The time has come,' the Walrus said, 'To talk of many things'

I awoke quite anxious to get going… I just wanted to get there, but at the same time I would have quite happily stayed to hang out with Tubby for a bit longer… but we had to make tracks.

We said our goodbyes, chucked some fuel in the Zook and made our way to Cooma.

I liked Cooma… it seems to have this tranquillity about it that oozed niceness! We stopped here to pick up our final lot of necessities, like bread, veggies etc. I forgot to bring a pillow, so I purchased a new triangle one, with a black pillow slip. Considering we were going into the High Country, I had to have the proper head gear, so I got myself an oilskin stockmans hat… and I love it!!!!

We said goodbye to Cooma and made our way to Jindabyne where I topped up with fuel. We had lunch next to Lake Jindabyne, where we heard a strange noise coming from the back of the Zook… my heart dropped. We decided to have lunch then head back to town to see if there was a mechanic about. We went back to the servo were I fuelled up, and by the time we arrived, the noise had stopped. The guy from the servo seemed to know what he was talking about, and after having a look underneath, he could not see anything obviously wrong… so we decided to go for it anyway!

We took a drive through Thredbo, and I must say it’s a lot smaller than I imagined. I though it was this huge thriving town… but it’s tiny, and to tell you the truth, really did not do much for me. I imagined a shit load of people all crammed into this small space… and I did not have nice thoughts. However, as I have never experienced proper snow, I think I may force myself to make the journey there during this coming winter… just so I can say I have been to the snow!

The noise from the back of the Zook reared it’s ugly again, but I decided to march on! Luckily I have not heard it since. I’ve put it down to a stone or other foreign matter in the rear brake drum.

We left Thredbo behind and made our way via the Alpine Way to Tom Groggin. We stopped here to let the brakes cool after the decent from Thredbo. We said hello to a Kangaroo, had a drink, grabbed some fire wood and went to find the crossing of the mighty Murray River.

Gday Skip!!

After one wrong turn, we eventually found the crossing of the Murray River. Ever since I have been into 4WD’ing I have wanted to do this, you could say it’s one of my ‘bucket list’ entries! So as I approached the water, I took a quick moment to take it all in and see what the depth was like. The water looked refreshing and so inviting… but my purpose was to drive across the mighty Murray!!! At first it looked a little deep, but al the advise I had previous assured me it would be all good… so I made sure I was in 2nd gear, low range and dived in!!!  What a thrill. Simply the most fantastic water crossing I have done, over taking the crossing of the Kowmung River many years earlier. I was now in Victoria.

After the crossing I grabbed the camera to catch Kim & her Jeep do the crossing, which she achieved with no dramas at all. I really wanted some pics of my crossing from the front… Kim agreed to take them, so I had to cross the Murray AGAIN to get back to NSW so I could cross the Murray AGAIN so Kim could take some pictures. AWSOME!!!! 

Approaching the Murray River crossing.

Kim crossing the Murray River

On my return to NSW.

On the way back to Victoria

Any deeper and I'd be worried!

Nice bow wave!

On interesting think I did note… on the Victoria side of the crossing there are signs warning you that the crossing could be deep and to check the depth before crossing. Nothing at all like that on the NSW side. It’s a good representation of how NSW runs things and how Victoria does it… and Victoria obviously has some clue, while the NSW govt (now and past) have no idea at all! (That’s just my humble opinion).

Signs on the Victoria side of the crossing.

After the excitement of the crossing it was time to head to Davies Plains Hut, the destination for the first camping spot of the trip. It was an uneventful drive there. Some steep driving requiring  1st gear-low range… nice stuff, I love that sort of driving.

We arrived at Davies Plains Hut about 3.30 – 4pm. I fell in love with this area right away. I could have camped for a week or more. This was my first experience with a Snowy Mountains Hut… I was not sure what to expect.. but I was astounded at the beauty. Thank christ that it’s so remote. I’d hate to think what would happen to a place like this if those ‘arsehole’ vandals from the city ever made there way in here.

The area is a huge flat grassy area, ideal for camping. There is the hut of course, as well as a whole in the ground toilet and a few pre-designated fire places. I liked the fire places. They have a circle of rocks cemented on the ground with a device hanging over the top that includes a hot plate and hooks to hang billys from at different heights. I’ve never seen anything like that in NSW!

There was only one other lot of campers here, so we decided to set up our camping spot at the furthest fire place from them. First thing to do was to collect some fire wood and get the fire going. We then set up the rest of the camp, heated up some dinner, had a beer… and relaxed while we listened to the thunder and watched the lightning in the distance. I could feel it in my bones… we where going to be in for a wet night! Then the rain came…. it was not a downpour, but it was constant. We called it a night. S et up the swags and bunked down for the evening. I watched a few episodes of Heroes on my media player and then drifted off to sleep… listening to the rain……..

Davies Plains Hut

…… to be continued.