Chicken Rolls and Bubbly…at the Top of Oz

Day 8

Friday morning we were up and on the road relatively early (certainly early for vacationers) heading for Jindabyne, New South Wales. The Walkers (Andrews parents, Paul and Judy) have a holiday place in Jindabyne that overlooks the lake (which was created by the damming of the Snowy River) and is just below the snowline for the surrounding three ski areas…a destination resort for skiers in the winter along with other four-season activities.

We met up with Paul and Judy at their place and then went exploring Thredbo—one of the ski areas. It was a good excuse to walk around the village and then to stop for a coffee and some “snacks”.

Coming back down from the ski area we also made a side stop to test out some of the locally made schnapps at the Wildbrumby Distillery. They have tasting opportunities of the craft and it was enough to convince me to start filling my duty-free quota for the return to the States (some of you will undoubtedly have the chance to test some of these in the future).

The rest of the afternoon was spent with the guys heading off for a little bit of fishing in the river (and since Paul and Andrew were the only ones with licenses I limited myself to a little bit of casting…just for the experience but with no luck), and the ladies going to an outdoor sculpture exhibit along the lake’s shore.

The fishing location was beautiful and Andrew’s luck was running high when on his second cast he landed a beautiful rainbow trout (it puts to shame some of the cigar size trout that my fly-fishing friends like to catch…not to mention any names…I’m just saying…). As the photos show the trout went from the river… to the smoker… to being an appetizer on Melba toast in about two hours.

Separately, as we were walking along the river’s edge we needed to be careful of wombat holes—similar to a woodchuck hole…only about three feet in diameter. We thought we saw some rustling near one hole and then as we came upon another we found a wombat outside his hole getting ready to dive in. He was curious about us and waited for me to take his picture (and I have been told it would not be unusual for him to have charged me if he felt threatened.) The picture doesn’t really show you his size which is about that of a good sized pig.

Some wine, some trout, a lovely pasta dinner…all topped with some schnapps made a nice start to the holiday weekend (Good Friday is a national holiday in Australia and ANZAC Day being on the following Monday made this an extra long holiday weekend).

 

Day 9

Waking up on Saturday morning there was a nice view of the lake from the deck at Paul and Judy’s place…foreshadowing the coming of a great outdoors day.



After breakfast we headed for Charlotte’s Pass—a ski area on the adjoining valley to Thredbo. At the end of the road we were able to park, pack up and begin a walk/hike along the maintenance road to Rawson’s Pass, and then up the summit trail to the top of Mt. Kosciuszko…which at 2,228 meters (7,310 ft) is the highest point in mainland Australia.

Along the way we crossed over the start of the Snowy River…which was a good photo spot for all of us climbers.

When we reached Rawson’s Pass you could see many of the other holiday climbers that had already made their way to the peak (and a partial moon next to them).

We made our way to the top and settled in for a little bit of lunch. Judy had made Chicken Roll sandwiches and Paul had carried up a bottle of bubblies in his backpack. We finished the meal off with some chocolate Easter eggs and then got some photos of us all on the Top of Oz.

As we made our way back into the bush at Charlotte’s Pass Paul and Judy pointed out the uniqueness of the Snow Gum Trees—eucalyptus trees—and how they have different colors in their bark. Very unique and colorful. Our outing was a 9 km (~ 5.5 miles) hike in each direction or 18 km round trip (~ 11 miles), so we were all fairly knackered [worn out] by the time we got back that evening.

 

Day 10

Sunday was spent traveling back to Canberra…with a quick stop when we saw some emu in a field near the road.

That afternoon we went to a see the Canberra Raiders take on the Newcastle Knights in a National Rugby League (NRL) game. It was a fast paced game and we had a great time…at least through the first half while the Raiders were ahead, but then in the second half they collapsed like the Red Sox after the All Star break (or like they use to).



It was early to bed since we were getting up for an ANZAC Dawn Service the next day…that part of the Adventures to follow later.