some of the action from the Jindabyne rodeo
I took a break from my riverside relaxation for a trip into Jindabyne to watch the rodeo. It was only a small event but worth the trip into town …then back to Geehi for some more hammock time !
How’s the view from your laptop ?
How was your Christmas ? Mine was spent lazing by the riverside, mostly in my hammock. To be frank, Xmas does n’t mean anything to me. For years I have spent Xmas overseas, and Xmas lunch has usually been rice or noodles. This is the first time I have had Xmas in Australia for about 12 years or more.
After my last post I had a quick trip through Sydney and camped overnight just off the highway near Exeter. Then on to Cooma, with a quick stop in Canberra. The weather wasn’t very pleasant so I did n’t stop long, just long enough to take a few tourist photos. I did try something different with my fisheye lens but I have n’t got around to editing them yet ..been too busy doing nothing ! Lashed out on a motel in Cooma, just for a change, but at that price ($90) it won’t be happening too often. The cost was probably higher because it’s holiday season, but whenever I pay that much for a motel room I think back to the hotel rooms I have had in Asia….better quality and service for a third of the price.
Anyway, then on through Jindabyne to my alltime favourite camp spot at Geehi. It’s a bit crowded now but I managed to find this spot by the river….not too bad, eh ?
how’s the view from your laptop ?
I half expected something to go wrong, so I decided not to venture too far for the first couple of days, just in case. I’ve spent a couple of days up in the Barrington Tops, and now I’ve moved on and will be camping in the Watagans tonight. For anybody who might read this and be thinking of camping in the Barrington Tops National Park, don’t. Camp in the State Forest adjacent to the park. Even if you have an all parks entry permit like I do, the NPWS has the nerve to charge people $10/5 to camp in a bare, basic bush site with just fireplaces (but don’t collect firewood!) and no toilets,no water, no view,nothing, while NSW State Forests have campsites right outside the Nat. Park that have toilets, fireplaces and firewood available to collect, right on the riverbanks, for NOTHING !
“Home” tonight will be in another State Forests campsite, at the spot in the picture above…time to get the fire going and cook up some steak and vegies (and open a coldie).
My bags are packed, the ute is loaded, all that’s left to do is tie my swag on the back, a last quick clean-up and then hand the keys to the real estate agent before settlement at midday tomorrow. The settlement was originally on Wednesday, but changed for some reason. it seems the buyers were n’t told that though, they (and the agent) thought it was still Wednesday until I mentioned it today.
The ute is absolutely packed full, inside and out. No doubt there will be gear that hardly gets used, so I will whittle it down as time goes by. Because I am heading down to the Snowies and the Victorian High Country I am taking some cold weather gear, even in summer it can get cold down there. I remember driving from Geehi over Dead Horse Gap into Jindabyne to watch the annual rodeo on Boxing Day on 2 consecutive years where it was snowing !(It’s the middle of summer then here in australia) Once I finish down there, and start heading north I will be able to dump most of that cold weather gear.
I’m also hoping to do some overnight hikes while I’m down there so I’ve got my big backpack, my small hiking tent and other similar odds and ends taking up space. I’ll only be doing day walks later in the trip, so i will be able to unload more gear then.
Until that happens though, it’s going to be a slow drive in the old Hilux ! The old 2.8 diesel Hilux was never considered quick at the best of times, and it is going to be slowly chugging up the hills with this load in it. But so what, it’s not like I have a schedule to keep any more, is it ? It’s going to interesting to see the fuel consumption though, I’m sure that won’t be too good ….
Well, the garage sale went OK, managed to get rid of nearly everything saleable ! I managed to sell about half my orchids, so i will give some away to the neighbour, who also grows a few. I also talked to the guy who has bought my place, who said that his girlfriend is a keen gardener so I may as well just leave the few remaining plants for her ….better than just throwing them away !
Talking of which, I made another trip to the garbage dump with a ute-load of stuff …I might only have one load to go ! I’m finding stuff that I have n’t seen on ages, let alone used.
I’ve also been working on my ute, getting it ready for when I head off next week, I’ve given it a full lube and added some extra power sockets to run all the electrical gizmos. Previously I had the sat-nav, the fridge,my phone charger, my ipod and the charger for my camera running off a triple adaptor plugged into the cigarette lighter (obviously not all at the same time!) Having all the cords like that was looking rather messy, so I have added another double socket under the glovebox (for the sat-nav and ipod), another double socket on the back of the cab interior for the fridge and for my laptop adapter (wired to the auxillary battery) plus another socket in the tray (also running off the extra battery) which I can use for a light or whatever when camping. I did consider getting a 12/240v inverter to charge the laptop, camera, etc but decided not to, as I already had 12v chargers for nearly everything.
Although I actually finished work on Friday, I had to go back today to hand some keys in, and timed it perfectly to go the boss’s Xmas drinks …first time I’ve actually been able to go, as usually I have already left on leave by now. Half the people I talked to could n’t understand how I could “throw everything in to go travelling”, and the other half wished it was them who had the courage to do what I am doing.
One of my orchids is flowering right on cue, ready for the garage sale. There are another couple in bud, and several more with flower spikes forming, which should make them easier to sell.
Click to see my photos at Pbase.
Click to see my Youtube videos
Designing and building an Eco House in Thailand
Follow the Blonde Coyote and see more of the world!
Trying to live a creative life
a camping trip of ridiculous proportions
Changes in latitude, changes in attitude 