Saturday, March 19, 2011

home

Hello all

home safely after an enjoyable trip

stay tuned for my next adventures............................

Winter 2011 ....................undecided at this stage, I would like to do The Gulf country, but the constant floods they have had is putting me off a bit, I will decide closer to the date.
Winter 2012....................Mitchell Plateau in the north Kimberley, starting in Darwin, and travelling the Gibb River Road to Mitchell Plateau, then on to Broome and back to Darwin along the blacktop.
Winter 2013....................fingers crossed for this one, very very early stages but could be Africa, A few friends have talked about flying into South Africa and staying at one of the game lodges.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

a big day, big mountains, big gorge, big bridge and big storms

hello all
The day started at Jindabyne, the weather cleared to a nice day
Lake Jindabyne

The first stop was Wallace Craigie Lookout for spectacular views over the mountains.
Wallace Craigie Lookout
From the lookout the road drops (you can see it in the background in the picture above) to join the Snowy River.
Down on the Snowy
Jack's lookout

looking along the Snowy
Now for the good bit............yes i have a scoop............my next picture is one of GENUINE brumby shit. How do I know it is brumby shit you ask? Quite simple really..........domesticated horses shit anywhere but wild horses keep adding to the pile to mark their territory, and as you can see in the picture there is definitely different levels of freshness.
Genuine brumby shit
It was onwards to the border and Suggan Buggan and the old schoolhouse still standing (built 1860)
Suggan Buggan Schoolhouse
Next was Little River Gorge and Falls, The Gorge is the Deepest in Victoria, I think I must have been insane, but in the early 80's a group of us actually climbed from the lookout to the bottom and back again.
Little River Falls
Little River Gorge left view
Little River Gorge centre view
Little River Gorge right view
From Little River it was down the goat track to Mc Killops Bridge (formerly Mc Kellars Crossing)
Mc killops Bridge
View from the bridge

The original bridge, was by memory 3 metres lower and was washed away one week before it's official opening in 1934. It is 256 metres across.
The road out again
The road looks wide here but it's not
I had intended to camp at Mc Killops but I was surrounded by thunderstorms and with the wind picking up I decided to get the hell out of there.........Camping in light rain is one thing, camping in the sort of rain we have been getting with thunderstorms lately is another. I had visions of trees over the road and landslides etc and once back on the tar the sky opened with torrential rain, so I headed to the civilisation of a motel room (I must be getting old)
A wise decision watching the radar on the net as the area was hammered by a line of storms most of the night
Bye for now

Monday, March 14, 2011

over the top

Hello all
I drove the Alpine Way today (very carefully) from Corryong to Jindabyne. It is narrow and windy and I cannot remember driving anywhere in Australia with so many people cutting corners. It must be a New South Wales thing as i nearly got wiped out four times by corner cutters !
Murray One Hydro Power Station
The weather was warm and humid after 25mm of rain in about 30 minutes last night in Wodonga.
Dead Horse Gap 1580 metres the highest point on the road
The cloud cover lowered after Thredbo and there has been a light mist since.
Thredbo River
Thredbo River again

 Tomorrow I start to head down The Barry Way, so I won't be able to post for a day or two as I will be very surprised if I get any coverage down there.
The next leg is the one I came for......spectacular lookouts, magnificent mountain scenery and awesome gorges. I should have some great photos to post when I next get coverage on mobilenet, until then.... 
I had to post the two following pictures from the tragic Tsunami in Japan. They are amazing and show just what sort of force these people endured..........
That upside down car is on the top of a three storey building!
Yes, that is a ferry on the roof of that two storey building!

Sunday, March 13, 2011

day one

hello all
arrived safely in wodonga after an interesting trip.......

just below benalla the storm i had been watching off to the west hit, the hume freeway stopped.
 the rain was so heavy visibilty was down to one or two car lengths. it was good to see most people doing the sane thing and pulling over although there is always the odd idiot.
the day has been all over the place, it was 34c leaving melbourne, it got down to 20c during the storms, then back up to 30c in wodonga. sunshine, storms and locausts, ya gotta love victoria.
since arriving here about 5.00pm the heavens have opened and there is a lot of flooded roads and thunderstorms.
hope things improve tomorrow as i head up into the mountains.

On my way

hello all
bit of a late start, but heading off now, i hope to get to Corryong tonight but there isn't much accommodation in Corryong so Wodonga might be the go.
i will see how i go and see where i end up tonight

Thursday, February 10, 2011

The Barry Way ......done "The Barry Way"

This adventure is a trip beginning in Melbourne, leaving March 14th traveling up to Corryong, along the Alpine Way to Jindabyne in The Snowy Mountains.

The Barry Way starts at Jindabyne in The Snowy Mountains and heads south following the course of the Snowy River to Orbost. The Snowy has only two crossings in Victoria, one at McKillops Bridge and the other is the Princes Highway bridge at Orbost.

This jouney is through some amazing mountain scenery and visits iconic McKillops Bridge (previously known as McKellars Crossing - I added this bit for you Annie) over the Snowy and Little River Gorge (the largest in Victoria)

Enjoy with me...................