Wallaga Lake (Bermagui) and Narooma (27/1/12 - 2/2/12)

We arrived in Wallaga Lake, just north of Bermagui, 100kms north of Eden on 27th January.  We had been recommended this caravan park by Jan and Graham who we had met in Jindabyne.  WOW!  We were not disappointed.  Our site was right opposite the lake, surrounded by grass and beautiful trees.  What a lovely spot.  The first couple of days were busy as it was still school holidays, so the place was buzzing with people, boats, water skiers, people fishing, etc.  On Sunday almost everyone left and it was so quiet.

Jan, Graham and their gorgeous dog Toby happened to also be camping here so it was lovely to catch up.  Chloe and Ben were mesmerised by Toby and loved taking him for walks, feeding him and playing with him.  Poor Toby was exhausted by the end of each day!  After a week with Toby, the kids are keener than ever to get a dog when we get back to Albany.  We will just have to wait and see about that...........

We stayed in Wallaga Lake for 6 nights and it was a great spot to have some down time and do very little for a week.

The town of Bermagui was only 8kms away and was a beautiful, small coastal town.  They have the Blue Pools there, which are sea pools.  Unfortunately both times we went there it was either too windy or too cold to go for a swim.

We visited Narooma, 20kms north of Wallaga Lakes a couple of times.  It is a bigger coastal town, with a beautiful coast and gorgeous lakes.  Simon loved it there.  We did a great walk one day along the boardwalk, over the old bridge and around the foreshore.  The kids were kept interested by the promise of a play at the park at the end.  Simon and Donna had a kid free lunch here one day too.  Graham and Jan offered to have the kids for us so we could go out for lunch, which was so lovely of them.  The kids had an absolute ball - out for fish and chips, plays at two parks and icecreams!  Thank you Jan and Graham - for your babysitting and your company over the past week.

The weather was quite extreme during our stay.  We had warm sunny days and one really hot night, cold days and nights, wind and even a bit of rain.  We used our air conditioner and on other nights had campfires!

The kids have loved swimming in the lake, kayaking, watching the resident seal playing with an octopus each afternoon, swimming in a gorgeous inlet close by and most importantly playing with Toby the dog!

We were all very entertained one morning when the owner of the caravan park took his seaplane for a fly.  He wheeled it out between campsites, into the water and up for a fly.  Pretty specky to watch!

We reluctantly leave here tomorrow....heading towards Bateman's Bay.  We plan to be in Sydney within the next 5 or 6 days.

We hope you are all well and happy and for those of you who have children, we hope their first day back at school went well.

The Blue Pool

The lake jetty

Our view

Our site from the jetty

The seaplane

The campfire

Chloe's photo of the view from our caravan

Toby, Chloe and Ben

A beautiful swimming spot near the caravan park

Narooma

Narooma

Eden and Merimbula (24/1/12 - 27/1/12)

From Jindbayne we headed 200kms south east back to the coast.  We stayed in Eden for 3 days, a nice coastal town, but still packed with tourists.

On Australia Day we explored the local area, including Bega for some cheese, Tathra and Merimbula.  Merimbula is a beautiful coastal spot that relies heavily on the tourism industry.  Being the last week of school holidays, it was packed.  Despite this we found a beautiful spot on the water for a swim and to cook our hot dogs.  Beautiful location, perfect weather and great company!

Happy Australia Day everyone!!

2 Happy Little Aussies!

Charlotte's Pass - We saw snow!! (23/1/12)

We spent Monday at Charlotte’s Pass in Mt Kosciuszko National Park, about 50kms from Jindabyne.  We passed through Perisher, which was lovely and onto Charlotte’s Pass.  We intended to do a short walk; however, Chloe spotted snow in the distance and was determined to touch it.  So on we continued….

After two hours, 4.4kms of tough, steep walking on loose rock a lot of the time and bribes of icecreams and movies, we made it to the snow.  WOOHOO!!!!  All the hard work was well and truly worth it.  The kids were so excited and loved it.  Even though there wasn’t much snow, we managed to make two snowmen, have quite a few snow fights and have heaps of fun!

Thankfully the return walk was mainly downhill, with one massive uphill climb at the end to absolutely wear us out.  We were all exhausted by the end.  Despite this, today would have to be one of the BEST days of our holiday – we are so proud of Chloe and Ben (and ourselves!) for doing such a challenging walk and to share with them their first experience of snow.  So special.  A day none of us will forget.  Chloe summed it up beautifully by saying that today was “the best day of my entire life!”

Off we set...

The only downhill part of the walk on the way to the snow.

Filling the water bottles.

Yet another hill...

And another...

See the snow in the distance - our destination!

Another rest along the way.

Getting closer - off the track now and heading cross country.

Almost there...

Woohoo!!! We reached the snow.

There wasn't much snow but it was enough for us.

Beautiful water

On our way back down - the Blue Lake

Finally back at the start!!  You can see the snow in the far distance.  What a walk!

Thredbo (Mt Kosciuszko) (20/1/12)

Thredbo is 40kms from Jindabyne.  Once there, we took the chair lift to 1925 metres above sea level.  From there we walked 2kms uphill to the Mt Kosciuszko Lookout.  What a view!!  Unfortunately we couldn’t convince the kids to walk another 4.5kms to Mt Kosciuszko (and then back!).  Mt Kosciuszko is 2220 metres above sea level and is Australia's highest point.  At the lookout we were about 2000 metres above sea level.  We had a much easier walk on the way back – all downhill.

Just as we were about to take the chair lift back down, we saw Brett Thomas (Simon’s second cousin from Wagga), so we spent the rest of the day with him.  Once back down, we spent an hour or so on the bobsleds.  They were so much fun – we had an absolute ball.  Chloe took out the prize of biggest hoon.  Donna and Chloe’s 1st ride ended in a big stack and it was Chloe who was driving!  Simon and Chloe think they were the fastest team but Donna and Ben don’t agree!

One more ride up and down on the chair lift finished a wonderful day.  The chairlift was so peaceful and the views were very impressive.  Thredbo in summer is just beautiful, although it would be great to come back in winter and see the snow.

Going up on the chairlift

Still going...

We made it! Mt Kosciuszko Lookout

The view

A family pic!

Back we go...much easier going this way

Back at top of chairlift

Down we go.

Team "Thomas boys" on the bobsleds

The Thomas girls!

Chloe and her new friend

The only wombat we have seen on our travels.  A real one would be good!