Our Nation's Capital; well nearby

Like Cooma, we had stayed in Queanbeyan before, in the town's Riverside caravan park and like Coomas then we had experienced such heavy rain that the river flooded and we were evacuated from the caravan park up to the showgrounds. We didn't want a repeat of that and as the sun was blazing and it was around 32 degrees we were pretty sure it wouldn't happen.

We checked in for 4 nights and set up. We were staying here because it's the closest campground to Canberra. The Exhibition Park in Canberra EPIC is really the most central but it is closed at certain times of the year for big events, such as the Summernats. (Street Machine car festival). Right now it was closed from Dec 17th to Jan 12th. We were happy with Queanbeyan, it's certainly closer to shops and restaurants than EPIC would be.
Michael's niece, Clare, was happy to drive down from Canberra to pick us up and take us out and about so we were happy.

We had a day wandering around Queanbeyan shops and streets but memories of our previous visit returned that night when the heavens opened and the rain came down. The next morning was sunny and clear with the forecast promising that it would stay that way well into the new year.

Clare arrived just after lunch on Saturday and we went off to look around her suburb of Canberra. We went up Redhill and enjoyed a nice cake and cuppa with views over the parliament and city.

  We went to Kingston and walked along the foreshore of Lake Burley Griffin. The foreshore is nicely developed and there are lots of cafes and bars as well as a lovely walk through the park.

We were just thinking of heading back when a little more of that rain, that has been following us for weeks, came down. It wasn't a heavy shower but it forced us into a bar for a drink whilst it lasted. Then we went to Chong Co Thai restaurant for dinner, another great Thai meal full of flavour and spice.
 After a quick cup of coffee at Clare's place she took us back to our little home.

The next day she picked us up and we went back up to Kingston and walked around the Bus Depot Markets. There were lots of wonderful stalls but we only bought some lovely fresh bread and some garlic and chilli macadamia nuts.

We had lunch here and then Clare drove us out into the countryside.

 Once again we went to the south of Canberra towards the Snowy Mountains, we went to Tidbinbilla. Home of The Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex, it opened in 1965 and was used for tracking the Apollo Lunar Module.

Today they manage and operate one of NASA's three tracking stations that provide continuous, two-way radio contact with spacecraft exploring our Solar System and beyond.

From their web page:- 

In 2015 the Canberra station celebrated 50 years of operation. In 1965 it helped to receive the first close-up pictures of the surface of Mars, taken by the Mariner 4 spacecraft. Since then, it has been involved in hundreds of missions, including the Apollo missions to the Moon, the Skylab space station, and the early flights of the Space Shuttle. In August 2012 it carried the signals confirming the landing of the rover Curiosity on Mars, and in 2015 it received some of the first images of Pluto from the New Horizons spacecraft.
The Complex is currently supporting missions, including:

• Mars missions, including the Opportunity and Curiosity rovers
• Messenger spacecraft currently orbiting Mercury
• New Horizons spacecraft travelling to Pluto and beyond, and
• Voyager 1 and 2, which have been in space for over 40 years.

Not all these missions are NASA's. From time to time the Complex also supports the missions of other space organisations.

                     It was a great day out, and the coffee was good too.

Then we slowly drove back to Queanbeyan where Clare joined us sitting in the shade outside our motorhome before we went into Queanbeyan town for a lovely curry at the Bombay Spice House. The restaurant had only 2 tables set  and the owner explained that from 7.30pm they would be closing for a private party, we would be finished eating by then so enjoyed some very nice curries, naan and lassi. (The party was for the owner's daughter, she would be 4yrs old).

Then it was time for hugs and goodbyes as Clare went back to Canberra and we got ready to move on to the towns and valleys to the north of Canberra.

The next morning we drove up to Goulburn, Australia's oldest inland town.
We planned on visiting the Rail Centre there but today is Monday, and they are open Tuesday to Sunday. We did a drive around tour of the city and then took the Hume Highway Westwards to the little town of Yass.

It's a nice little town and we planned on spending Christmas Day in their caravan park.
We drove straight to the park and checked in. The price was good and then the manager asked if I had a senior's card...yes...well,  I get $5 discount!

The sites were large and shady, we set up and relaxed. Later in the afternoon we noticed that the left rear tyre looked a little flat. Hmmmm will check the pressure before we leave. Later that night we noticed that the left rear tyre was as flat as a pancake!!! Here we go again! this is the 4th flat that we've had since we've had the vehicle and it's always the left rear.
There must be some percentage statistic for that.
But then again - aren't 77% of statistics are made up?!

