The Roof of Australia

MT KOSCIUSZKO Here we are yesterday near the top of the country after catching the chairlift up to here from Thredbo. We then walked the 4km return trip to the Kosciuszko lookout. The day was just magnificent with not a cloud in the sky and hardly any wind.
RAMS HEAD RANGE I just loved all the shades of green and the streams. There were a few wild flowers and of course lot's of rocks.
VARYING VEGETATION at times the scenery was very eerie with all the dead trees due to the harsh winter climate. I could easily post more photos and still not feel that I have done justice to the National Park.
There are several areas where you see parts of the Snowy Mountains Hydro scheme and of course some of the dams. It is one of the seven engineering wonders in the world.
We had a huge day leaving home at 9.45am and returning at 6.45pm driving the Alpine Way and around to the Snowy Mountains Highway. A great day out after celebrating our 31st wedding anniversary the night before.
The roads were really good and funny seeing bright yellow road markings and red roadside markers for when the area is covered in snow. A few motorcyclists whizzed past us only to be spotted a short time later having a friendly chat with police.
YARRANGOBILLY CAVES Today we drove 144 kms to this area. The South Glory Cave is a self guided tour and we took about 45 minutes to walk through, again photos do not do it justice. There are several other caves in the area which have guided tours which take approximately an hour and half. You would not want to suffer from claustrophobia.
YARRANGOBILLY THERMAL POOLS it was a steep walk down to this area, the pool is fed by a spring and a constant 27 degrees. The water was so clear and the colours you see at the base are algae due to the heat but safe for swimming.

YARRANGOBILLY RIVER Lovely and clear and good trout fishing. Despite sighting some wombat pooh which is square we are yet still to see a live wombat in the wild. In the last couple of days we have seen three dead snakes on the road and alas one wombat plus several alive and well kangaroos and their joeys.

Snowy Mountains

JINDABYNE This is our view of Lake Jindabyne, a really tranquil spot. We are 850 metres above sea level and would have to be about 200kms inland yet there are flocks of seagulls that call the lake home.

Today we went to the Snowy River at Dalgety, we have never seen such clear water and at the Jindabyne River near us we spotted two platypus.
NEAR COOMA amazing country side with paddocks dotted with rocks. Lot's of this type of scenery around us here and the trees will become more scarce as we get higher up.

Another Picture Perfect Day

AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL looking through to Parliament. There is just so much to see here, we have visited three times now in order to do that. Wished I had of packed a pedometer to see how many steps we have walked the last few days whilst visiting the War Memorial, Old Parliament, Parliament and Art Galleries. We have got home at night pooped, not surprising when we have been on our feet wandering around for at least five hours, but sure worth it.
ROLL OF HONOUR This is just one side and at the end is a Hall of Memory with magnificent mosaic tiles depicting the Corps that served in the war and the tomb of the unknown soldier.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Today we went to Question time and what an interesting event that is, great to see the pollies in the flesh and to see what actually happens with the comings and goings of them as they make their addresses. We went there yesterday and took photos as you need to hand in your phone and camera in order to visit the public gallery.
ROOF OF PARLIAMENT yes, it is grass as it is built set into a hill, the building is lovely with lots of natural stone and Australian timbers. The flag is the size of a double decker bus.

More of the Capital

OLD PARLIAMENT HOUSE Lot's of open area in the square in front of the Old Parliament building and to the right hand side is the Aboriginal tent city where they have been in residence since 1972. They have a few tents, use the public facilities in the local gardens and I had to chuckle as on a table they had some key rings for sale for $10.00, yet inside Old Parliament house they were for sale for $3.50. It was great being able to wander around the building which is open every day except Christmas day.

MT STROMLO these are three of the smaller observatories, the original observatory and homestead were destroyed in the fires of 18th January 2003. A new observatory has been constructed. They also had laser tracking devises for satellites, one of only six in the southern hemisphere. Really surprised at how Canberra is in a basin and has all these great mountain ranges around them. The land is really scrubby reminding us of areas up the centre and not a lot of nice gardens in the residential areas.

LAKE BURLEY GRIFFIN from Telstra Tower, Black Mountain at 870 metres above sea level. It sure was windy up there and great 360 degree views.

Capital Country

CANBERRA How great does Anzac Parade in front of the Australian War Memorial centre leading down to Lake Burley Griffin with Parliament House in the distance look. We headed up to Mt Ainslie which has 180 degree views of the city, after that the rest of the day was spent at the Australian War Memorial, there is so much to see that we will need to go back for a second day.

Woke to a very nippy 13 degrees, brrr, a fine day with a crisp wind.

