Australia Road Trip: Canberra/Tinbinbilla NP to Kosciuszko NP, Day 6-7

Hi All,

After our hiking in Tinbinbilla we left about 1:00 and got in around 4pm….not too bad, pretty much all state highways…enough time to relax and make the bar/rest around 6ish!!

“Kosciuszko National Park lies in Australia’s state of New South Wales, near the Victorian border. Its rugged alpine landscape is defined by gum trees, wildflowers, waterfalls and limestone gorges. It’s home to mainland Australia’s highest peak, Mt. Kosciuszko (2228m, 7300′), and the Snowy River in the Snowy Mountains region. Ski areas include Perisher Ski Resort and Thredbo Resort, which has a year-round chairlift for valley views”. The area gets about 5′ of snow and the ski resort operates about 4 months.

We did see a lot of gum tree (Eucalyptus) kill. We asked several people who did not know why so we googled it. The kill is from the gum tree weevil. It looks and has the same awful viewing as the beetle kill going on in our Rocky Mountains.

We came here mainly for the hiking and to see the largest mountain in Australia. The hikes were just ok….too near civilization….we did not see many critters but a lot of wombat scat. The chair lift up the mountain was excellent. We did the 4k hike up to the lookout which was nice. We did not continue on to Mt Kosciuszko as that would have added another 9k or about 3 hours. Tree line is around 6000′ and “the alpine area above the tree line is one of the most fragile. This area is a patchwork of alpine heaths, herbfields, feldmarks, bogs and fen” On the hike you walk across the bog on a grill boardwalk. We definitely felt the altitude at 6-7000′!! In all we did about 8 miles so another good day!!

Tomorrow we set off for Lake Entrance, off the Southern Ocean….we will take the scenic route again…about 5 hours….we will have to read about the Super Bowl via the ESPN App on the phone when we have service….it comes on 10:30 am Monday….go BRONCOS!!!!

Stats:
Traveled: 130 miles to Thredbo, about 3 hrs; 700 miles total
Wrong turns: 0 today; 1 total
Kangaroo/”Roos”/Skippy count: 0 today; ~140 total!!!
Skippy roadside warning signs: 0 today, 43 total
One Way bridges: 0 today; 14 total, can you believe that, thought we were done with all that in NZ!!!! But these have no right away signs so gulp!!!
Hotels: Bernti’s Mountain Inn; the worst one yet, won a 2015 Trip Advisor Award and got 4.5 stars….must have gone to their heads, we will give it a 2; never saw the proprietor…just left a written message and please leave your CC, took us 10 minutes to find our room; the waitress last night at the Bernti’s restaurant was astonished and did help us get some wash towels and coffee for the room, of course no cleaning service, old, run down rooms too! When we booked many places were full. We found out it was due to a Mountain bike event!!
Food: Bernti’s, first night: excellent Yalumba Patchwork Barossa Shiraz, mainly talpas, great wings in a sweet curry sauce and duck sliders…yummers!!
2nd night: Black Bear Inn: John: Trio of schnitzels (pork, veal and chicken), herbed Kipflers, summer slaw and cranberry jus
Kathy: Pork cutlet, potatoes, poached pear, spinach, a sage and mustard butter

LIG!!!! Hope all is well!!

John
Mystic Moon