It has been a busy year for the four of us. Caca received double awards (Academic Excellence and Outstanding Application), Chika got her first job at Brumby's Bakery, Novy has settled as a high school tutor teacher and Agus has secured an indefinite position as a research scientist at CSIRO. We decided to spend the end-of-year-festive season in Geelong, only hitting the road after the New Year celebrations.
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| Camping at Ngarigo |
We started the journey from Geelong to Wodonga via Princes Freeway and Hume Fwy, then continued driving along the Murray Valley Hwy which was pretty relaxing. The Alpine Way from Kanchoban to Ngarigo campsite was fantastic with dead white gum trees as far as the eye could see. We set up our tents at Ngarigo, which comes from the Aboriginal word meaning tabletop mountain, a beautiful campsite on the banks of Thredbo River. However, due to the pouring rain, we only camped at Ngarigo for two days before moving to a wood cabin upstream in Thredbo, a lovely ski alpine village located next to Thredbo River (1350 meters above sea level). We decided to postpone our climb up Mt Kosciuszko for a couple of days, by which then, the rain had cleared up. Even in the summer, there are many things to do at Thredbo, such as: walking, hiking, fishing, swimming and mountain bike riding.
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| @Mount Kosciuszko |
Finally, after climbing through a cold and misty morning, there we were, standing tall on the rooftop of Australia, and in that moment there was no one higher than us in the country. We had conquered Mount Kosciuszko, Australia's highest mountain. The four of us took in the views that swept 360 degrees from the Victoria High Country to the Monaro plains and across the majestic Main Range, breathing in the fresh alpine air that carried the sweet scent of wildflowers which emblazoned the landscape in a kaleidoscope of colours. Mt Kosciuszko, Kozzie, is Australia's highest mountain standing tall at 2228 meters above sea level. It is one of the world's Seven Summits that see mountaineers venture to its summit as part of their quest to conquer the highest peaks on each of the seven continents. Kozzie was named by Polish geologist Sir Edmund Strzelecki in 1840, in honour of the Polish national hero General Tadeusz Kosciuszko. On the way down the mountain we stopped to have a cuppa at Eagle’s Nest Restaurant, enjoying the views as we sipped our warm coffees and shared a delicious plateful of apple and cinnamon strudel.
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| @Ferryman's Cafe, Lake Entrance |
We took the coastal route on the way back to Geelong, stopping at Cann River to have a cuppa and buy some second-hand books, and at Lakes Entrance to have lunch. The highlight being the fish platter and satisfyingly large caramel milkshake of Ferryman’s Café. It is an amazing feeling that within 24 hours we had eaten in the highest restaurant in Australia and enjoyed lunch on a floating café in the Tasman Sea.
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| Siberia |
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| Thredbo Diggings |
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| View from Kozzie |
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