To the Coast

Here's a recap of our adventures since "Yack"

Lake Hume and Kosciuszko Nation Park

Lake Hume is one of my favorite places in Australia, primarily for its surreal drama. It is a man-made lake with a dam that was built to provide irrigation water and power, but unfortunately for the builders, the lake is so shallow that it evaporates quicker than it refills and the level has dropped since it was built in the 50's. As such, the trees that they failed to cut down and just submerged are no longer under water, thus the drama. It really isn't much for water sports, boating or even fishing, but it is fantastic for photography.

We then drove over the mountains of Kosciuszko Nation Park, the highest part in Australia. It was hair-raising and not for the faint of heart. Quite beautiful in another dramatic way. We are glad we arrived safely in Cooma, a big town that is known only as a gateway to the ski areas in the mountains (which are still an hour away) and as a hub for cattle and sheep farming (tons of that about).

Today we are off to Bega and the New South Wales coast. The ocean and shore beckon!

We have found yet another wonderful place here in Australia. It is Bermagui, which I think is pronounced 'ber-mah-gooey' but no matter what is magnificent at both sunrise and sunset (only sunset pictures in this post as I took the sunrise ones this AM). It is a small (pop. 1300) sport fishing town and is off the beaten path so it is still non-touristy. We went through a couple of those and it doesn't matter if you are in Ocean City, MD, or York Beach, ME, they are all the same the world over.

We're wending our way north and exploring towns and vistas along the way. Nothing much today, except some incredible beaches, but since Australia is literally full of those, it isn't a big deal. Tonight we'll stay in Ulladulla (where there is a McDonald's which has free wireless internet) and continue on up the coast tomorrow. We did stop in a tourist town Tilba Tilba, where there is a nice garden place that Allie wandered around for a while and I rested. I'm doing the driving and it still is a bit stressful on these narrow roads. I figure I'll have it down in another week.

Well, Ulladulla must be aboriginal for "really, really boring." Other than two bait shops and the newsagent (where people buy the morning's paper) nothing is open here in Ulladulla in the morning. Excepting the McDonalds.

After Bermagui, the shore towns have paled in comparison, so we're off to the mountains, the Blue Mountains to be specific. I anticipate a 6 hour drive but it may be more due to Sunday traffic getting back to Sydney, which we will skirt.

Steve and Allie