Sydney to Gippsland via the Snowys

Have you ever wondered what it is like to travel over the Great Snowy mountain region towing a caravan measuring 27'10" from tip to tip? Well I did and for good reason, this is where we are going to take our Geist owners in December and this was the best opportunity to test the Geist, just to make sure it could do the job. Of course I shouldn't have worried as it lapped it up and we had a ball coming through some of the most picturesque country in all of Australia. It never ceases to amaze me how different the country can look from corner to corner, mountain to hill, and escarpment to plateaus. We saw a changing weather pattern and the mix of man made and nature intertwined to create a near perfect picture of years of toiling, success and failure.
This pocket of Australia is one that hides its failures and projects its beauty, it is one place I will always feel a part of and share with family and friends.

So it is that we ventured through this place of balance with sense of belonging and a yearn to conquer, we did this with our Geist and our Touareg blending into the environment like peas in a pod. Of course the German bred team is made for these conditions, it thrives on the cool air, winding turns and steep ascents. Our course started really in Canberra after we took the Hinkleys for a tow test, we could have gone the straight direction down through Cooma and over to Cann river into Orbost then Bairnsdale in about 5 hours, but then we did need to test the track for the rally later in the year so we took the 2 day route and turned right at Cooma and then onto Jindabyne. It was from here we headed up to Thredbo and then down into Corryong and more precisely Toowong (remember two wongs don't make a wight) where we camped on the edge of the Murray river, right up near the top of the feeder creeks. This was spectacular camping near the running water that was crystal clear overnight, we could have stayed a lot longer. We also stopped at a place called Dead Horse Gap up on Thredbo, I'll be putting a video up on this spot in the near future.

The next day we took our time expecting to see lots of the beautiful country layed out in front of us as we travelled the Kiewa Valley, Mt Beauty, Bright and Harrietville but was disappointed by the fact that burning off was in progress and the whole area was blanketed by a solid smoke haze which kept visability down to a minimum. Despite this we were able to get into Bright for a snack at the Bright Bakery owned by my cousin Melissa and Dale. A quick catch up and we headed up to Hotham where the mountains turned on the changes again by smothering us in the most dense fog that we were literally crawling across the top at 30kms and hour. With the safety poles and yellow lines in place we remained safe and of course the German team of car and van kept us trusty safe and toasty warm with the Touareg seat heaters turned up to 4 and 5 (top setting) whilst traversing the summit of Hotham at just 7 degrees at midday.

Quickly as we were in the fog but we were out of it too and headed down past Cobungra station, Omeo , Swifts Creek and into Bairnsdale where we went on to set up at my parents place for a little while to get ready for the East Gippsland Field days. I'll continue that story later.