Tag Archive for 'Snowy Mountains'

On Walkabout On: Mt. Crackenback, New South Wales

Published on May 24, 2009 in New South Wales. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

While my wife and I were staying at the Thredbo Alpine Hotel in Australia’s beautiful Snowy Mountains, one of the main things we wanted to do while visiting Thredbo was ride the gondola to the top of Mt. Crackenback that overlooks the beautiful Thredbo Valley. 

The gondola was incredibly easy to reach from the hotel because of a bridge that spanned the Thredbo River that run right in front of the hotel:

Just across the river was the Kosciuszko Express that takes people to the top of Mt. Crackenback:

This image here should give readers a pretty good idea of the topography around the Thredbo Ski Resort, the trails that traverse this area, and the two main gondola lines that can be seen in the center of the map that climb up the mountain during the warmer months:

Here is a map that shows the ski trails and gondolas that run even further up the mountain during the winter months that provides skiers with the long ski runs in the entire country:

The ride up on the gondola was actually quite a bit of fun at first:

On the way up the views of the Snowy Mountains were just tremendous:

However, soon we had no views as the gondola traveled into the thick clouds that had rolled in and engulfed the summit of Mt. Crackenback.  We were shivering and extremely cold from the falling snow as we reached the summit of the mountain:

On top of Mt. Crackenback there is a lodge that overlooks the Thredbo Valley complete with a lookout with telescopes:

However, we had no need for the look out due to the snow and cold.  My
wife and I immediately rushed into the lodge to get warm afte that cold
gondola ride.  Inside the lodge on top of Mt. Crackenback is what is considered the highest cafe in all of Australia at 1,930 meters:

The lodge was actually quite nice and decorated with beautifully photographed pictures of the Snowy Mountains.  My wife and I ordered something to eat and most importantly we drank a few cups of hot cappuccinos to warm up:

As we sat there drinking our coffee and eating our food in that warm cafe, it was hard to believe that we were 1,930 meters up a mountain in the midst of a massive blizzard with hurricane force winds just outside our window:

It is kind of cool when you think about it.  The nice young lady that worked up in the cafe, who was quite a looker by the way, came over and told us that the gondola had been shut down and we may have to be evacuated by vehicle if possible from the lodge.  If a vehicle couldn’t make it up to the lodge to evacuate us then we would just have to wait out the storm. 

There was about 15 people up in the lodge and after about 2 hours the storm outside began to die down and right outside the cafe window this beautiful rainbow appeared:

Seeing this break in the weather just about everyone emptied out of the cafe and rushed down to the gondola which had been turned back on because of the lull in the weather.  My wife I jumped on and we proceeded back down the mountain descending right into the rainbow we saw back at the cafe:

Due to the break in the clouds we had a much better time enjoying the views of the Thredbo Valley from the gondola on the way down compared to the way up.  Here is a view looking north up the valley towards where Jindabyne is located:

As we continued down the gondola it almost appeared as if we traveled around under the rainbow:

The ride down the mountain took it seemed about 15 minutes to get back to Thredbo and it was a really enjoyable ride especially with the break in the weather:

However, shortly after getting off the gondola we could see the clouds rolling back in to engulf the top of the mountain again:

The snow fell off and on the rest of the day on top of the mountains.  From the window of our hotel room my wife and I enjoyed the spectacular sunset views that the harsh weather and clouds provided on top of the Snowy Mountains:

That concluded our short trip to Thredbo and the next morning my wife I were scheduled to hit the road again and traverse the Alpine Way back to Victoria. 

Next Posting: The Tom Groggin Station

On Walkabout At: The Geehi Flats

Published on May 23, 2009 in New South Wales. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

From Tom Groggin Station the Alpine Way continues through the thick bush country of the Snowy Mountains.  Along the way my wife and I could occasionally catch a glimpse of wildlife in between the trees:

The Alpine Way eventually comes to one of the best places in all of Australia to view native wildlife, the Geehi Flats:

The Geehi Flats is a large camping area that used to be an open plain deep in the Snowy Mountains where stockmen used to drive their cattle to, to graze.  With the state now in control of the land, there is no longer any cattle grazing, but herds of kangaroos instead:

A few looked quite surprised to see us drive up:

Others just continued to itch their butts without a care in the world:

The old homestead that the stockmen used to use has been restored in this incredibly scenic area:

Near the old homestead there is a number of historic pictures on display.  Here is what the Geehi Plain looked like many years ago back in 1929:

This plain pretty much remains the same to this day since there has been no development in this area because it is part of the Kosciuszko National Park.  Here is another historical photograph of stockmen residing at the homestead at Geehi Flats:

After checking out the homestead my wife and I continued to walk around and check out the herds of kangaroos that live here:

One of the joeys was so scared when we approached that it ran and jumped head first into the pouch of its mother.  You can see the joey’s feet hanging out of the pouch:

This plain besides being a grazing area was also at one time an airstrip.  I believe this airstrip was used as part of the Snowy Mountain Scheme.  Anyway to add to the scenery in this area is the fact that a beautiful river flows right by the homestead, which provides plenty of fresh drinking water for the local wildlife:

This river is know as the Swampy Plains River:

This duck seemed quite at home in the river:

These two large kangaroos lounging by the river seemed quite at home as well by the river:

During this trip down the Alpine Way the sky was overcast and thus prevented us from seeing the Snowy Mountains:

However, this is how these beautiful mountains look from Geehi Flats when the sun is out:

For good reason the Geehi Flats is considered by many to be one of the world’s most beautiful places.  I tend to agree because this area just continues to cause me to return over and over again. 

From the Geehi Flats the Alpine Way continues to wind through the dense eucalyptis forests of the Snowy Mountains:

The Alpine Way is quite narrow and judging from this 1953 photograph it is a big improvement compared to back then:

Evenutally the Alpine Way exits the dense bush and eventually turns into the Murray Valley Highway that took us back into the grazing country of Victoria:

That is Lake Hume you see pictured above, which is quite a sight to see after traveling through so much bushland. 

On Walkabout To: Tom Groggin Station

Published on May 16, 2009 in New South Wales. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Early in the morning my wife and I got up to head out of Thredbo and back to Victoria down the Alpine Way.  As luck would have it, the day we left Thredbo the weather was just gorgeous compared to the two days of rain and snow we dealt with while staying at the Thredo Alpine Hotel:

My wife and I have driven down the Alpine Way before, but since I have to make so many trips to Canberra, when ever my wife comes with me we always drive back to Victoria over the Alpine Way just because of how scenic this road is.  It is without a doubt one of the most beautiful drives in Australia:

As we drove down the Alpine Way we stopped to make breakfast along this beautiful creek running down the slopes of the Snowy Mountains:

We drank water straight from the creek and it was incredibly pure tasting.  After eating our breakfast and enjoying the fresh air and scenery, we then continued down the narrow road that includes many sharp turns and switchbacks.  It was on one of these switchbacks that we noticed a family of about five wallabies eating grass along side the road.  I was only able to get out of my Jeep and take a picture of two of the wallabies before they all ran back into the bush to hide:

Further down the road a turn off to the gigantic Tom Groggin Camping Area comes into view.  Here you can walk right up to the upper reaches of Australia’s greatest river, the Murray River:

The Murray River is the largest river in Australia and travels 2,575
kilometers (1,600 miles) from the heights of the Snowy Mountains out to
the shores of the Great Australian Bight near Adelaide. The river
serves as an important economic life line for Australian farmers down
stream who are depended on the Murray’s waters for irrigation.

Not far from the camping area the turn off to the historic Tom Groggin Station comes into view:

This station is historic because it is the former real life home of the cowboy, Jack Riley who was made famous by the books and movies of “The Man from Snowy River“.


Grave of Jack Riley in Corryong, Victoria.

If you are wondering, “Tom Groggin” is actually not the name of the
ranch owner or anyone else for that matter. It is actually an English
butchering of the aboriginal word of “tomarogin” which means water
spider. Why the original station owner chose that word to name his
ranch after is anyone’s guess.

There is no cattle station in Australia as spectacular as the valley
that the Tom Groggin cattle station sits in on the slopes of the Snowy
Mountains and it is easy to imagine A Man from Snowy River galloping
along the sides of the mountains chasing brumbies.

Today the station doesn’t appear to have to many cattle there and in fact the only
animals that could be seen grazing in the lush fields were herds of kangaroos and we had to chance to see a couple of them box:

These two kangaroos were going at each very had for about a minute and then they would rest for about two minutes and then go at again.  It really was like watching a boxing match:

The kangaroo boxing went on for about 20 before the two kangaroos had enough of fighting each other.  The next stop down the Alpine Way from Tom Groggin is the scenic Geehi Plain where there was a whole lot more wildlife for us to see.

Next Posting: The Geehi Plain

On Walkabout At: The Thredbo Alpine Hotel

Published on May 13, 2009 in New South Wales. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

From the beautiful lake side city of Jindabyne, my wife and I continued up the scenic Snowy Mountains Highway to the popular resort city of Thredbo:

Thredbo is about only 30 kilometers from Jindabyne, but it the highway becomes quite steep with many curves as it twists and turns up the mighty Snowy Mountains.  The scenery surrounding the highway is just incredibly beautiful.  Unfortunately this time as we drove up the valley we could not see a thing due to the fog and rain that descended on us.  Fortunately though I have plenty of pictures from prior trips we took up this scenic valley to include one of my trusty Jeep:

Here is how scenic the turn off into the Thredbo Resort is:

When the weather is cooperative it is just beautiful up in the Thredbo Valley and that is why my wife and I love coming back to Thredbo whenever we can.

