Snowy Mountains

We managed to fudge the dog in National Parks dilemma. James usually sits between our seats quietly while travelling, but when we arrived at the entry kiosk of the park she decided to make her presence known by leaping up and down and barking.

Loose translation of her vocalising ...'hi lady in uniform in a kiosk look look here I am a small ginger dog in a van look look at me I live in this cool van look look we are going into the park how cool is that look look here I am small ginger dog in a van look look'.

We were issued with a transit pass- the park is after all en route to a few small towns. Transit passes are free, but you are not supposed to stop. There were warning signs about how unsuitable the roads were for trucks and caravans so I asked the kiosk lady if we were being optimistic taking the van through to which she replied 'Strewth Darl', you gotta be optimistic in life'- we took that as an OK to proceed.

We managed quite a few illegal stops for photos, and Vanessa did spend a short time donating another scrubbie to fishkind in the Murray River.

Breathtaking drive and quite a climb for the magic bus. Highest point 1, 580 m above sea level. Ski fields with no snow always look a little odd- throw in gum trees and kangaroos and they look almost surreal. On the way down we drove and drove through thousands of acres of dead white gums destroyed in a forest fire in 2003, it was very eerie.The regeneration is approx 6 feet high so the whole place will look totally different in a few years.

Covered 420 Km in a loop back to where we started- we did not plan to do a full circuit and were going to strike out east to the coast but the police phoned to say that someone had found Vanessa'a handbag in a cafe in Jindabyne where we had camped the previous night, and handed it in and would she like to collect it. Very lucky as she had not realised it was missing. Also fortunate that we were doing a vague circuit and had not gone due south or the return trip would not have been amusing.

Off to the coast today so of course it is rather hazy and misty. Dare not look at weather forecast, rain and the sea always seem to go together when in a camper.