We’d done some volunteer work with brother Peter in March at Dr Forbes Hut on the Swampy Plain River in the Kosciuszko National Park, and were keen to see the finished building, so we drove up for the day of the official opening. The hut had been more or less destroyed in the 2003 bushfires with much stone work needing to be totally redone. The builders worked from original and more recent photographs  and the rebuilt hut looked great, with the new roof, shutters, doors and doorposts, paths and stairs all finished. They’d cleared and removed more trees and brush from around the hut and hopefully that’ll protect it from future infernos! (The only thing missing is a toilet and that’s apparently still to  be built – they did have a Portaloo for the grand opening.)

It was a glorious sunny day. The tops of the crags above us were just obscured by cloud, but it was lovely and warm down below. At least 60 people attended (quite a few from the Kosciuszko Huts Association, of which brother Peter is a member, and of course many National Parks rangers and administrators) and it was all beautifully organised. There were several speeches and we heard about the early days of the hut from the son of its original owner and a family friend.  It was good to see Gary and Geoff get credit for all the hard work they’d done over only 55 working days, and to have the contribution of the volunteers also acknowledged. Finally  the ceremonial cutting of the ribbon took place. Everyone chatted, took photos and mingled.

After a picnic lunch we headed back home, stopping for a taste of schnapps at the schnappserie near Thredbo on the way.

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There’s been lots of rain (and flooding) in Queensland over the last months, sending floodwaters down the Darling (and elsewhere) and filling some of the Menindee Lakes for the first time in ten years. Plus there’s been quite a lot of rain in western NSW itself, so we thought we’d go and have a look at the “outback” looking verdant and lush, with some water lying around for a change. It’s a long drive and we were very glad to get as far as Hay without hitting a kangaroo ! (See Western Australia, 2008, part 1.)

Our first stop was Mungo National Park, part of the Willandra Lakes World Heritage area. There is evidence of indigenous people having lived here at least 50,000 years ago when the area was lush and the lakes were full. The last time they were full was 15,000 years ago, before the Lachlan River changed its course. It’s all pretty flat, with wide dry lake beds and ancient eroding sand dunes separating them, but there was a lot of interest in the plants that survive and flourish in this harsh landscape. As there’d been some decent rain here, it really didn’t look like desert at all. Every time it rains, the dunes erode a little more and some more evidence of past inhabitants is uncovered. We saw the old wooden station buildings that were erected in the late 1800s when sheep were farmed here. The woolshed is huge and all built from local native cypress  (callitris) timber. One of the highlights of our visit was the sunset colours on the “Walls of China”. And the campground was great – roomy individual sites and beautiful nights with no moon and a  spectacular array of stars.

We drove on to Menindee via Pooncarie, and stocked up before going into Kinchega National Park which borders on the Darling River and encompasses some of the Menindee lakes. Our campsite was on Lake Cawndilla, which was just starting to fill, the waters being diverted through a series of weirs from the Darling River through the lake system. Lake Cawndilla is still filling as I write this (on 7th May) -you can see the storage levels rise on the web at waterinfo.nsw.gov.au. We are intrigued to know what will happen downstream of the lakes once they are all full. There’s no doubt that everyone is heartened to see the waters flowing again; there were lots of people just watching the waters flow through the weirs – obviously a welcome sight!

At Kinchega we also visited the old homestead (now a ruin) and the shearing shed, only half the size of the original but still huge. It is said that six million sheep were shorn there between the 1870s when it was built, and 1967, when the area became a national park. Hard to believe that the river was the main transport route for many years – though we did read that the river boats were often stranded for months when the waters dropped .

After a couple of nights camping under the stars (it was pleasantly warm, even at night!) we headed down to Wentworth, then up the Murray River as far as Albury. We’d never been to the Hume Weir, so we checked that out on the way. Home to a lovely Canberra autumn display, and some more warm weather. No complaints!

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For the traditional annual family weekend away this year we chose the Blue Mountains and a comfortable 3 bedroom cabin with a loft!! Talk about soft! But we were glad we did because we had a day of mist and drizzle sandwiched between two clear sunny half days, and it was very cosy in the cabin on the foggy miserable day!

The first afternoon we hiked from Echo Point down the Giant’s Staircase beneath the Three Sisters (895 steps) along to the Furber Steps and back up beside Katoomba Falls. Lovely to hike below the sheer sandstone cliffs and tumbling waterfalls and amongst the trees and ferns. A beautiful walk back along the cliff top to Echo Point, with great views to the Three Sisters again in late afternoon light.

Sunday was drizzly and very foggy, so we drove down to Hartley where it was clear and looked at the few remaining historic buildings there, then headed to a garden centre and bought two bird baths. After lunch, the garden-lovers among us visited “Everglades” which we last saw in about 1987 when it was just starting to be restored. An interesting house and beautifully tended garden, it must look stunning in spring! Other members of the party entertained themselves with various pursuits, some less energetic than others! We rounded off the day with a lovely roast dinner, a selection of Mike and Meg’s wonderful photos of Tassie and an entertaining game of Pictionary.

On Monday the weather was fine again, and we chose the walk from Govett’s Leap along the cliff top to Pulpit Rock, a spectacular walk with great views over the Grose Valley and back towards Blackheath. The bush was fresh and sparkling after the rain. Lunch at Govett’s Leap and then a long drive home (way too much traffic on the M7!)

