Exploring The High Country Saturday 18 November

Today was to be the day we explore the scenic high country and get to play in the snow.  We knew there was a chance that the weather could be inclement and we weren’t too phased by that, which was just as well, as the day proved to be wet and dreary. 

But, first things first.......

Mushrooms for breakfast. They don’t look very appetising but they were delicious, with that taste that you only get with wild mushrooms, and you just don’t get with those from the supermarket. There are more left for tomorrow as well. Yummo!

The lake was nice and calm this morning, but rain was never far away. 

I even remembered to take a picture of our campsite overlooking the lake. 

We headed off on our drive towards Thredbo.  One of Mick’s workmates told him of a couple of nice campgrounds, so went to have a look see.  The Diggings was on a nice calm stretch of the Thredbo River. The water was crystal clear and we even saw a couple of trout swimming by. The rod was in the back of the Ute, but it wasn’t the weather to be sitting fishing. You can see what a serious fisherman Mick is.

The trees looked nice and fresh in the wet weather.

There were different wildflowers as well. 

The next campground was Ngarigo Campground. The Thredbo River was quite different here, being fast flowing and rocky. 

Rather picturesque. 

We continued on our way to Thredbo, which was bustling, as it was the opening day of the mountain cycling season. Not the best weather, but that wasn’t stopping anyone. The cyclists hooked their bikes on the back of the chairlift seats and up they went. Body armour and crash helmets were all the go, so these guys and girls were somewhat serious. 

Once at the top they then road back down the mountain bike course to the side of the lifts (not shown here). 

We continued on our way, noticing that the vegetation continued to change, becoming more alpine.  

Finally, we started to see snow in the gloom. 

We arrived at the walkway at Charlottes Pass, only to find it closed. oh well, there was another path nearby, being the start of the Main Range Track.

Mick’s on his way.

Fancy that.  He is in the snow.  Quite funny really, as yesterday when I spied the snow in the distance his reaction was “Good, now we’ve seen it I don’t have to play in it.”  He grew up in a snowy area, so isn’t thrilled by snow, reckoning it is just cold and wet. 

Yes, I was in the snow too.  Mick took a pic, but I haven’t downloaded it, so this will have to do. No, we didn’t play in it, and didn’t even touch it.  Just not the weather.  I was busy keeping my camera dry under my umbrella. 

Here are a few pictures I took. It was rather lovely and moody. The colours of the bark really shone in the wet weather. 

See the track going up the hill in the distance on the right. There must have been quite a few walkers out there going on the number of cars in the car park. They can have that.

We got back to Jindabyne in time for a late lunch and the weather was finally starting to clear. It is amazing how different the lake looked compared to the same time yesterday. 

We even had a little walk along the foreshore checking out the artistic seats along the way.

We had a great day playing the tourist. No, we didn’t have picture postcard weather, but it was really interesting to experience how it can close in.  It was certainly worth the visit.