Clockwise Around Aus: Jindabyne

It is hard to believe we had only been on the road for a month when we got to Jindabyne. It seems a lot longer than that, but still feels like a holiday and not like it is our new (temporary) lifestyle. Jindabyne was wonderful for many reasons.

Firstly, it seems kind of funny to travel a couple of hundred kilometres to camp in the same town as your next door neighbours, but that's what happened. It was lovely to see Steve and Pauline again after leaving home for a year. They truly are wonderful neighbours, just like family.

Fun at Lake Jindabyne

Secondly, the lovely family we met at Canberra came a day after us and camped near us. These guys – Michael, Melissa, Willow and Sakari – are great people to spend time with. The kids all play so well together and it is great to have adults that you click with and can easily hang out with.

Thirdly, and my favourite part, the alpine environment. I love, love, love the alpine ecosystem. I could spend all day roaming the snow grass and admiring the snow gums. From the tiny little flowers, to the plants with spiral looking leaves, to mountain streams and pools and everything in between. I could talk and talk and talk about it forever, but I know everyone would get bored and besides, I'd rather be out there enjoying it. So instead, I'll inundate this blog post with photos instead :) And if you're wondering why I don't live there if I love it so much..... I hate the cold, although after our week there I could be tempted to move. It was very cold while we were there, even though it was February. A couple of nights got down to 1-2 degrees and day times had tops of around 12 degrees up in the mountains. Jindabyne itself was slightly warmer during they day - tops of around 17.

Some beautiful finds between Perisher and Charlotte Pass

One day we went for a drive up to Charlotte Pass but it was very overcast and misty so the views weren't great. I don't think we even managed to see Mt Kosciuszko that day.

That's the Snowy River hidden by the mist and what you cant see is My Kosciuszko in the background

The next day we went to Thredbo and got all day chair lift passes. At first I wondered what we had done when we got to the top of the chair lift and couldn't see anything for the mist. I was pretty disappointed and wished we had waited another day, but the weather began to clear up.

From the top of the chair lift it is a 2km walk to the Mt Kosciuszko lookout and 6.4km to the top of Mt Kosciuszko. We walked a little way but then made the (wise) decision that neither Rory nor Tilda would be able to do the hike comfortably as it is a long, steady climb. Greg stayed with the kids while I did the 2km hike to the lookout. I think this was the first time since we left home that I did something by myself and I enjoyed it, but also felt rushed and guilty knowing that the kids were probably bored and feeling like I was taking too long. The chair lift ride took approx 15 minutes one way, and we did 3 trips in one go, so we were on it for 45 minutes straight one time. It was too cold to do that... I certainly don't recommend it in the cold! Rory sucked the drop bar and I thought he might get his tongue stuck like in the Dumb and Dumber movie.

Rory's Dumb and Dumber moment (fortunately it wasn't that cold)

We drove up to Charlotte Pass a second time with our neighbour Steve and our new friends. The weather was so much better – the sun was shining and the sky was clear. We hiked down to the Snowy River and played around there for a while. There were rocks to cross it and most of us tasted the fresh water, apart from Matilda. I thoroughly enjoyed this day. Hiking around the alpine environment, especially when it is clear and sunny (even if it was only 12 degrees), is one of my all time favourite things.