A family mini-holiday in Tumut and the Snowy Mountains

With the kids on School Holidays, the possibility of some fine weather, and even an inkling that I might be able to do some bike riding in less-known locations, my darling wife organised a few days away from home as a kind of family holiday. Tumut (New South Wales, Australia) is a town nestled up against the Great Dividing Range. Being only about 2 or so hours from home made it the perfect place to base ourselves for our mini-holiday.

We had been to Tumut before, but only while passing through to other places. It has a very obvious connection with the timber industry (I counted 3 sawmills near Tumut, there are probably more), and is the last major town encountered after leaving the Hume Freeway near Adelong on the Snowy Mountains Highway before the mountain ranges themselves are encountered.

As it turned out I didn’t take the bike, so didn’t do any cycling while we were there. But every day we were there I walked or ‘ran’ varying distances. From the time we arrived to the time we left I had walked / ran about 25km! Here are some photos of the Tumut area.

Autumn Trees

Old Bridge across Tumut along the River Trail

Most of the fam on the River Trail

River Trail

Rotary Pioneer Park pond

Pelicans on Rotary Pioneer Park pond

Tumut River

Tumut River

Tumut River

The morning of second day we were there we explored Adelong and the nearby Adelong Falls and Gold Mill ruins. What a fascinating place it was. Lots of photos of how things were and we had the vistas before us to see how it is today.

Adelong Gold Mill ruins

Adelong Falls and Gold Mill walk

Adelong Gold Mill ruins

Adelong Gold Mill ruins

Adelong Falls scenery

Adelong Gold Mill ruins

Adelong Gold Mill ruins

Adelong Gold Mill ruins

The Fam on the Adelong Falls and Gold Mill walk

Adelong Falls and Gold Mill walk

Adelong – old rock crusher in centre of town

Adelong – old mining skip

After lunch we decided to go for a scenic drive from Adelong and Talbingo via Batlow. We got through Batlow ok, but the road between Batlow and Talbingo was closed with a ‘Detour’ sign suggesting there was another way, so after travelling to the end of Snubba Road (which became Snubba ‘goat track’, and then Hume and Hovell Walking Track), we headed back to where the detour signs pointed and travelled for quite a long distance (we estimated at least 40km) till we got to another road closed sign and nearby was a signpost saying “Talbingo 16km, Batlow 15km”, so we went the long way around to no-where. But we did see some interesting things on the way.

Batlow Literary Institute

Echidna, Snubba Rd, between Batlow an Talbingo

Goanna, Lake Blowering Area, between Batlong and Talbingo

Hume & Hovell Lookout on Snubba Rd between Batlow and Talbingo.

Commemorative Plaque at Hume & Hovel Lookout on Snubba Rd

The 3rd day we explored the Yarrangobilly Caves, which is nestled in a valley a few kilometres off the Snowy Mountains Highway. There are a number of caves – we explored 3 of them (2 with a tour guide and 1 as a self-guided tour). And there were some entrances to other caves visible on the walking tracks too. There is also a Thermal Pool which is heated from rain water that percolates down many hundreds of meters into the earth’s crust then forced back to the surface as a warm spring.

Yarrongobilly Caves – Cave House

Yarrongobilly Caves visitors center from Bluff Lookout

Yarrongobilly Caves – cliffs

Yarrongobilly Caves – cave formations

Yarrongobilly Caves – cave formations

Yarrongobilly Caves – cave formations

Yarrongobilly Caves – cave formations

Yarrongobilly Caves – cave formations – pond

Yarrongobilly Caves – cave formations

Yarrongobilly Caves – cliff faces

Yarrongobilly Caves – decending down into one of the caves

Yarrongobilly Caves – cave formations

Yarrongobilly Caves – cave formations

Yarrongobilly Caves – cave formations

Yarrongobilly Caves – cave formations – reflection in a pond.

Yarrongobilly Caves – thermal pool

Yarrongobilly Caves – thermal pool

Yarrongobilly Caves – rock formations.

Yarrongobilly Caves – rock formations.

Yarrongobilly Caves – tree lined walk.

Yarrongobilly Caves – Track to Glory Cave entrance

Yarrongobilly Caves – entrance to Glory Cave (self guided tour)

Then we continued on to Cabramurra for tea / dinner. We had a reason for going to Cabramurra – in the past we have had breakfast and lunch at this highest of Australian towns, and we wanted to complete the meal cycle by having tea / dinner there as well. After a tea / dinner of soup and bread, then some dessert, it was back into the car to return to Tumut so I could log into my online Hebrew class. I realised on the way back to Tumut that the class would probably be starting at 7pm rather than 8pm as Daylight Savings had ended. We arrived back at the cabin about 6 minutes late, but the class was experiencing some technical difficulties (no sound) which were only resolved a minute or two after I logged on.

