Week 21: Road Tripping It Still

So this week kicked off with a trip to Bournda Beach and Lagoon, which was a picturesc beach with woodland behind it. Just as we were about to go for a swim in the lagoon we had a little intruder. Mr Kangaroo hopped up to us before getting scared and hopping away. As we walked along the beach barrier we came across a couple more who were content for us to watch them whilst they nommed on some grass.

Merimbula :)

 We then headed down to Pamula beach and went walking across the rocks (bare-foot I may add ouch!) before grabbing some fish and chips and heading back up the coast to Merimbula to have a mosey around the shops. In the arvo we headed out to my hostesses second house, called "The Block" which is near the Brown Mountains. We arrived and went for a quick dip in "the black hole" a beautiful river system that runs along the bottom on their property.

Before dinner we went for a walk around the property and bumped into about 50 kangaroos, playing a cat and mouse game with them as we walked back to the house.

What am I doing with my hands :S

Lake Jindabyne

On tuesday morning I headed over to Mt Kosci via Cooma and Jindabyne.

I managed to find my campsite for the night at a place called Thredbo Diggings, which was inside the national park. I went a pitched my swag right on the river and got all my kit soreted out before heading off for a little walk and check out this fella! He came storming along the path and wasn't phased by me standing right next to him.

I rustled up some tuna pasta bake for dinner and settled in for my first night in a Swag. So a swag is basically a cocoon that you get in to sleep, its not tall enough to sit up in but is so easy to set up. A few spots of rain decided to fall on me but eventually they stopped and I fell asleep below the cloudy skies.

I was woken by the sound of animal movement bright and early the next day. I turned my head and saw a family of kangaroos not 5m away from me having a feed on the grass, I sat and watched them for quite a while and experienced a kangaroo fight, I am sure you have seen on them on TV but it sounded really brutal in real life.

Breakfast consisted of soup which definitely hit the spot ready for my ascent of Mt Kosci. I headed over to Thredbo, a snow resort in the winter months, it was fairly quiet it being summer. I headed up the cable car, yes mum and dad I went on a cable car and enjoyed it! From here it was a 13km round trip to the summit of Mt Kosci, Australia's Highest Point! I set off in my shorts and quickly added layers as the wind picked up. I overtook an elongated group of school children as I ascended, some of them were obviously not kitted out for the weather and were looking a bit cold. I definitely wouldn't have taken that many children up there so unprepared especially as the cloud descended as the morning went on.

Snow! In Australia! 

By the time I got to the top I was completely submerged in cloud and didn't get a great view, it was also really windy. I grabbed a bit of a feed at the top and got moving again quickly as I was getting cold. I arrived back at the top of the cable car by 12.30. 13km in 3.5 hours is pretty good going if I do say so myself.

I headed back down the cable car, with a slight lurch of the stomach as I went off the steepest part but I arrived back at Thredbo in one piece! From here I made the trip back out of the National Park and over to Michelago, which is just south of Canberra.

My new host lives on a 2000 acre farm... I know right! HUGE! We took a trip in their massive land cruiser around the farm and up the mountain on the side of the valley. The view was great and we headed back for a delicious home-made lasagne and chocolate brownies. The flies descended on us in the evening so we hid away and watched Django Unchained, im very glad I waited to watch this on a large screen! Great movie, if a bit long!

This dog was sooooo friendly :)

On thursday I had a private tour of Canberra. We headed to Scrivener Dam first off because I wanted a piccy infront of the sign (you know who you are). We then went to Parliament House and had a quick look in the Sennate, which was really interesting to see all the modern governmental building. They really contrast to the relic UK buildings. We then grabbed a subway lunch before heading over the War Memorial, I was surprisingly moved by all the poppies on display for all the soldiers who have passed away in the variety of conflicts. We had a look around the museum about the world wars before it was time to continue on my journey.

I am not sure what is happening to my knee there.

Roses at the War Memorial

I headed off north up to Cowra, originally I was going to swag it up here but the rain came in and I fortunately knew someone who lived in Cowra. I experienced my first karate lesson, I didnt take part but I watched and we had a KFC before getting an early night.

I had a late start on Friday and made my way up to Dubbo, the trip went fairly uneventfully. We all converged in Dubbo and had some amazing sausage sandwiches for dinner and had a few grogs as the night progressed. We ended up getting very merry, wrestling matches took place and there were some hilarious videos revolving around a treadmill! Somehow we made it to half four in the morning before getting some shut eye. Saturday arvo we headed over to Dubbo Zoo, it was pretty darn hot and we got to see most of the animals, some were hiding away in the shade though. We made it back to Dubbo in time to get ready for the 21st party. We piled in a few cars and headed over to our venue, which was really cool a BYO café with indoor and outdoor areas. The pizza and drinks flowed and the speeches came which were absolutely brilliant! We headed out to a pub/club called The Pastoral afterwards and we all had such a great evening.

It's safe to say that collectively the house was the most hungover we had ever been and the smell and sound of bacon in the morning perked us up slightly. What perked us up more was the dip in the pool over the road, it was so refreshing! We eventually managed to get ourselves moving and a smaller group of us headed over to Mudgee to stay for Sunday night. I took the most direct route which consisted of a very bumpy dirt road which lasted for tens and tens of km's, regardless we made it there only slightly after everyone else and the drive was very scenic. I went for another dip in the pool at Mudgee and we had an amazingly fresh and homemade selection of salads, chicken wings and salsa. It was without a doubt the healthiest and tastiest meal I have had in a very long time.

Blissfully cold water :)

That was the end of my second week on the road :)!

Pictures to come soon!