Canbriusko

- February 03, 2018

One does miss the comforts and conveniences of home, so a 3 week xmas break was welcomed. We managed to offload a few non-essential items we'd been carting around. Who'd have thought the muffin tin would be under utilised!!

Heading south this time, with the realisation that the next time we’d return would be 7 months later coming again from the north. We look at the Australia map and reflect on the tiny blip achieved travelling from Sydney to Fraser, daunted by the miles we’ll undertake before August!

So south we drive to Merry Beach in the Murramurang National Park. Usually a beautiful spot except at this time of year when summer school holidays are in full swing and the place is more akin to a refuge camp than a caravan park. Jokes aside, we love the South Coast and Merry Beach is not dissimilar to the beauty and vibe of the area.

Our stay coincided with a very large swell and fairly intense thunderstorms, so the waves were frightening and unsurfable. The night before we arrived was so severe that campers had left during the night unwilling to sit it out.

Merry Beach

Plenty of Kangaroos @ Merry Beach

Cheeky Lorikeets!

Beautiful and a bit scary when too many and overly excited

"Sea Fireworks"

For our next stop we headed inland to Canberra, the nations capital. Once again I’d sought out an old school mate. It was 40 degrees driving to Canberra and the car struggled up the Clyde Mountain pulling the weight of the trailer. We eventually made it and spent a wonderful few days with Richo, Nerissa and kids relaxing by the pool and catching up on 20 years gone by. The ease at which we picked up is a real testament to the bonds formed during boarding school days, and it turns out we've developed a similar fascination for South Australia fruit. Fortunately for me he's got much better taste, and I’m definitely on the hook for some well cellared beauties the next time round, thanks again champion!!

Old mates reunited

Best place to be at 40 degrees!

It wouldn’t be a trip to Canberra without a visit to Questacon. Turns out they’ve upgraded the museum and the kids had a blast (we did too just quietly!). I even bumped into an old mate Nath, recently moved down, who I used to manage a pub with in Sydney. We’d shared some beers back in the day so it wasn’t unusual that we were both sporting hang-overs chasing around the progeny.

WOW! @ Questacon

Onto the snowy mountains and a quick stop in Cooma to restock supplies turns into another impromptu reunion with old mates Nick and Megan. Cycling tragics, they were headed for some downhill action at Thredbo. They’d also planned to meet Bri and Jay later in the week, whom I hadn’t seen for a decade or more.

Leaving Canberra

Approaching Jindy

We’d never visited the snowy mountains during summer, preferring the ski season. The spectacular scenery is just as beautiful during the warmer months, and there’s an abundance of activity. We opted for swimming in the fresh mountain streams, hiking up Kosciusko (not quite making the peak with 6 kids in tow), mountain biking for the kids in the skills park and along the river tracks plus for the bigger kids a downhill track on Thredbo. It was great fun and the weather was pleasant during the day and only slightly cooler at night. Once again catching up and camping with old friends and their young families was an awesome unexpected coincidence.