GOING TO TASMANIA!

29 January 2011
STILL NO GENERATOR! We decided to do another small loop out of Wodonga while waiting LONGER for the generator! We headed north to Albury and spent about 45 minutes in New South Wales until crossing the Murray (Hume Lake) back into Victoria. The bridge across the lake was neat. Can't imagine a bridge this long in the states being only 2 narrow lanes.

LONG narrow bridge

We stopped at Cottonwood State Park - REAL Cottonwoods - where we had a coffee break and hike to the Cottonwood Falls. I can't say we weren't warned ahead of time by the sign that said they were "seasonal" but when we arrived they were very disappointing.

water falls?

The last 200 meters of the trail were not my favorite - steep; loose gravel; yucky; scary! Oh, well on our hike we did get to see a nice Scout Hut built in 1937 and Trox got to mark off a new bird and we saw some King Parrots again and oh, yea - a wallaby.

neat cabin

these bulb flower are everywhere

Not sure where we'll stay tonight but as hot as it is and no generator it might be a caravan park although right now we are parked in a Reserve along the Murray and in the shade it is tolerable. The evidence of the floods is everywhere along here but it seems to be recovering.

flood damage

30 January
We pressed on down the road and stayed in Corryong - home of the "Man From Snowy River" and the gateway to the Snowy Mountains.

tree full of Galahs next to our campsite

We broke camp this morning and headed up the mountain stopping for breakfast at the first camp/picnic area we found. The real climb into the mountains begins from here. We are heading for the highest town in Australia.

1 February
The highest town had some pretty views but other than that was borrrring. I expected a tourist town and instead got a company (power) owned town where everything looks the same - oh, well - can anyone sing "16 Ton"?

We continued on to 3-mile dam where we spent two nights. Trox got some good rides in and we both got a number of nice swims in the lake. There was a bird (swallows) nest in the dunny with babies and I saw a swarm of swallows after the march flies which are HUGE and they BITE!

baby swallows

The Aussies have these cool "tent trailers". They have everything including a kitchen sink. They take about 10 minutes to set up and are on 4x4 suspension trailers so can go anywhere. There were 2 of them next to us last night. Once set up they look like a multilevel condominium.

before setup

after setup - the bedroom is in the trailer

Bunyip at home

We started out this morning and have made it about 30 kilometers down the road to Yarrangobilly Caves where after Trox has breakfast we'll do a self-guided cave tour. They promise me the caves are cool (as in temperature). Have I mentioned it has been hot the last few days?

entrance to the cave

2 February - Wednesday
The caves were wonderful! COLD! We were the only ones inside which was neat. The lighting is done by motion sensor so as you leave an area the lights go out. It was an extremely wet cave with lots of pools and puddles and drips. We brought our own torch (flashlight) so were able to light up extra stuff.

still in the light

Once out of the caves we headed for the thermal pool. I was expecting a hole in the ground lined with rocks (kind of like Spence?) but instead we found a really nice swimming pool.

thermal pools from the trail

The hike to the pool was 700 meters DOWN! Right next to the pool was river access so we could swim in warm or cold water. We took advantage of both.

swimming in the river

Unfortunately after we were nicely refreshed and cooled off we had to climb UP the trail. At the top of the trail in the parking lot was a cold shower so we rinsed the river water off and cooled down at the same time.

As we came off the mountain we hit heat (40++) and high humidity - 90-100% - ugh! So how hot is it here? Think Las Vegas in August then add 90% humidity!

We ended up in Tumut in a Caravan Park along a river. Our site was 10 meters from the river beach access! Our neighbors (Greg & Ann) were from Queensland and even THEY were complaining of the heat and humidity. They had one of the tent trailers but their's was small enough to tow with a motorcycle. It still opened up to look like a little condominium. We had geese come visit and after dark some bushy tailed opossums!

geese came a calling

Opossum

cleaning our grill for us

The generator is NOW ready so we are now heading back to Wodonga but first breakfast! We parked next to a horse track (every town has one) right along another river where we both got to go in. While in it started to rain so we also got to rinse off! We met a couple from Tas and they had picked some plums from a tree along the highway and gave us a bowl full.

sign on fence of race track

standing in the rain

Later
Adlong Falls - oh! oh! a sign for falls and ruins!

3 February - Thursday
Bummer! The trails to the river were closed due to flood damage but from the overlook we could see the ruins of a gold processing area from the late 1800s/early 1900s. The rocks and cascades in the river were nice too but I think the actual falls was just downstream and we couldn't get to it.

the gold processing ruins

nice rocks in river

bummer

We arrived in Wodonga and got the generator. Trox also changed the fuel filter in Bunyip and we are staying at the Big4.

Later
WE ARE GOING TO TAS! Tasmania - home of the Tasmanian Devil! We have our ferry tickets (it is a 9 hour ride) and leave on a day sailing on Sunday the 6th. YIPPEE! It is cool there! So, we left Wodonga this morning on our way back to Melbourne where trip 3 will end and trip 4 will begin. It's actually less expensive for Bunyip to ride the ferry than for us! ISH!

4 February - Friday
We spent the night last night at Sheepyard Flats a place recommended by Camp 5 and also Greg. It took us about an hour to get here from the highway (20 kilometers of dirt) but the drive was worth it. It is a nice big area along the river with HUGE trees and grass. We had a nice swim when we got here - although it was more like a nice sit in the cool water as the river is only about knee deep - and then as we were fixing dinner it started to rain and once it really got going it was a full downpour. Trox and I both got drenched within a few seconds while trying to get the awning down. Ended up having a nice salad with rice (at least we got that cooked) and tuna fish rather than the planned burgers and green beans.

Virginia/Carolina people be sure to read this sign!

Our neighbors here have a dog that I thought was a small Pyrenees - ends up she is a white (blonde) golden retriever. Unfortunately they left before I could get a picture. The dog loved the water but once she got out she shook off and then rolled in the dirt. Oh, yum!