Snowy Mountains Pt 1

Qwik stop in Tumut at the Information Centre, then onto the first camp on Blowering Reservoir.  on awakening the first morning there were roo everywhere!  Big greys mainly but a few reds also.  A walk up into the mountains to Blowering Cliff - a 2.5 km uphill walk, returning along the same track for 5km total.  Interesting bush, I anticipated wet sclerophyl but it is more woodland, still plenty of trees but also plenty of grass on the forest floor with some shrubs but reasonably easy to travel thru, if it weren't so steep & in some places rocky.  After two nights here I moved on to Humes Crossing, a similar campsite on a reservoir but generally flatter and more open - and plenty of roo again!

Then onto the Yarangobilly Caves (and thermal pool!), where there are three caves in close proximity but they are surprisingly different from each other.  A busy day as I visited all three caves and had a swim in the thermal pool, which entailed a steep climb down, then return up the same track.  As my last cave visit was scheduled for 3pm and it was 12:30 after the second cave visit, I thought if I needed more time at the thermal pool I would give the last cave a miss:  I had enough time and I am glad I did - it was certainly the best of the three!  I don't know how you can describe a limestone cave, there are stalactites (hanging down) and stalagmites (pointing up) but there are also pools, waveforms, different colours, virtually an infinite variety and amazing it is also.  A well spent day!

Continuing on and crossing over the top part of the Snowy Mountains (between Tumut & Cooma) the altitude is up nearly 1500 M; the Bullock Hill Campsite is near this height and that is where I camped, expecting to be cold, but it was very mild and quite a pleasant campsite right on the divide.  There is a grove of snow gums surrounded by open paddock, and while it was warm during my stay, I imagine it is generally cold as there were no roo, but along the way I saw brumbies in small herds out in the mountain meadows.  An interesting trip across the Snowies so far, the forest is a bit more open than in the northern parts of the Great Dividing Range, which I've been criss-crossing down thru NSW, with plenty of high country meadow on and close to the summit.  It is very rugged country with some steep and deep valleys and, just quietly, quite a strain on my minimally powered HiAce with its 2.4L engine, which physically shuddered when an emu ran past us.

In the late 1940's & 50's, the Snowy Mountain Hydro Scheme http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/snowy-mountains-scheme was developed throughout the Range.  This was a massive project with many of the employees being migrants who moved here after WWII.  I met a Ukrainian chap who was revisiting sites he'd worked on - it was an interesting chat.   They worked year around, winters being quite harsh, and living conditions were basic in the villages set up for the workers and their families.   He was involved on one project where they had 48 hours to change turbines on a pair of generators:  They increased efficiency by 1%, the main significance being that the contract was then let to an English firm, otherwise it would have gone to a Japanese firm.  They had two teams on 12 hour shifts, working flat out to complete the job.   More on that, plus photos, in the next post, after I've covered the southern portion.