Cooma, High Country and the Snowy Mountains Hydro Scheme

We arrived in Cooma just after 4pm and the traffic was busy, unfortunately the information centre closed at 3pm but as we knew where the caravan park was we made our way there. The only discount on offer was 'stay 4 nights and pay for 3'. We wanted 3 nights so took the deal so that we could have a late afternoon checkout on the 4th day to head on and stay with friends once they returned from a weekend in Sydney.

The caravan park is a fair hike out of town so it's going to be either unplug and drive in or call a taxi. But we're certainly not doing either soon because the sky is dark grey, the thunder is rolling in and the rain is teeming down. (On our last stay here we were on flood alert - I don't think it's us, it's just a coincidence;
.......... isn't it?)

The next  day the sky was a lighter shade of grey and it alternated between light showers and short heavy showers.
But the following day was a little brighter so we unplugged the van and drove down into Cooma town. We did had some retail therapy and some food shopping then back to the caravan park to plug in again and have some lunch. The sun came out in the afternoon but those dark clouds were still hanging around.

 

The next day was a bit brighter and the showers were less frequent and light.
I know that it's to do with precipitation over the Snowy Mountains but it would be nice to have a full day of sunshine.
After lunch we tidied up, packed up, unplugged and left the caravan park.
 We drove through town out to the Snowy Hydro Discovery Centre.

  A free, interesting centre with lots of photos of the early days and building of the Hydro scheme and great coffee in their cafe.
Then we drove out to see our friends, Debbie and Grahame. (who we met in a caravan park in Mount Gambier in 2011, on our first, 'bigtripalmost.......'

They are really lovely, beautiful people and they have a new addition to their family - Angus, a little French Bulldog. What a sweetie he is.

We  had a great time talking until midnight.
Next morning we had a slow lazy start and in the late morning headed out with Grahame as our guide to see the local sights - Nannygoat Hill Lookout -

and Mt Gladstone Lookout -

 Then we drove out to Adaminaby on the edge of Kosciuszko National Park, we  stopped for a great light lunch in the cafe and a photo op at the 'Great Trout'.

 Then we drove on to Old Adaminaby on the shores of Lake Eucumbene. There are a few houses still there but most of the town was moved 8kms up the road when the Lake was flooded as part of the Snowy Scheme. (1949 - 1974). The water level very low and some concrete steps of the old houses were clearly visible.

We then had a quick drive around the  lake to the settlement of Anglers Rest - a strange little 'encampment' but it was easy to imagine it full of campers in the holiday / trout fishing season.
 Then we drove into Kosciosko National Park. We stopped to look at Mt Selwyn ski area and were amazed by the huge car park, it was like an airfield.

 Ski resorts do look strange in summer.
 Then it was on to Australia's highest Settlement : Cabramurra. This settlement is a Snowy Hydro company town but there was another great little cafe and a wonderful lookout. If we needed proof that it snowed heavily in the Snowy Mountains, it was here - houses with sloping roofs, no parking in snow route signs, and snow depth markers.

A huge bushfire ravaged the area in 2003 and the tall, stark dead trees were  reminder of the summertime dangers of the area.

We then drove through more of the National Park on to Kanchoban, Jindabyne and Thredbo before returning back to Cooma at dusk.
The lakes and dams of the Snowy Hydro Scheme were beautiful but they were at at a worryingly low level.
We saw a couple of emus, a few kangaroos,  a black snake and lots of crimson rosellas.

 
The roads through the National Park were great and it was interesting to see the heights of the road side 'snow depth' markers. These roads are closed in winter (June to September) when it snows - there are gates across the road so no one can take a chance.
We drove through the bigger towns of Thredbo and Jindabyne before getting home to Cooma just before nightfall.
The next morning Grahame and Michael did a bit of maintenance on our motorhome - (a slow leak on a water pipe supplying the wc cistern).
After lunch we drove into Canberra - our Nation's Capital...we went to Costco (wholesale supermarket/superstore, open to members only).
We bought a few items, food only though. Not tempted by the huge tv sets at low prices, clothes (no bargains spotted), tyres (mainly selling Bridgestone, no Michelins available) or coffins (yes, they sell coffins, but only within a 35kms radius of Canberra!).
Then Grahame and Debbie showed us around the suburbs of Canberra, where they grew up; showing us their family homes and old schools before we headed home to Cooma. We drove south towards very dark stormy clouds but they blew over Cooma and left it dry (for once).
Dessert that night was a Costco apple and cinnamon pie - absolutely divine.

