Week Seven (7)

8th February - 14th February 2009

We’re in the Snowy Mountains and on the road looking for a campsite next to water, the news regarding the forest fires not only has us on edge as we don’t know exactly how close they are, but the locals are all tuned into the news broadcasts as well. We check into a site on the banks of Lake Jindabyne which reminds us of Lake Vinuela in Spain, its half the size of Sydney harbour, is at least 50 ft below its normal depth, has a dramatic mountain backdrop, lots of trout fishermen and the submerged/flooded old town of Jindabyne.

The water temperature is 24.7 degrees and tomorrow we will be checking this fact out. Today we are off on the Alpine Way drive to Khatouni, it’s only 109kms away but takes us 3 hours to get there, for some reason….. En route we are amazed in the way the scenery changes so dramatically over such a short distance. One minute it is drought barren fields with giant round boulders, the next moment it is dry dead grey gum trees by the thousands before bright green snow gum trees on mountain sides with green grass pistes running through them and cable cars disappearing over the top of the peaks.

Seeing the miles of dead trees, you can see how bush fires take hold so easily, even though the fires are miles away from us, we want to get through this bit quickly….. Three years ago this area was devastated by a bush fire which you can see on some of the trees we pass, you can also amazingly see the new green shoots allowing them to regenerate.

What makes us smile is, it is 35 degrees and yet the towns we come across have ski sales on, whilst the twisting mountain road has 2m snow depth markers along the sides of them. We arrive in Khancoban feeling peckish and see a sign indicating the Town Centre, we follow it and stop looking in amazement at what is called the Centre of Town. It is a block of buildings 50m wide by about 30m deep, see photo. It is completely closed as is the Police Station, Visitor Info Centre, Swimming Pool, Community Centre and Church, there is no one around.

We have to return the same way we arrived but avoid the town centre and see a building with metal tables and chairs outside with two cars in the parking lot. Lets try there, we walk in and immediately want to walk out but the 5 people inside are all now looking at us, it’s the local pub/casino/betting office/café/laundry. There are different sections within this establishment depending on what particular function you wish to participate in. We order 2 cokes and ask if anything is available to eat, the barmaid is really friendly and asks the owner, on our side of the bar, if he can cook something for us. He agrees as long as we can wait 10 mins for the kitchen to warm up. Steve pretends he is not really hungry whilst Julie opts for the safest thing on the menu, fish and chips. It costs the equivalent to £3, so we sit in the betting office part, surrounded by betting slips, TV screens and instructions on how to place the various bets when this monster meal arrives, okay, some of the salad looked like Fridays and the rice could easily have been left over from last nights takeaway but the fish and two plates of chips (because the owner thought we needed the extra one) were fresh, hot and really nice. We start to eat it when the barmaid asks if we want another drink, we reply No, she says okay I just want to pop out and have a ciggy. We are now in the place on our own as everyone else has rushed out to tell their next of kin, there are strangers in town …… and they are spending….. We start the return journey and soon realise the signs warning road users to be aware of falling branch’s are there for a reason, we have just travelled this road and now on the way back are surprised at just how many new branch’s are on the road.

We way up the pros and cons of the situation, Falling branch’s plus dead trees that can catch fire against the fact that police patrol cars radar cannot work around corners, Lets get out of here………

Wow, the weather change promised has arrived and we can tell we are in the mountains, the temperature has dropped 22 degrees. We cancel checking out the lake water temperature but because it is so warm and the air so cold, the lake looks like it is steaming.

Today we relax around Town and go window shopping, now bearing in mind 75% of the shops are connected to the ski/snowboarding trade and all of them have sales on, Steve has a cunning plan. He buys the cheapest ski hat and snow goggles he can find, Julie is concerned at his out of character behaviour but it is Steve after all…. He puts his newly purchased items on and says, “Right, now I’m ready to go to the Post Office” Julie realises he is trying to disguise the fact, he is a criminal. Nobody appears to notice Steve, although he does think he should not be wearing his swimming shorts and a T shirt. He waits until the office is empty before quietly asking the disparaging looking counter clerk, who is just about to activate the silent alarm, to accept his dues…… having paid his debt to society we return to the streets, heads held high and go for a coffee. Steve still feels as if everyone is looking at him, can these people really tell a rehabilitated offender is in their midst, he is starting to fret until Julie says, “ You can take the disguise off now”……

Brrrrr, it’s cold, 10 degrees, time to get out of the mountains and down to the coast. We arrive in Eden after driving over dirt roads and through the South East Forest. Eden is a big spot on the atlas but in reality it’s another one street town that only comes alive during the winter when whales visit the bay. We walk along the beach to the rock pools when one of us, the smaller one is so engrossed with the puffer fish swimming around, she fails to notice the big wave approaching. This wave had not escaped the notice of Mr Astute, who stood awaiting the moment he could then capture with his camera…….

