29 Dec 2011

Here’s the map: Google Maps – Wizard of Oz

Car's trip odometer: 740 clicks (km)

So there I was, eating Australian snow up on ol’ Mt. Kosciuszko.  (It tastes just like Alaskan snow by the way.)  I was on top of the world - this continent of it anyway. And I climbed it. Me! I did this! Okay – so it’s only 2229 meters. Please don’t try to take anything away from me. Well, yes, I did start at about 1300 meters (Thredbo). Okay okay, you’re right, the chairlift did take me to the 1927-meter level. But come on, what an accomplishment still, huh?! Umm, yeah, there were elderly and children on the ascent… Actually, I also saw toddlers bobbing along on new wobbly legs, hefty moms carrying babies, and a blind man being led by the hand. Still, its Mt. Kosciuszko, the grandest peak in the land! Aren't you impressed with me? But, there's the fact that the whole way was a maintained trail, most of which was covered by a grated catwalk. I tell ya what – I’ll just say I went hiking today…  (But if I ever decide to add "climb highest peak on every continent" to my bucket list, I've got this continent covered.  I'm just sayin'.)

I woke up cold this morning. Actually, I woke up many times cold last night. It was 2 degrees before the sun came up, with frost on roof tops. Why is cold becoming a continuing theme for me here?

I spent the day in the “Pra Loup of Australia” - Thredbo.  (Pra Loup is a town in the French Alps that I visited last July; i.e. see Premiere experience de la France - Jour 18.)  What an awesome place! It’s a village situated in a little valley filled by nice restaurants, shops, lodges, condos, a lovely recreation center, and more. There’s a beautiful, clear trout stream running through the middle (complete with fly fishermen practicing their craft), and its surrounded by thick gum tree-forested slopes. There are plenty of people here too – just enough to keep it vibrant, but not too crowded. Brekky at a random restaurant was delicious, and a deal I thought ($20 AUD) for an all you can eat high-quality English-style buffet: Figs baked in rose water, Bircher Muesli, bacon thick as slabs of ham, Vegemite, roasted tomatoes, baked beans, spaghetti (I didn’t have the last two…).

I’m in the great Snowy Mountains. They’re beautiful, and hold a special place in my heart because of one of my favorite movies “The Man from Snowy River”, which takes place in this part of Australia. I’ll play a beautiful song for you just to christen the occasion (wait briefly for the site to load, then click the orange "play" on this track):  The Man from Snowy River - Jessica's Theme (Breaking the Colt) 

I saw this on a sign along the trail to Mt. Kosciuszko, and it reminded me of Kerrie from Day 2: “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe.” ~ John Muir, Naturalist, 1911.

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