Free breakfast. Hmmm. Obviously this can be translated as each man for himself, grab everything, spill more, make the most innocent of things look repulsive, make sure you use the last of everything and place petals in the tiny amount of jam you leave behind. We got by, accepting that most of these travellers are still mentally students.
Merimbula beach was host to very cold water which Ian discovered soon after I lulled him into believing it was very warm. We bought a prepaid SIM card for a local network in the hope that our call charges would be cheaper that way. Ian is now the proud owner of an Australian mobile number.
We drove up the tourist scenic drive, the Sapphire Coast Road, back towards Narooma. Someone had recommended fish and chips there and we thought it warranted another visit. The scenic road was not very scenic and we couldn't see much of the coast. There are no suitable places to stop and we haven't taken any photographs or film footage yet. Tp be honest, I'm struggling to see the attraction to Australia at the moment. I'm certainly not enthusiastic about anything we have or haven't seen. I don't really have an expectation of Australia except that it would be dry and hot, which it is, but there's a considerable amount of greenery about too and many lakes or manmade dams, plenty of sandspits.
The Sapphire Coast Road also encompassed a gravel stretch on which it felt wrong to take a brand new car across. I doubt it did the paintwork much good despite me taking extra care whilst driving.
Holidaymakers are still half naked on the beaches, like they live for them, despite the significant drop in temperature. I'm now shivering in my shorts!
Having scoffed fish and chips we headed back to Bega to refuel and then to head inland on the Snowy Mountains Highway to Cooma. From there we joined the Alpine Highway and drove into Thredbo Village, an alpine ski resort. We paused for but a minute at the Brown Mountain in the South East Forest at a lookout spot but it was freezing cold and spitting rain and there was significant cloud ruining our view too. It rained for most of our journey actually, big loud rain drops which cleaned the car a bit from dust if nothing else!
Because Thredbo Village is situated in the middle of Kosciuszko National Park it costs a whopping AUD 15 to enter the park for 24 hours, so our budget is completely overblown again today. Thredbo Village, considering its close proximity to Canberra, is of a very different climate. I imagine it would be very cold in winter. Obviously our altitude is far higher than Canberra. Thredbo is a typical ski resort with hundreds of alpine cabins and apartments built on top of each other without any parking nearby. All of the cars are parked communally like at a shopping centre. There doesn't appear to be much obvious in the way of ski slopes either but that is to the untrained eye... So many trees everywhere, aren't they obstacles for skiers?
It's surprisingly busy at the resort, there are lots of people around, golfers and like. We're opting for beer and pizza then a cosy bed. It's hot water bottle weather here!
A further 400 kilometres were travelled today from Merimbula to Thredbo Village.
Ian caused me many a giggle tonight. After we had watched The Juror, when he was ready to leap into bed, the covers whipped back in preperation, he flicked off the light switch and jumped towards the bed, stopped mid leap, perplexed as to how the light remained on, unbeknown to him that I had switched another light on elsewhere in the room! It was hilarious! His face was an absolute picture!
Copyright 2003 Helen Fuller. All rights reserved.