Raising the Roof...of Australia

Kosciusko National Park, NSW, Australia -- Day 2

This morning, I had the pleasure of an early morning bike ride and cup of coffee with Helen and Shane. Conveniently, there are single track trails that head up and down the valley along the river. It was a short but fun ride to the Crakenback resort.

The momentous goal for the day was to summit the highest peak in the whole of Australia, Mt Kosciusko itself, at 2228 m (7309 ft)!  Okay, as continental high points go, McKinley, Kilimanjaro, Everest... Kosciusko is rather humble. A ten minute ski lift from the ski resort and an 5km stroll along a steel boardwalk, got us to the lofty peak. The kids gave victory poses to commemorate the event.

Mount Kosciusko

We had gorgeous weather for the hike. Despite the modest climb and moderate incline, I was very glad "we" had packed sandwiches, which we gobbled down at the summit. And there really were a few large patches of snow left to justify the Snowy Mountain moniker.

On the way down, we headed off the elevated walking platform and down the soft moss and grass covered slopes to a small lake. We all jumped in, albeit briefly, for a refreshing swim. Nothing like a little peer pressure to overcome normal common sense.

By the time we made it down to the cute little ski village and back to camp, we were ready to cool off once again with the lilos on the Thredbo river. This evening, we were rewarded with additional wildlife sightings, a kangaroo on the other side of the river, an alleged platypus swimming about 25m away, a darling wombat just on the edge of camp, and another bushy tailed possum. The platypus “ripple” was definitely the rarest of all the sightings. Platypuses spend practically all their time feeding in the river or huddled in their riverbank dens. The wombat, despite its brief visit, was super cute, reminding me of a small, happy, furry pig. The possum could hardly be bothered by us humans. He was on the hunt for food and had no problem with us coming within a few feet. The bushy tail was the saving grace as far as Meg was concerned -- much cuter that way.

Bushy-tailed possum