Back to Corryong

Our 3 days in Euroa was largely spent in and around the water. We did a quick visit up to Violet Town to have a look around as well.

The final day, Jeanette and Zac joined us again, this time to continue the rest of the journey with us. We left J's car at a friends place in Benalla for the drive up to Corryong.

This was about the 5th time we'd stayed at the Colac Colac (clack clack) Caravan Park, about 7km's west of the town of Corryong. Such a lovely spot, on the banks of the Nariel Creek (which is more like a river than a creek). Lots of shady oak trees and large spread out sites make it one of our favourite spots. 

We spent most afternoons, and a couple of mornings as well during our week long stay in the creek, floating down on the inner tubes. The water was higher and flowed faster this year. We also enjoyed a couple of sunsets from the Corryong Lookout, as well as a BBQ sunset dinner up there one evening.

Below is a drone shot of the caravan park

The weather this year was quite tropical, with the temp in high 20's and some evening / overnight storms. We got up on a couple of mornings to lake views around the campsite! 

Last year the borders to NSW were closed, so this year we made the most of the freedom with some trips across the Murray River.  On the first occasion we checked out the giant crayfish on the edge of the Murray at Towong. 

Inspired by the oversized silver crustacean welcome, we continued on through the rolling hills to the small location of Tooma, which comprised an old pub, guesthouse and park by the Tumbarumba Creek

A little further north we visited the lookout and memorial for the Southern Cloud airplane crash. This was a sister plane to the more famous Southern Cross. It crashed into the steep slopes of the Snowy Mountains in the 1930's but was not located until 27 years later. This lookout, which overlooks those mountains, although it was a bit overcast today, was built on the 50th anniversary of the finding of the wreckage. 

Later in the week we ventured further into NSW, by heading to Thredbo for the day. This involved 110 km's via Khankoban, the town founded to house workers building the Snowy Hydro Scheme. From Khankoban the road was very steep and winding, but very scenic. We stopped at Scammell's Lookout on the way. 

Found ourselves briefly in Siberia, all it has is a small parking bay and a sign, but another destination off the bucket list! 

Once at Thredbo we realised that it is equally as popular with mountain bike riders as it is with skiers in winter. Chairlifts and gondolas were running and the people with mountain bikes far outnumbered those without. We'll have to return and do the same on another holiday.

We bought 'life passes' which gave us the freedom to ride both the chairlift and the gondola as many times as we wanted. There was a forecast of storms later in the day, so we made the most of it straight away. First off we rode the Kosciuszko chairlift. Fabulous experience, quiet and peaceful - about 10 or 15 minutes to the top. 

Eagles Nest is the name of the top of the chairlift. This is where a number of walks begin, including the iconic walk to the top of Kosciuszko. We were not equipped for this walk today, and with impending storms, it was not on our radar. One for the future for sure. Instead we enjoyed the alpine scenery, devoid of trees, but plenty of wild flowers and even a few patches of snow (ice more than snow) which the kids thought was terrific.

We hopped off the chairlift and went straight to the nearby Merritts Gondola, which although starts next to the chairlift, goes up in a different direction. 

Most of the family enjoyed the chairlift more, rather than being inside the gondola pod. At the top there were no real views to speak of, but there was a cafe, so a Thredbo coffee stop was in order. The cafe at Eagles Next was closed and it proclaimed to be Australia's highest cafe. So perhaps this was the highest open cafe today - I like to think so! 

Once back down in Thredbo, four of us jumped back on the chairlift because we could. We just did a round trip without getting off. It was way colder as we approached the top this time, showing how quickly the weather changes in these alpine areas. 

Then we enjoyed the journey back towards Corryong. We stopped a couple of times to enjoy the scenery. Most notably was the lovely rest / camping area at Geehi, complete with its crystal clear waters, artistic pebble stacks and old pebble cottage built for drovers and hikers many years ago. 

Once back in Khankoban and the winding roads were behind us, Zac donned the L plates and drove us home and to top it off he BBQ'd our dinner... possibly with some incentive of being able to watch the cricket as he did.

One more post for this trip coming - and it will include a visit to Mt Mitamatite and also to Bluff Falls before the journey home.