Australian Road Trip: Day Three

Day Three: Onward to Thredbo





The highest peak on the continent of Australia is Mount Kosciuzko. Apart form the first aboriginal peoples, the first European to scale the mountain was a polish explorer named  Paweł Edmund Strzelecki in 1840. He named the mountain after a Polish war hero and freedom fighter. The mountain is about 2300 meters high (7300 feet) and is no where near as high as the behemoths of the alps or the Himalayas. In fact, Pike's Peak in Colorado is nearly twice as tall. While it may be smaller, it's much, much older at over 440 million years old. There are a few options to scale the summit. The most popular appears to be to begin in Thredbo, a small village nestled in the gap between the base of Kosciuzko and surrounding hills. It has the benefit of a ski lift to overcome the steeper parts of the hill and get the climb started.

Looking toward Thredbo along Friday Drive.


After a good night's sleep I woke up and loaded up the car. The drive from Cooma to the park entrance was about an hour long and it became more and more clear as I drove that my goal of scaling the mountain that morning might not happen. I bought my entry ticket to the park and almost immediately the rain started. And it only got worse. Driving through the park is very similar to a drive in any other national park in or near the US's rocky mountains. Winding roads with sharp switchbacks that fell and rose sharply made driving the speed limit of 100 kph treacherous.

I arrived in Thredbo to a torrential downpour. And it didn't cease. The ski lift was closed and it didn't look like it would open that day. The wind was approaching 40 kph and the rain was scheduled to continue till 16:30, which incidentally is when the ski lift is normally shut down for the day.

So, my plans got nixed and there was no place to camp anywhere nearby so I opted for a hotel room again. I got on my Kayak app on  my phone and the cheapest room in town was 110 AUD at the River Inn. I booked and paid for my room and decided to see the village on foot.

 A swollen Thredbo River that cuts through the village.

 Thredbo is a very walkable community. 

Since my plans were cancelled due to the rain, the only thing to do was to grab some food and a few beers. After dinner and drinks and conversations with the others in the bar, who were mostly seasonal workers, I made my drunken walk back to my hotel room and crashed.

Kosciusko would have to wait.

Australian Road Trip: Day Two

Day Two

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.

 Hunter Valley Region near Maitland, NSW

 Yengo National Park

Yengo National Park

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.

 Looking West into town. 

 The valley just outside Cooma.

Enough to feed two people, but I downed it all!


The next morning would arrive early so I tucked into bed to get an early start for my trip to Mount Kosciusko.