Our base for Mt. Kosciuszco was Thredbo which was the scene of a terrible disaster in 1997 when the alpine road collapsed and an avalanche covered the town. Lots of lives were lost and it hit the headlines during or first week in Australia back in 1997. Our visit was celebrated with the highest ever daytime temperature.
Our car ...
We are coming to realise that Australia is the country in the Southern hemisphere with the greatest number of extremes – and probably the most entries, per capita, in the Guinness Book of Records. Every town has a claim to fame – whether it be the most brown alpacas or the first town to have a museum of heritage kitchen utensils, and every day there appears to be some record broken – such as the biggest fall in banking sector stocks on a Tuesday, since records began. This could stem from their obsession with cricket which everyone who listens to Test Match Special knows is littered with a myriad of cricketing records of unsurpassable trivia.
We motored on to the South Coast (of NSW) via Cooma heading for Moruya where some friends had offered us beds for a couple of nights. Their home is recently built as a 'passive solar' house, on the coastal cliffs a couple of kilometres from the beach. It was good to talk to Australians who have thought deeply about environmental impact of their lifestyles and acted on it. The house uses hardly any fuel and boasts no air conditioning or central heating. Good design means that heat is stored in a huge thermal reservoir of concrete during the summer and this is then the source of background heat in the winter (which can get pretty cold in this region). If the government had not reduced the grants, the roof would have had a photovoltaic array to supply the electricity, both for domestic use and to return electricity to the grid. As we find all over the world, our hosts were wonderfully hospitable and generous.
South Coast near Moruya
Bingi Bingi
The South Coast is not really on the tourist track but is absolutely beautiful. Small bays and coves make for warm and safe swimming, and there are lots of National Parks and good bush walking. We saw our first Black Cockatoos – huge birds black all over except for yellow cheeks, that swoop into the trees knocking down branches and fruits as they rummage for food.
On to Shellharbour, just south of Wollongong and a stay with another Australian. Our host this time was Mairie, a passionate worker for the refugees living in detention in Australia. We learnt a lot and had the chance to talk over so many topics. It was whilst walking in the Minnamura National Park, that we had our first sighting of a lyrebird.
The elusive Lyrebird
These birds are wonderful mimics and we spent some time trying to teach it to burp – but with no success.
Minnimurra Falls
Back on the road, we headed to Kangaroo Valley. We had heard such good things about this place and we had not been able to find a cheap hotel in Sydney until Sunday night, so had a couple of days in hand.
As we arrived the temperature began to soar and by early afternoon it was well into the 40's. We had opted to camp and felt resolved to cope with the heat.
Our resolution wavered significantly as the temperature remained high until about 1:00 a.m. But that was only the warm-up (excuse the pun) for the next day. We decided to get out early for a walk and were on the trail by 7:30 (to avoid the heat). It was only 12km on the flat but by 10:00 we were struggling. Even so, it was well worthwhile for the views over the Shoalhaven River
The Shoalhaven River
Toorawa Dam
... and for seeing several very large goanna (monitor lizards).
A Goanna that crossed our path
By our return the day was really getting hot and we staggered back to the camp wondering how we could cope. The temperature reached 50.9 in the shade making our campsite one of the hottest places on the planet for the day. (Heat always sounds nice when you are in winter in England with snow and ice around you.)
Camping at 51 degrees (in the shade)
This is about 122 degrees Fahrenheit and significantly hotter than body temperature. Keeping cool is a major problem. We managed by finding a community swimming pool and dipping in and out all afternoon but the pool water was 30 degrees so there was not a lot of cooling! We kept slapping on the sunscreen, but that was like rubbing hot liquid onto our skin. The heat was remorseless with a swirling strong wind that did not cool but felt like standing in front of a hot air blower. Even at 1:00 a.m. on the Sunday the temperature in our tent was over 30 degrees.
The Fitzroy Falls (above Kangaroo Valley)
And then on the Sunday we heard about the first of the terrible fires in the Yarra Ranges north of Melbourne. Thanks to all of you who checked up on us. An area larger than Wales has been completely burnt out. We have found it very emotional because at least two of the towns we have camped in/near have now disappeared. We stayed in Maryville, which has lost all its houses bar one, and have also heard that Narbethong has vanished. It is hard to imagine how such communities will be rebuilt. We have been very aware of the fire hazard, and the potential of this tinder dry country to burn. The reality is very, very scary. People are asked to have fire plans and to decide if they want to "stay and defend" or choose to leave early: however with a fire travelling faster than a car can drive it is a life and death decision. Luckily for us we had already decided to head for the urban delights of Sydney.
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