We go to the recommended local club for Dinner, it’s busy but we get a seat next to the window over looking the bay and watch the sun set over the distant mountains. The clubs main interest appears to be Bingo, Raffles, Pokies, Betting on the Horses and lucky membership numbers whilst the restaurant is like a large company’s staff canteen. Sophistication, no matter in what form, is clearly confined to the City. We get back to camp and no one is around or it appears even up as all the tents, camper vans are in darkness, we creep around as “No noise will be tolerated after 22.00hrs” and then realise it’s not that late…

We set off to Merimbula, the biggest town on the Sapphire Coast, we go pass a sign, which Steve remembers reading something about, “You can’t do that, there’re solid white lines” is ringing in Steve’s ears as he pulls into Ben Boyd National Park. It’s a dirt road so we are driving slowly when sunbathing on the road directly in front of us is a Red Bellied Snake, we stop to take pictures.

As we do so a 4wd vehicle roars pass us doing about 50mph followed by a BMW doing the same, the snake having been saved from being run over, slithers back off into the bush. (Snake saving man, strikes again). We then park up and for some reason, change into boots, to go see ‘The Pinnacles’ a piece of headland that shows red clay on top of the areas white sandy subsoil. Having survived this 1km trek into the bush we go to Merimbula and play on three different beaches, they all have different coloured red rocks and when the sun shines the contrast with the sand, sea and sky is stunning.

Someone is also very excited at seeing a Superb Fairy Wren, so much so, she appears not to worry how close the photographer gets to the edge of the cliff to get a picture of it. We have a Coffee at the Wharf before going shopping for an inflatable body board. We also try and book dinner for 20.30hrs, but cannot as they close at 21.00hrs. We ask if there’s anywhere else but it appears not, Australians tend to do everything early, get up, eat and go to bed. So dinner out is either at 19.00hrs or you do it yourself. We get back to the camp site, it clouds over and starts to rain, we can’t play with the new toy and want to moan but this country really needs the rain, so we have a night in and watch a typical Australian reality TV programme called ‘The Farmer wants a Wife’…….. Sitting and discussing this and the holiday so far, we both come to the same conclusion, Australia is a lovely place to visit but the culture and life style when compared to the Spanish way of life, does not come even close, we won’t be moving……

Day 44 in Australia finds us waking after heavy rains and yet the radio is warning us of a bush fire 17kms away, Steve has to apologise after dismissing eagle eyed Julies observation of “Is that smoke over there?” The radio also states there will be no sun shine today, so one of us suggests having a chillin day but at the same time is wondering how to get him to sit still for longer than a cup of tea. Brainwave- Give him some wine at lunch time- We set off on a scenic drive and see kangaroos chillin on some grass leading to the headland, the dirt road to the very end is just too rough so we return to town and the RSL club where they have free Wifi. Lunch and several glasses of wine later and we spend the rest of the day chillin, who’s in control?

Suddenly someone blurts “Hey, the Suns out, lets go play in the a rock pools“ ten minutes later we are feeding a 18in octopus small molluscs in a rock pool, tentacles everywhere, next stop, chilling with a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon……
The following morning finds us walking along the boardwalk along the shore and around the lake, Thwack, Thwack as a fisherman who has just caught an Octopus, is subduing it with the aid of the concrete floor, it’s too far away to be our hand fed eight legged friend but it could have been a relative.…

We see a ray swimming beneath us before we drive into Tathra and go to the cleanest beach in NSW. The first sign we see says “Shark Fishing is prohibited” Gulp, this place is ideal for snorkelling but after the last two days where sharks have attacked two people in Sydney, Steve thinks, snorkelling is a NO, NO, The second sign informs us that no shark attack has ever been recorded in Tathra Bay, so now it’s a Maybe! The fisherman on the famous & historic wharf, who are likely to put John West out of business, with the amount of Salmon they are catching, state “No Worries” to Steve’s questions about Sharks, so it’s now a likely probability, but tomorrow depending on the weather. A pod of dolphins are also fishing for the salmon and whilst both the tourists are excited the fisherman are less so. Tathra is another big map blob but has nothing other than 3 x campsites, a bowling club, a fish and chip shop which closes at 19.30hrs and two bottle shops. We go to the Bowling Club for dinner which we regret as soon as the food arrives and then upset a couple we are talking with as he misses some of the numbers drawn in the meat raffle, meanwhile his wife is eating what he left on his plate and talking to us at the same time, not a pretty sight. Back to the van, we settle down with a glass of vino when someone starts to play an accordion…… try and turn that into a positive night……

 We are off first thing to Bega for groceries as Tathra is so small there is no store. Bega is having a festival today and even though there is a total fire ban, bush fires raging down the road, they are going to finish tonight off with a firework display, where is the logic in that? We get back and set off on a wildlife walk through the forest behind the campsite, within ten minutes we find a beautiful golden olive / grey snake about 4ft long basking in the sun on a fallen tree, with one flick of his tongue he can sense our presence and disappears into the undergrowth, we spend the next 1½ hours gingerly tip toeing through the forest and see nothing.

We spend the afternoon climbing the rocks around the headland thinking shall we go snorkelling, it’s still overcast so the decision is NO. Meanwhile back at camp, accordion man asks if he kept us up last night, a dozen thoughts rush through our heads as what to reply, but the mouth said something completely different…….