The next day, after I went for a ‘run’ and we packed our sutff and cleaned the cabin, we headed for the familiarity of home.

Family Holiday Highlights – Thu 18th April

(This post follows on from the previous one, so if something doesn’t make sense you might want to look at the previous post!)

Mount Beauty

On Thursday we decided to explore Mount Beauty. Mount Beauty was established in 1949 by the SEC to house construction workers for the Kiewa Hydro Electric Scheme. It is about 350km from Melbourne (Victoria, Australia), and about 35km from Bright. The seasons are very obvious in Mount Beauty: chilling winters, cool wet springs, scorching summers and colorful autumns. Each season has its own attractions: skiing, bushwalking / hiking, horse riding, gliding, bike riding (mountain and road) as well as fishing. Mount Beauty also has its own annual music festival, mountain bike competition and regular weekend markets. There are also some great views from and of the surrounding mountains.

Above: Sunset reflecting of the nearby mountains.

As Zoe had a nasty bark and generally didn’t have much energy, and Rebecca had developed a stomach bug, we decided that we would walk to Pebble Beach, then Jesse and I would do a longer hike after lunch. So we found the walking track to Pebble Beach.

Pebble Beach walk

Pebble Beach walk is a very flat, very easy walk along a shared walking / bicycle path beside the river. There are some great views along the river, and with the leaves on the overhanging trees changing to their Autumnal color it looked quite serene.

Above: view along river looking towards Mount Beauty.

Pebble Beach itself is like most other bends in a river where pebbles of varying sizes can be found, with one exception – people have decided to build objects out of the stones at Pebble Beach. Exactly how this came about I don’t know, but it seems to have become a tradition and one of the tourist brochures we read encouraged visitors to make their own object out of stones. This makes it an interesting place to visit.

I tried building something out of the stones there, but didn’t have much success. And it seems the kids were more interested in throwing rocks back into the river! Along the walk there are a few places where the surrounding hills and landscape can admired. Mount Bogong, sometimes referred to as the Brooding Giant, is quite close to Mount Beauty and there are some good vistas of it from the path.

Above: View of Mount Bogong from Pebble Beach track.

Also along the track is the Regulating Pondage, close to the township itself.

Above: regulating pondage.

This is a pondage that regulates water flow into the river, but exactly why it is there I am not sure. I suspect it is connected with one or more f the Hydro-electric power stations in the area and is used to store and release flows of water from power station/s so that it is released more gently into the river rather than causing a flash flood. By the time we got back to the car, it was lunch time. So we ate the usual camp lunch fare.

Pole Track / Survey Track

After lunch Jesse and I went on a more strenuous walk befitting people who be fit. The walk was made up of two sections – 1) Pole Track, 2) Survey Track. The brochure we got which had information on it suggested doing the Survey Track then the Pole Track, but being somewhat non-conformist I decided we would do it in reverse. So we started along the Gorge Track from the Mountain Bike Park, then turned into Pole Track. The section of the Gorge Track we used to get to Pole Track was easy – very flat, but Pole Track was very steep in places. Along the way there were some good views of the town.

Above: Mount Beauty from Pole Track.

Above: Another view of Mount Beauty, and along the Kiewa Valley.

The Pole Track was criss-crossed by a number of mountain bike trails. The bike trails themselves would have been hard enough to walk along let along ride a bike. I am quite sure it was considerably easier walking along the pole track (even the steep sections) than along the mountain bike trails! After about an hour we arrived at Cranky Charlies. Cranky Charlies is a location on the road to Falls Creek, and was named after a local land owner. My guess is that his name was Charlie and that he was known for being crankie. After a short rest and a well deserved drink of water we headed off down the Survey Track to return to Mount Beauty township. From the Survey Track we had some great views of the river far down in the valley below.

Above: View of the river from Survey Track. I think it is the Kiewa River.

There were also some interesting flora (plants).

The survey track was built in the 1930s, and today is maintained by volunteers “for walkers and XC bikes”. For most of it’s length it is a single file track, quite different to the Pole Track which is a 4×4 track. We arrived back at the outskirts of Mount Beauty township near the golf course. And we decided to take a shortcut across the golf course and through the residential areas of the town. But in retrospect it probably didn’t really save us any time as we had to zig-zag through the streets to get to the park we were supposed to meet Rebecca and the girls at.

