 After four great though chilly nights at O’Reilly’s in Lamington National Park, then we headed south, planning to visit places new to us: the Blue Mountains and the Snowy Mountains. But we also found amazing hidden gems along to way - Scenic Rim country, Girrawheen National Park, Capertee Valley and more... Our first day out of Lamington meant more mountains to climb: the Scenic Rim. We found this pretty breath-taking... Our first two night stop was at Jacanda Alpaca Farmstay in Warrangalla - this was such a lovely cabin with a brilliant outlook across their farm, then across the nearby Girraween National Park. Fred and Jacqui were very welcoming hosts and told us all about their farm, and the 4WD access track to Girraween right next door. Early on our first morning, we took off for our adventure in the National park, stopping first at the day use area for an extensive bush walk up to Mount Norman (plenty of bird calls but the birds were elusive in the canopy). Then we tackled the 4WD track and we emerged some time later, feeling very proud of ourselves, having climbed many rocky outcrops and forged a few flowing streams. Nothing too intrepid but it did give us a chance to revise our 4wd skills. After that little adventure, we headed to the Girraween NP visitor information centre and did the walk to the Granite Arch. We could see the Pyramid in the distance but it was hot by then so we passed on more climbing. We saw more birds on this walk, and a small snake (!). That evening, a highlight was lounging on the front deck before dinner, filming the gazillions of birds in the paddock in front of us, then later a little astro photography. The Milky Way was on show and we were far from light pollution. A great place - and plenty of birds. We saw (many) spotted pardalotes, a pair of Australian pipits, galahs, territorial magpies, wrens - and of course the sheep and alpacas. Two days was just too brief at this stop. to the home of australian country musicThe next day we packed up and headed further south to Tamworth. This town had a lovely feel to it, and we enjoyed an excellent dinner at the Pig and Tinderbox.  We had heavy rain in Tamworth so a visit to the Australian Country Music Hall of Fame, a drive to the Golden Guitar and an undercover store stroll were all good diversions - and very entertaining too.  But best of all, we stayed two nights at the Royal Oaks Cabin in East Tamworth, a hobby farm with horses about a fifty metre stroll from the Peel River. Our hosts were wildlife rescuers and there was a coterie of rescued ducklings in our yard as well as many finches, parrots, crested pigeon and galahs. They joined the adult ducks for feasts provided by our hosts. This place was going off with birds: we saw so many by the river and walking along our road. Raptors, bee-eaters, finches (double-barred, zebra and red-browed), wrens, rufous song larks, spiny-cheeked honeyeaters and a fabulous array of rosellas, cockatoos and parrots. At last we saw dollar birds, albeit from a distance but not the channel cuckoos that often accompany them at this time of year. We just loved this little nook of nature heaven. After Tamworth, we moved further south to the Blue Mountains, knowing adventure and new vistas awaited us…. capertee valleyWe decided to take a short diversion en route to Katoomba. The Capertee Valley was beckoning, with promises of seeing the regent honeyeater.  The only regent honeyeaters we saw - on a mural at the turn off! Oh well... It was a lovely drive in, and the valley is spectacular from every angle. Unfortunately we couldn't tarry, but just as well we visited...this was the last bit of sunshine we saw for days to come, and the only mountains visible to us for a while too! the blue (and very wet) mountains Best laid plans: we hit another rain event in the Blue Mountains, so our first visit to Katoomba, right up in the mountains and via a very busy and hilly highway, turned out to be not quite what we envisaged. Still, we were cosy at the Stables, a comfortable snug decked out with goat pictures and statues - and our back paddock had five goats in residence. Better still, stunning Waratahs were growing just across the road. Lovely to have the NSW floral emblem giving a great showing in the neighbourhood! The Three Sisters were closeby, but alas not visible in the pea soup rain and mist. However, an unexpected pleasure awaited us: by chance, one of us happened upon a former acquaintance (and meeting up was a real pleasure). During our conversation, he shared local knowledge on where we might see the Glossy Black Cockatoos that had evaded us up until now. We followed his advice, and voila, there they were, in the cold and the wet, looking magnificent. Thank you David! The Glossy Blacks were magnificent - the Three Sisters will have to wait until next time. ONE MORE THING: CICADASAn amazing thing happened at Katoomba, probably related to the incessant rain - the deafening sound of cicadas, and then out they came. These were, we believe, greengrocer cicadas that only appear every few years. They were massive and there were so many of them. to jindabyneNext day, we opted to head slightly north and then down the Western Highway through Oberon and Taralga - and up and over many more mountainous roads, to our one night stopover in Bywong near Canberra. Even though it was just for one night, this was a great place to stay: spacious, pristine, warm and comfortable. Again, one night was too short…but on we went: we looked forward to seeing the Snowy Mountains, so we headed through Cooma and on to Jindabyne for two nights. Just as we were leaving Cooma (nice little town, lots of outdoor gear shops), we happened upon the excellent Charles Davis Photography Gallery. We thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated his nature photographs, many of which feature birds and animals in the snow. This young man deserves to be supported. His photography is a window onto a world we have never seen.  Jindabyne awaited us, and we’d been looking forward to seeing the lake - and we did, though rain and cloud blanketed much of the scenery…even so, we had a delightful stay and Touchdown Cottages, and just enjoyed walking around the property with camera in hand. We nearly stepped on a very large (about three metres) snake which we believe was a copperhead (and dangerous). We noted that this chap was well and truly out, even though it was not warm. We took his photo from some distance away, and gave him a wide berth.
We stayed pretty close to home on this leg of the journey: we loved the trees - snow gums - and the neighbours’ horses going for a canter in full Snowy River style down the paddock and then approaching us more sedately for a pat - no carrots to give, sorry, The evening birdlife was prolific, especially crimson rosellas and their young. We also spied a young and fluffy currawong in its nest high up a snow gum. It remained cold during our stay but the rain cleared and we appreciated the excuse to light the fire and nestle in. ALL DOWNHILL FROM HERE: THE SNOWYSWe've never been to the Snowy Mountains - we spent most of our adult lives in WA, and getting to the "Eastern States" was always a big deal and expensive. That's all by way of explaining that mountains are a big deal for us - WA doesn't have many. As we said goodbye to Jindabyne, we headed across the Alpine Way to Lake Hume.  This is a stunning drive, narrow and winding, with many ascents and descents. We spent a good stretch of it behind a truck delivery groceries - very nice fellow: we chatted to him on the UHF and he let us pass when he good. That radio is so good to have. We stopped at Perisher (it was pretty much closed and empty - we couldn't imagine what it would be like during school holidays and we have no intention of finding out!). We also pulled up at Tom Grogan (halfway to Khancoban). This was a delightful place where one could camp for the night by the stream. We settled for boiling the billy and downing a hot beverage, then onwards and upwards (and downwards) we went. Khancoban is the end of the Alpine Way so we stopped for a proper pause, and had some lunch. The general store there was excellent, as was the visitor centre. Here are some glimpses of our trip. AND THAT'S A WRAPThen we truly "turned our heads for home" - just had to get in a "Man from Snowy River" reference!). We went through to Lake Hume, then down the Hume Highway to home in Melbourne. This was once again a great trip with wonderful memories. We're so grateful we can seize the day and get out there, and we hope you've enjoyed it too! WHAT WE LEARNT ON THIS TRIPEvery time we do a trip, we reflect together afterwards and make a list of all the things we learnt: sometimes it's about the vehicle or camping, or where and when to go, or surprises we happened upon...here's our list for this trip (Melbourne to SE Qld via the coast, and home through the scenic rims and mountains):
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