Anyway when we pulled into Thredbo on this trip it was raining pretty heavily outside as we pulled into the parking lot of the Thredbo Alpine Hotel:

This hotel is actually quite old with construction of the hotel completed in 1968.  The hotel is currently owned and operated by the popular luxury hotel chain Rydges but you really wouldn’t know it while staying at the hotel since the place keeps such a historical outdoorsy feel to it which we liked. The Thredbo Alpine Hotel is situated right on the slopes of the Thredbo Ski Resort and is centrally located in Thredbo’s small downtown area where all the shopping and eating establisments are located.

The rooms are small but the bed was comfortable and the TV had plenty of channels for us to watch considering we couldn’t do anything because of the bad weather:

The room also had a table and a couple of chairs for us to enjoy our poolside view of the ski resort right in front of us:

Something else we really liked was that we got free breakfast in the morning and the buffet they had was excellent.  For those that know me, they know I love Australian bacon and the bacon here was great.  Even better for us was that as we were eating breakfast we had a beautiful view of the mountain and the weather had appeared to clear up a bit and the gondola to the top of the mountain was open.

Next Posting: To the Top of Mt. Crackenback

Postcard from Australia: Ski Season in Australia

Published on August 11, 2008 in New South Wales. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

It is the height of what is turning out to be a great ski season in Australia:

For those wondering where this picture was taken, it is from the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales.

Postcard from Australia: Thredbo Valley

Published on July 29, 2008 in New South Wales. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Here is where I spent some time recently at the beautiful Thredbo Ski Resort:

Make sure to check out the pictures I took from my trip to Thredbo last year.

Best Drives in Australia: The Monaro Highway

Published on October 14, 2007 in ACT and New South Wales. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

If you ever have to drive from Sydney to Melbourne why not by pass the Hume Highway and take the scenic route through the Snowy Mountains instead? The Snowy mountains is some of the best scenery in all of Australia that believe it or not few Australians have actually ever taken the time to see. They are missing out, but that doesn’t me you should miss out on it too.

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To reach the Snowy Mountains you have to drive to Canberra and from the nation’s capitol you have to proceed South on Highway 23 to the city of Jindabyne. Highway 23 running south from Canberra is better known as the Monaro Highway:

While driving on the Monaro Highway the road runs parallel to the under-appreciated, rugged bush land scenery of Namadgi National Park:

Once Highway 23 escapes the beautiful environs of Namadgi National Park the road quickly is surrounded by open grazing land:

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Once Highway 23 reaches Cooma you need to drive straight through the city and continue down the highway towards Jindabyne. The Monaro becomes Highway 18/23 at this point.

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Cooma is a small town of 7,000 people and serves as the headquarters for the Snowy Mountains Scheme that is a series of hydroelectric dams that provides 3.5% of the power for the nation’s energy needs. Really not much to see in the town besides a museum dedicated to Snowy Mountains Scheme history of the city.

Once outside of Cooma the terrain opens up even more with lush grazing land sprinkled with large rocks:

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With such lush green grass for grazing it is no wonder why the sheep here are so large:

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Here is the obligatory picture of my Jeep along the highway:

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Make sure as you travel through Cooma that you stay on the road going to Jindabyne. It is nearly impossible to miss the signs but you will know you are going the right way when you see this in front of you:

The snow capped Snowy Mountains or Snowies as the locals call them, are beautiful and quite a sight when you consider you are seeing these snow capped mountains in Australia of all places. Snow capped mountains is not the first thing that comes to mind when people think of the land Down Under, but Australia has plenty of them:

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Eventually the Monaro Highway will reach Lake Jindabyne at the base of the Snowy Mountains:

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You can see in this Google Earth image that Jindabyne lies at the very base of the Snowy Mountains and hugs the shore line of the lake:

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The Monaro Highway skirts around this huge lake and the water is just stunningly calm and clear:

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The closer you get to the shore the more stunning it is:

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To the west of the lake the snow covered slopes of the Snowy Mountains tower over the lake:

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Finally the highway reaches the small town of Jindabyne:

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Jindabyne is a well known outdoors holiday spot in Australia due to its great fishing, bushwalking, and the nearby Thredbo Ski Resort. Jindabyne is also well known because of an Australian movie titled and based on the city. I have seen the movie before and it isn’t to bad. It is worth watching just to see the spectacular Snowy Mountain scenery in the film.

Anyway it is the end of the road here in Jindabyne, however another great Australian drive that shouldn’t be missed begins here as well. The Alpine Way is the highest and one of the most spectacular highways in all of Australia that begins in Jindabyne and ends at the New South Wales/Victoria border, where the Murray Valley Highway begins.

If you had the chance to take the day drive on the Monaro Highway from Canberra to Jindabyne and thought that was a spectacular ride, you haven’t seen anything yet until you drive the Alpine Way.