Gorge Track

After we rendezvous-ed with Rebecca and the girls we drove the car to the car park at the Mountain Bike Park, and all set off along the Gorge Track. The Gorge is quite close the the township, and apparently leads to a shady swimming spot in the river. Along the way, there are some good views of the Kiewa Valley too. Along the walk there is a swing bridge spanning the river.

Above: swing bridge across the river.

The gorge itself reminded me of a gorge called Missinghams Steps, near Bowral in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales. But at Missinghams Steps, the walk goes from one side of the gorge down to the river and then back up the other side. At least at Mount Beauty Gorge the track goes more or less along the bottom of the gorge, so it is a much easier walk. Following a re a few photos of the gorge.

The last photo (above) is zoomed in from a point 100 metres or so away, and I suspect the most spectacular section of the Gorge was just around the corner. But the river level was high and would have required wading through to get to the gorge. As the water was really cold, and flowing quite fast I decided against this. While the view of the Gorge around the corner might have been more spectacular I figured it probably wasn’t worth the possibility of hypothermia!

Family Holiday Highlights – Wed 17th April

From Tuesday 16th to Friday 19th April, we were able to have a family camping holiday. We camped at the base of Mount Bogong, the highest mountain in the state of Victoria (Australia), at a camping place called Mountain Creek.

Here are a few highlights of the activities we did on Wednesday…

Bogong village and Fainter Falls

Bogong village was created in the late 1930s by the State Electricity Commission (SEC) to provide accommodation and services for workers constructing the Kiewa hydro-electric scheme. A post office, a primary school and a shop were also established. When the Kiewa hydro-electric scheme was completed in the early 1960s, the SEC planted various terraced and lakeside gardens. In the Spring various flowers bloom, in Summer the gardens take on a cool and leafy green appearance, turning to a kaleidescope of color in the Autumn when the leaves of the deciduous trees announce that Summer is over and Winter is on the way. Autumn is the time of year we visited there, and the various colors of leaves throughout the region made for a very colourful vista. But it isn’t just the gardens at Bogong that provide beauty – there is Lake Guy, a man-made lake built as part of the hydro-scheme.

Above: Lake Guy wall

Above: Lake Guy, looking upstream

While the wall itself is somewhat utilitarian and made of concrete, the lake that it holds in the valley is very pleasant to behold as are the various visual elements associated with the village. A little upstream from Lake Guy, there is a beautiful parkland setting where the Kiewa River is joined by a creek. A bridge crosses at that location, providing a good view up the valley.

Above: Bridge across the Kiewa River at Bogong Village

Above: Looking upstream from atop the bridge in the previous photo.

Photos really don’t do the scene justice (as is often the case with scenes of such beauty) – much less a wordy written description. A short drive from Bogong Village is Fainter Falls. According to the signage on the walk, it flows all year. This is hardly surprising as it has the High Plains to feed water to it. Winter snowfalls and seasonal rains recharge the ground water, springs and alpine wetlands which  slowly and continuous feed such water ways.

Above: Looking downstream towards the Kiewa River.

Above: The falls

While we all went on the walk, only Jesse, Rebecca and I actually went up to the closest viewing platform to the falls. Zoe and Eliana stayed at the viewing platform a few hundred metres back.

Above: the family minus Dad (on the other side of the camera) at the intermediate viewing platform before Jesse, Rebecca and I went on to the next platform.

Falls Creek Alpine Resort

This was the first time we had visited the Falls Creek resort, but I had been there before, having been somewhat enthusiastic about snow skiing before I got married. I think the last time I was there was before Rebecca and I got engaged, so it would have been some time around 1994 when I was last there. Things had changed. New buildings had been built, but some of the ski runs looked somewhat familiar (but some had what looked like snow-making apparatus which they didn’t last time I was there), and the mountains themselves hadn’t changed (at least not noticably).

Above: It wasn’t there last time I was.

Above: Wishing Well. This also wasn’t there last time I was.

Another thing that I noticed was the non-ski-season marketing. Once upon a time a ski resort was basically just used for skiing. But it seems that the marketers for Falls Creek and Mount Beauty are recognising the potential for other non-Winter sports such as mountain biking, etc.