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We joined brother Peter in volunteering to do some work for a couple of days at Dr Forbes’ Hut in the Snowy Mountains.  It was built in the late 1940s as a fishing retreat for a certain Dr Forbes (surprise!), and was almost completely destroyed in the bushfires of 2003. We camped near Keeble’s Hut on Swampy Plain River, at a lovely spot near a deep swimming hole (not a swamp in sight!) It was a short four-wheel drive into the work site. Gary and Geoff, the builders, were working on constructing the new roof and the first day we helped tidy the site and remove fallen timber. We then did some pointing (filling in between the river stones in the walls) and the two Petes started constructing a set of steps up from the river. The weather was glorious – quite hot, really! – and it was just so refreshing to swim in the river and cool down. Nights were cold but clear with a full moon. A lovely break from the everyday world. We look forward to visiting the completed hut soon.

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5th October, 2009. Another rainy spring day. This time we gathered quite a party to climb Mt Tennent with us, including Peter, Fred, Glenda, Terryn, Mike and Meg. The weather fluctuated from t-shirt weather to gloves, wet weather jackets and beanies on top, where it rained as we had lunch. Brrr. Great company and an invigorating hike!

27th September, 2009. On a wintry spring morning Pete and I decided we had better keep our training up, so off we headed to Mt Tennent, and climbed the 4.5 km to the ridge where it meets the Australian Alps Walking Track. Surprisingly it was quite calm and protected while the wind was howling and sleet was falling elsewhere. Lots of beautiful spring wildflowers, and the creek was flowing – a rare treat!

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Our need to get fitter and accustomed to walking up steeper and steeper hills inspired us to schedule a weekend at Kanangra-Boyd National Park with Ange and Rohan, Fred and Andrew. An excellent choice. Most of us hadn’t been there before – fortunately Andrew had, as the area is not for the navigationally challenged! We camped at Boyd River crossing and had the luxury of the campground shelter more or less to ourselves, complete with roaring fire.

Saturday’s hike involved following the ridge walk along the plateau, down a rocky gulch, along underneath steep rock walls on sometimes very loose ground, up and down steep ridges to a restful lunch spot at Gabe’s Gap. The weather was unseasonally warm and the views were amazing, wilderness in all directions. We turned around and were well and truly tired by the time we got back. But a barbecue dinner, a drink or two and Tina’s magnificent carrot cake revived us.

On Sunday after packing up we walked to the base of Kalang Falls, scrambled a bit down towards the main falls, then hiked past the Dance Floor cave and on up to the Plateau walk, heading south this time, but with insufficient time to descend to the Kowmung River – some other time perhaps! Another warm day with a very strong wind, which made us avoid cliff edges. Lunch at the car park before we parted ways and headed home. A fun weekend. Thanks to Andrew for organising it and leading us along the right paths, and to all participants for their good cheer and good company!

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A trip to Melbourne (to watch a very disappointing football match, but also do some sightseeing), a convivial stroll through the Australian National Botanic Gardens on a brilliant sunny Canberra winter day, and lastly some frequent visitors at our bird feeder on the deck.

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On the first weekend in July we met for a serious training session in the Blue Mountains. Not so serious that we stayed in tents, mind you – it was way too cold for that! But the hikes were serious and gave everyone a chance to test some new piece of gear, be it a new pack (Osprey being the brand of choice, it seems!), new boots, thermals or neckwarmers. It was very cold and windy and we wisely headed to the sheltered side of the mountains, doing the Neates Glen / Grand Canyon walk twice (both mornings) and a hike down from Govett’s Leap towards Junction Rock and back on Saturday afternoon (seriously steep!). The weekend was made even more memorable by the wonderful food, sparkling conversation and supportive companionship.

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On various weekends we have walked up Mt Taylor (several times), Mt Rob Roy in the Tuggeranong Valley, along Molonglo gorge, up Mt Majura and up Mt Tennent again. There’ll have to be a bit of repetition over the next few months- there just aren’t enough steep hills about! The kids have accompanied us on some occasions – makes it more fun and less like training!

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An unpleasantly hot weekend awaited Canberra after an unpleasantly hot week, and so we were looking forward to our annual family mountain weekend to provide some relief. But it would prove to be pretty hot up there too!

We had decided on Thredbo Diggings as our base, a lovely campsite just next to the Thredbo River. Our previous attempt to camp there had been in November 1983, when it had rained ceaselessly and we’d finally decided to head home when the kids didn’t have any dry clothes left, only to discover it was sunny and clear about 5 km down the road!

This time, however, it was clear and hot, so hot that all we really wanted to do was swim in the river! But we had to do at least something energetic, so on Saturday morning we took the chairlift up from Thredbo and walked through the high Alpine landscape to the edge of the Ramshead Range, for a wonderful view into Northern Victoria. It was very windy up there and the ground was very dry.

Returning to the campsite at about 3, we spent the rest of that day and most of Sunday at or in the river, building and rebuilding weirs, paddling the boat and keeping cool. Very refreshing! After lunch on Sunday, we  packed up reluctantly and headed home after one last swim.

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