One more day in Cooma; After a light lunch we went into Cooma town and looked around the Raglan Gallery. To be honest we all felt that the sculptures outside in the garden were the most interesting on display, but art exhibitions change and the next artists' work may be more to our taste. Some of the jewellery was interesting but nothing caught my eye enough to buy.

We then drove eastwards out of town to another little settlement - Numerella. There were some lovely old stone cottages and it was quite pretty but all we could think of was how cold it would be in the snow.
On our last night in Cooma we went into town to Pha's Thai Kitchen restaurant,
and enjoyed a really good meal. We shared a small starter, had a main each but all agreed to head home for dessert - that left over Costco apple and cinnamon pie.

The next day we bid farewell to Deb and Grahame and drove northwards, to Queanbeyan.

Into the Snowy Mountains

Time to hit the road again, we left Mallacoota

 and drove back up to the Princes Hwy, continuing East, into New South Wales (I'm sure it's not just us, the roads are better!  Wider, less potholes and much better, firmer road edges.)
We arrived in Eden around 10.30am and went straight to one the best named caravan parks - it's in the town of Eden, it's called 'The Garden' and is therefore  The Garden of Eden Caravan Park.

They are not affiliated with any of the group, chain parks but offer a discount for seniors, anyone who is affiliated with a park group; pretty much anyone really.

After lunch we walked back into town - why are so many towns built on top of hills?!? Eden has to be one of the hilliest towns ever, there is no way to avoid walking up a hill. Our knees certainly had a work out today.I went into the visitor centre to see if there was an option to walk into town and the lady suggested using the boardwalk next to the beach.
Whilst in there I couldn't resist a photo of this splendid sofa - too nice to sit on.

The next day was another of those splendid 'do nothing' days. Just sitting around reading and drinking coffee - oh I did do some washing.
Another day in Eden and I gave the old knees another work out and walked into town. This time I followed the boardwalk along the seashore, it was a very pleasant stroll but it didn't avoid any hills.

The next day, as the rain returned, we moved on from Eden;

 

 As we left Eden the mist and rain blanketed the ocean, we couldn't see across the Bay at all. We had a quick drive around before rejoining the Highway and driving through some FOG we headed north to the nice looking town of Pambula and on to Merrimbula.
We stopped in Merrimbula to stretch our legs and check out a few shops - the bakery, a couple of Op shops and a great second hand book shop. (I know we were avoiding buying books after the last time - 40kgs of books when we got home - but these 2 were on the wanted list.)
Then we continued northwards, stopping just 8kms out of town, at - Potoroo Palace, a Native Animal Educational Sanctuary.
They had pretty much every Aussie animal - we didn't see the wombats though, they were fast asleep underground. We only saw the feet of a couple of sugar gliders as they were curled up asleep in their hollows but we eventually spotted a couple of koalas backsides as they slept in their cosy tree branches.

The Eclectus parrots were beautiful and the Emu was friendly, the Frogmouths were noisy, and I was delighted to see a pair of Gang Gangs close up but we didn't get too close to the Dingoes.

The wallabies were well fed, fat and lazy so we didn't get mobbed for food but we had a lovely walk around the sanctuary before pressing on to the town of Bega.

Bega is famous for its cheese. The information centre is in one of the old buildings of the cheese factory and they have a 'factory direct' cheese shop so we made that our first port of call.
 As we drove into town we had spotted a big blue - 'RV Friendly' sign, so asked in the info centre what they provided, specifically if there was an RV parking spot. The lady admitted to not really knowing what 'RV Friendly' was about "you can't just park in the street and stay you know! We have a caravan park and the showgrounds." She added that it probably meant that there was a dump point in town. Behind her, on the wall there was a typed notice listing free camping areas, all in towns out of Bega - we still can't think why Bega got it's RV Friendly status.  Michael tasted a couple of the cheeses - but he wasn't impressed so despite it's apparent 'Friendly' status we didn't spend a cent in Bega.

We drove on out of town and then turned on to the Snowy Mountains Highway.

The road was a good surface but very twisting and steep.
We didn't stop at the lookout as it was still overcast and once we had momentum we pressed on upwards.

It was quite a spectacular drive, well for the passenger. Michael didn't get to see more than the next bend. We drove through Bemboka and then joined the Monaro Highway heading towards Cooma.
We stopped in the old town on Nimmitabel and had a drive around town.
The old flour mill had an interesting history.

We checked out the caravan park - no manager in residence, a very old, cold looking ablution block and one even older static caravan. For this they were asking $26 a night. No thank you.
We carried on along one of my favourite highways - the Monaro - it's a good surface, plenty of overtaking opportunities for those following and fantastic long views over the country.