I woke up before dawn and watched the sunrise.... but only for about 30 seconds because the mosquitoes had obviously gotten the memo that I was awake. There were so many mosquitoes on me that I'm sure they had called in extra help to ensure my misery. I packed my tent away. In other words I threw all my crap in the trunk of the car instead of carefully stowing everything properly. I drove out of the park with the windows down just so I could clear out the free riders who managed to make it in the car with me.
I had planned to continue up the Capricorn coast, however news that tropical cyclone Trevor would be pushing a lot of rainfall to the east which would make it dangerous to travel on anything other than paved and sealed roads. Since I didn't opt for the upgraded 4x4 Land Rover, I decided on a less risky option and point my little Hyundai south.
I had a few places listed to visit on my trip. The larger one of those is the Great Ocean Road along Victoria's Southern coast near Melbourne. Since south is where I needed to go, I decided to make it a scenic one while bypassing as much of western Sydney as I could.
Yengo National Park
Yengo National Park is a beautiful national park. The drive south from Milbrodale begins as a gorgeous wine country terrain not unlike those of northern California. AS it continues south the road becomes much windier with steep canyon walls on either side of the road. Among the cliffs and the rocky floor Eucalyptus trees somehow find soil to grow and are ubiquitous. The forest alongside the road is dense with trees and brush and while mostly green, the color of the shedding and dying bark of those Eucalyptus trees indicate that this forest is alive and constantly changing. Tree limbs litter the roadway. Strips of shed bark hang from branches overhead. Road crews probably have a hard time keeping the way clear for motorists in this part of the state. But it was absolutely gorgeous.
The remainder of my day was spent driving south towards Mount Kosciosko National Park. As the day wore on I realized that maybe it wasn't that leftover McDonald's that I left in the car overnight that I was smelling. I made the descision to seek out a hotel room and freshen up. The drive to Cooma took me the better part of the day and Mount Kosciosko was a mere 68 kms away. I could make up for lost time by getting up early and making my way to Thredbo and starting my climb.
Or so I thought. (More on this on day three)
Cooma is a quaint village that lies in the higher elevations of Australia. Accommodations are plentiful and the people pleasant. My room was about 100AUD and the largest dinner I've ever completely eaten in my life was 25AUD and it included a beer.
The next morning would arrive early so I tucked into bed to get an early start for my trip to Mount Kosciusko.
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