A ‘ruined castle’ and a Basalt Hill

Above Falls Creek, on the Mt McKay / Pretty Valley road is a naturally occurring feature called Ruined Castle. The feature is evidence of a basalt flow as a result of volcanic activity in the area years ago. The cooling of the lava caused cracks which divided the rock into close fitting columns, usually hexagonal (6 sides) in shape. The “Ruined Castle” formation is one of a few remaining examples of columnar jointed basalt in the area.

Above: view of all of ‘ruined castle’ formation

Above: Close-up showing hexagonal shape of columns.

A short-ish drive further up onto the high plains on the road between Falls Creek and Omeo, past the Rocky Valley Dam near the Wallaces Hut walk and car park, are some formations which also are apparently of volcanic origin according to the signage. One of the formations is called Basalt Hill, which I suppose is indicating what it is comprised of.

Above: An example of a basalt topped mountain, where the basalt on top helps to protect the rock underneath from erosion.

From there we decided to continue on to Omeo, as if it might be some sort of Shangri-la nestled in the hills.

Omeo, Omeo, wherefore art thou, Omeo

According to the road signs and our calculations it would take us about 1.5 hours to get to Omeo, but none of us had ever been to Omeo before and so we had no idea what we would encounter. The Omeo Highway and the song “Life is a highway” (which our son decided was an appropriate song to have playing) somehow just don’t seem to fit together. For one thing, the Omeo Highway is not the sort of road that one would like to ‘ride all night long’. Why it would be called a Highway at all might even be questioned. Maybe it was to get government funding for it, or something like that. It may not be what would often be thought of as a highway, but the drive is spectacular! Jutting rock faces and deep gorges are the major features, and with an average speed of around 50 kmh we (except the driver) had plenty of time to enjoy the scenery. Sadly there were no places to pull over and just gawk at the scenery as the road is so narrow and winding.

As the kilometres passed we could all have been mis-quoting Shakespeare and thinking “Omeo, Omeo, wherefore are thou Omeo”. But eventually we made it! And here is the proof…

Nestled in the mountains seemingly in the middle of nowhere, Omeo is a small country town surrounded by beautiful scenery and farmland. To the north is Mitta Mitta, and Dartmouth and Corryong, and to the south is Bairnsdale. Gold, that precious and allusive metal, was the reason the town came into existence, but as the gold rush ended farming became the main activity of the region. Very picturesque, the town has a number of old buildings, and has the winding streets seemingly so common in gold mining towns and towns in the mountainous regions.

We couldn’t stay long in Omeo as we wanted to be back at our camp site on the other site of the High Plains in time for tea and it was about 3:30pm when we arrived at Omeo. We also didn’t really want to be driving on the High Plains as the freezing temperatures descended below freezing point! So we had a brief look along the main street and then, with a sense of urgency, we headed back along the Omeo Highway from whence we came and over the High Plains. But we decided fairly quickly that a holiday to Omeo was a must-do at some point in the not-too-distant future.

Camera club

For a number of years we have been looking for something we can do as a couple / family. Rebecca and I have our own hobbies and interests but a common hobby we both had was not so obvious. Over the last few years we discovered that both have an interest in photography – Rebecca is probably more into it than I am.

Last night we attended the local (ie, less than 25kms away) camera club for the first time. For a small town, the club was quite large (around 10-15 people). Part of the meeting involved voting for photos submitted for two categories – Flowers, and Old Machinery. And part of the meeting was practicing taking photos of objects.

One of the objects was a model car, the scale of which I couldn’t quite work out (click on an image to see a larger version of it).

 

Both the photos above were taken without a tripod (although it was helpful to rest one’s hands on the surface that the car was sitting on). For the practicing session I set my camera to manual (something I rarely do) and proceeded to take a number of photos of the various objects. The two above are by far the best ones I shot. It wasn’t until after the meeting that I ‘discovered’ that my camera was set to ISO 64 for all the photos that I took during the evening. And I also ‘discovered’ that the camera will go all the way up to ISO 6400 and that it’s aperture range is from about F3 to F18. Whether I would ever use the highest ISO setting on the camera is another matter all together, but it is nice to know it has that ability. When I use a film camera I like to use ISO 400 film as it allows higher shutter speeds and with fairly good photo quality.

Most of the time I take photos with my FujiPix S1600 I use the automatic settings mode. Maybe being more proactive in using the manual settings is a good idea, especially for close up photos.

Just as a bit of a comparision of photo and settings compared with the ones above, here are a couple of photos of different things shot over the last few years that have quite different settings to the two shown above (click them to see an enlarged version) …

 

The bridges is at Nowra, New South Wales. And the flower is at Carrington Falls near Bowral, New South Wales.