04 December 2010

Paddy River Flats NSW to King Valley Vic Australia

Travelled:715km from Tumut back to Melbourne
Visited: Batlow, Tumbarumba, Paddy River, King Valley, 
Stay: Paddy River Flats Camp, Gentle Annie camp ground, Eildon Blue Gums Caravan park.

Just 20 km from Tumut we stopped to have a look at the Adelong Falls Gold Mill Ruins. Operations ceased in 1914 and is now a state listed heritage industrial site.
Our elderly neighbour worked in Batlow during WWII to build a factory for the war effort that would dry potatoes and onions. The area is also well known for its apples and cherries.

Further along we stopped to admire the Sugar Pine Plantation which are native tress of North America and were planted here in 1928.

14km out from Tumbarumba we have a look at Paddy's River Falls and then decide to stay at the nearby campsite for a couple of nights.


We drove through a lovely valley via Tooma and Cudgewa. We stopped to have a look at the Southern Cloud crash memorial. 

We had some lunch at the famous Beechworth Bakery before heading into the pretty King Valley. Italian immigrants settled here during the tobacco growing period and diverse towards wineries. Unfortunately Edi Cutting camp ground was closed due to flood damage so we stayed at Gentle Annie's camp ground for the night.
As we left the next day we detoured off the road to Power's Lookout named after a bushranger that used the area as a hideout during the 1860's.
As we weren't quiet ready to head home we decided to stop at the Blue Gums caravan park at Eildon on the way.





02 December 2010

Tumut NSW Australia

Travelled: 193km from Canberra to Tumut NSW
Visited: Blowering Dam, Tumut 3 Hydro, Talbingo Dam, Yarrangobilly Caves ($29 2 adults), Landers Creek Falls
Stay: Riverside Caravan Park Tumut

We escaped the rain in Canberra heading to Tumut where we camped at the Riverside Caravan park for a couple of nights. The pretty town is nestled in a valley on the edge of the Snowy Mountains. 


 We couldn't resist buying a locally made straw broom. which have been handmade here since 1946.
The next day after a terrible night of storms and rising rivers we went for a drive along Blowering dam which, not surprisingly, was very full! It was the last dam built as part of the Snowy Mountains Scheme and has the 2nd largest capacity in the area. We stopped to read the information at the Tumut 3 Hydro station. Then we looked at Talbingo dam.
Further along we went to explore the Yarrangobilly Caves. We were able to do a self guided walk through a couple of the 4 from about 60 caves that can be visited here.


On the way back to Tumut we did a pretty walk out to Landers Creek Waterfall.