small, independent breweries are starting to produce hand-crafted beers which actually tastes of beer. The Bright Brewery was established a few years ago by a couple of guys who initially came for the skiing, started a homebrew club and then decided to start brewing commercially. They produce seven beers – Bright Lager, Hellfire Amber Ale (that's what I'm holding in the photo) Blowhard Pale Ale, Razor Witbier, Staircase Porter, Fainters Dubbel (a Belgian style ale at 8.5%) and a Stout. After a personal tour of the brewery with Tim I was able to try all seven – and very good they were as well (apart from the Witbier!) To allow for my alcoholic indulgence, or at least for it to wear off, we had to stay in Bright for an extra day.

Then we were ready to tackle the mountains.

Over the past few weeks Sandra and I have taken particular interest in the weather forecast for Victoria and one place that has stood out above all others as somewhere to avoid – the ironically named Mt. Hotham. When most of Victoria was basking in the low 20’s Mt Hotham never made it into the 20’s and at night even recorded a temperature of –1C. The road to Mt Hotham was long and inextricably upwards with spectacular views over the Victorian Alps – and the remains of the winter snowfields where we, briefly, frolicked in the snow.

A quick descent from the snowy wastes and we decided to give the coast another try. Driving south past Omeo, Bruthen then on to Orbost along the Princes Highway we have ended up at the Cape Conran Coastal Park on a shady campsite just a few yards from the beach. We will probably stay here for a couple of days then on to who knows where?

Finally a few titbits from the “Isn’t it a small world” file.

1. The barman in the Bright Brewery recognised my accent and announced that he too was from Scotland and came from a place I had probably never heard of called Inverurie. Mentioning that I knew Inverurie quite well he said he actually came from the small village of Insch!

2. Stopping at the tourist information office in Orbost to get a map of the area and ask about camping the man in the office, again recognising the accent, asked where we were from. We usually answer Edinburgh to this question to which he replied “You don’t happen to know Dalkeith by any chance – that’s where my wife is from”

3. Sandra bought an ornament in a shop in Bright and was staggered to find that it was imported, not from China like almost everything else in Australia, but from Peebles just down the road from where we live in Scotland!

PS Thanks to those who posted a comment - it does seem the software was working properly - it was just those lazy people out there not bothering to communicate!!!!