Another State

MALLACOOTA WHARF Yesterday we crossed the border into Victoria. Mallacoota is surrounded by the Croajingolong National Park which is UNESCO protected as a World Biosphere Reserve with the majority of the beach and bush wilderness not accessible to the public. The place is abuzz with tourists at Christmas and Easter and if you fancy moving to Victoria it has the mildest winter in the state.
SOUTH ARM One of the many Mallacoota inlets. The water is the colour of tea as it is stained with tannin from the button grass, just like most of the waters in Tasmania.

There is a war taking place at Bastion Point, the locals just want a new boat ramp and the powers that be want to put in more boat parking and a 30 metre rock retaining wall, there are signs on most homes in the area against this. Time will tell.

Sapphire Coast

HANCOCK POINT, Ben Boyd National Park It was lovely to wake to a beautiful sunny day and you can see how this area has got it's name of the Sapphire Coast. This was the view from the top of the point looking across to south Pembula, the colours just spectacular.
PINNACLE, Ben Boyd National Park Amazing colours in this bluff which reminded me of the coloured sands at Rainbow Beach in Queensland.

TATHRA WHARF This is how clear the water is, yes the fish are actually Yellow Fin. For the first time ever we saw someone actually catch a fish, would hate to think how many fishermen we have seen in our travels.

Eat our Dust!

HOW IS THIS FOR A COW? It is an overcast day here at Pambula Beach so drove north to Bega Valley and checked out the cheese there and this was one of the cows on display.

EAST OF JINDABYNE Yesterday Tommy our GPS took us down a road that had 12kms of gravel, usually he asks us if we would live to avoid an unpaved road, so our 'house on wheels' had it's first off road experience. Luckily the road was pretty good as it was being prepared to be sealed.
PAMBULA BEACH CARAVAN PARK A big caravan park that is absolute beachfront and lot's of kangaroos wandering around. This is our view and luckily the east coast of Australia did not get hit by a tsunami.

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.