Headed Back Inland

MOSSY POINT north of Moruya. Check out the froth floating upwards on the left hand side; we spoke to a local and she has been in the area 30 years and never seen the sea like it. Maybe this is what happens when you have had the most February rain on record. Today we have driven through to Canberra, so really looking forward to getting out and about over the next few days and exploring our Capital City. The drive here was lovely with the first third through mountainous forest and then into rolling hills and rocks dotted around in the paddocks.
CYCADS we have seen thousands of them lately growing wild through the forests and national parks.

Lashings of Rain

BATEMANS BAY looking south west. Friday afternoon at Kiama it was dark at 3.45 pm as a storm with heavy rain came through. Saturday morning we left and headed south to Batemans Bay and it started to rain and apart from about two hours last evening it hasn't let up. As the sun did make an appearance I headed out for a walk and as you can see the wet weather was on it's way again and it poured all night. So another wet day ahead , a good day for soup and a spot of reading. The good thing is we haven't had any flooding or damaging winds.

Waterfalls with Waterfalling!

MINNAMURRA FALLS It was a very rewarding sight after a 2.1km mostly uphill walk. The track was a credit to the National Parks as it was all boardwalk with either timber, fibreglass panels or corrugated pavers. The timber is gradually being replaced with the fibreglass panels and there are 33,000 pavers with each one weighing over 5 kg's.

CARRINGTON FALLS, these falls were in a different section of the Budderoo National Park and have a drop of 90 metres. Water from here goes down to the Kangaroo Valley and to a dam that then pumps water to Sydney. Have to admit that both falls looked spectacular after the recent rain.
BOMBO ROCKS unusual basalt walls and columns on the headland.

CUTE OR A PEST?

Sunny South Coast

SUBLIME POINT LOOKOUT Great views along the coast looking south including Woolongong and Kiama. The lookout is 415.41 metres above sea level and when we called in there yesterday there was a busload of Asian tourists, it was funny hearing their oohs and ahhs in their language at the view. They were also enjoying a picnic lunch being washed down with a bottle of VB beer.
SEA CLIFF BRIDGE What a great bit of architecture around the coastline and how many times have we seen this spot on TV and in advertisements. It is 665 metres, took 18 months to build and completed in December 2005 at a cost of $49 million.

SEA CLIFF BRIDGE as we crossed it heading north.

NSW TREND? We first started seeing padlocks on lookout railings at Forster-Toncurry, sometimes they are engraved as memorials other times declarations of love.

Sydney

SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE AND CITY It was great to wake up this morning and see the cloud starting to lift. We caught the bus into the city and had a wander around Circular Quay, walked through the Gardens to Mrs Macquaries chair. Hopped on another bus and back to Circular Quay where we then did some Ferry hopping. Went up the Parramatta River, around to Watsons Bay and then finally caught the Ferry to Manly and the bus home to Narrabeen. We felt that the public transport was excellent and the day pass great value at $18.20.

The city was very busy and you can't help but notice that there is obviously money to be made in Banking and Insurance judging by the names on the office highrises.
MANLY WHARF from the ferry.

ME AT MRS MACQUARIES POINT with the Opera House and Harbour Bridge in the background.

Still In The Big Smoke

NARRABEEN LAGOON AND LAKE Our caravan park is in the foreground and our site is on the lake. The last few days have been wet, yesterday was the wettest day in Sydney for two years and luckily they are getting good rain in the catchment areas. Last night we also had high winds, would of been just lovely in a tent. Fingers crossed it clears tomorrow so we can check out the city. Can't complain as over the last year we have had very few days spoilt by wet weather.
NARRABEEN Today the sea looked incredible as the tide changed and the water flowed out from the lagoon.

The Zoo With A View

SYDNEY FROM TARONGA ZOO Wow, do these animals have a great view from their home. We don't normally go into major cities, but Sydney sure is impressive with the harbour, opera house and of course the harbour bridge.

We had quite a bit of rain overnight and fortunately the day cleared and we actually drove to the zoo, luckily an easy drive from Narrabeen. As you can imagine I took lot's of photo's but will only post a few. Hanging out for a drink.

Are you looking at me?

Come on, let go of the ball. The baby elephant hasn't quite mastered the art of kicking the ball and has more fun trying to squash it, so cute.

Home and Away

PALM BEACH, SYDNEY For all the Home and Away fans, also known as Summer Bay. Whilst we were there today there were vans for the crew and caterers and we saw them filming a Mercedes driving along the road.
HEADLAND north of Bilgola, apparently this was a back drop to one of the weddings in Home and Away, have to admit we have never watched the programme, more of a Neighbours fan.
We are now staying at Narrabeen and have a lovely site overlooking the lake and less than 200 metres to the lagoon and beach which has a rock pool for swimming.

BARRENJOEY LIGHTHOUSE on the headland at Palm Beach, it was a steep walk up there but the 180 degree views made the walk very rewarding.