The one that didn’t get away

Dalgety is a historic little town on the banks of the Snowy River.  Interestingly, in 1904, it was shortlisted as a possible site for the nation’s new capital.

The holiday park had rave reviews and we were soon feeling very relaxed sat in the sunshine by the river.  Jonathan didn’t hold out much hope of catching a big fish here but went out early in the morning and late at night.  I was getting a bit fed up with eating late every night when he failed to catch dinner.  I told Jonathan we were going to eat before he went out fishing last night and would you believe it, within 20 minutes he was back, having caught a 40cm brown trout.

We baked it the following night, wrapped in foil, for 30 minutes with lemon, salt and pepper, olive oil and some fennel from the nearby community herb garden.  It tasted delicious and had a very delicate flavour.

Mt Kosciusko (nearly)

Jindayne Tourist Park was everything the 2 ½ Bradshaws could want from a campsite.  A camping spot right on the edge of Lake Jindabyne, dog friendly, walking tracks, Grade A amenities and a town within walking distance that also had a coffee roastery.  I’m sure the town must be much busier and have a different feel in the winter when it’s ski season.

This was the closest we could get to Mt Kosciusko, Australia’s highest peak, as once again, it was a National Park and no dogs are allowed.  There is a statue in Jindabyne park of Sir Paul Strzelecki, the Polish explorer who discovered Mt Kosciusko and named it in honour of the Polish leader.

 

“I’ve found a lovely quiet ‘day camping’ area on the Thredbo River,” said Jonathan.  “I can fish nearby while you relax in the van.”  Well he’d managed to pick the day when NSW Fisheries were holding a workshop at the site, on river flow testing, so we walked a fair way along the river until we were past them all.  There were some mighty gum trees and some mighty big wombat burrows too.  It made me wonder if wombat burrows had given JRR Tolkien the idea for hobbit burrows.

 

Jonathan manages to catch his second brown trout – twice the size of the first one!

Trout and about

We couldn’t leave this part of the world without heading west to the Snowy Mountains.  As we drove through the town of Adaminaby, we crossed ‘The Big Trout’ off our list.  Not the usual tacky looking big thing, but a high quality sculpture.

Joke photo with big trout

We camped up by Lake Eucumbene which is a very scenic and relaxing place.  The weather is still good, although cooling down at night.  I was able to sit and read peacefully, Jonathan went fishing and Winston loved chasing the rabbits.  The only downside for poor Winston was trying to shake off Betty, the manager’s blue heeler who took a shine to him.  She finally resorted to hiding underneath the van and jumping out at him.

This is the only photographic evidence of a catch – apparently the big ones kept taking Jonathan unawares and escaping the fly!

Not a joke photo with big trout

Say Cheese!

We were thwarted at the final stop on our oyster tour as Tathra Oysters were closed for the weekend.  However, there is plenty more gourmet produce in the area and we’re now in dairy farming country.  We stopped off at the National Trust village of Central Tilba and visited the ABC Cheese Factory which makes a wide variety of cheeses from its own Jersey cow milk.  Being a cheese connoisseur, Winston was a little put out that he wasn’t allowed inside to sample some of the award winning cheeses.

Incidentally, Central Tilba lies on the slopes of Mount Dromedary which was named by Captain Cook who thought it had a camel-like shape.

Winston soon cheered up with another beach stop though.

Our next stop was the Bega Cheese Heritage Centre where you can explore the world of Bega cheese.  Bega (for our overseas blog readers) is a major cheddar cheese brand in Australia.  The name ‘cheddar’ is not often used here though and it is sold by strength – mild, tasty, extra tasty, sharp, strong and bitey.  Bega cheese toasties were a must for lunch and delicious.

It was a lovely warm sunny day and we set up camp at the Bega showgrounds and were soon relaxing with a glass of white wine and some 3 Udders Brie from Tilba.  To round off the cheesy day, we had a fondue with locally made ‘Swiss’ cheese.

Oysters!

The weather has cheered up and we’re at the start of a coastal drive famed for its oysters.  Everyone recommended Jim Wild’s Oysters at Greenwell Point.  Jim Wild is a world champion oyster shucker.  You can’t really get any fresher than eating just opened oysters at an oyster farm.  They were creamy and delicious with a squeeze of lemon, black pepper and Tabasco Sauce.

Would also recommend The Heritage Bakery at Milton which makes the best meat pies we’ve ever tasted, and a pretty good cup of coffee.

We were told we must take a look at Hyams Beach which claims to have the whitest sand in the world.   It was indeed very white which made the water look a very inviting blue.   It was also a dog friendly beach and definitely got Winston’s seal of approval.

Back to the coast

We decided we really should put in a few kms on Tuesday and Wednesday and try to get South of Sydney.  We stopped at Blacksmith’s Beach on Tuesday night and the ‘dog friendly’ park we chose wasn’t really that dog friendly at all.  All the dog owners were confined to the far side of the campsite and dogs were not allowed out of this ‘zone’.  Decided to cheer ourselves up with a beach walk followed by a fish and chip supper.  However dogs weren’t allowed on the beach and the fish shop was closed on Tuesdays!  To cap it all, when we got back to the van it began to pour with rain.  Oh well – tomorrow is another day. 

Must try harder…

Our plan was to get down to the state of Victoria asap and explore. Instead we are making slow progress in country NSW. It’s just so lovely!

We managed 6km today before stumbling across the gorgeous village of Nundle and stopped again 🙂

Chaffey Dam, Tamworth

We had to head into the town of Armidale for new gas bottles and to fill up the water tank, and stopped the night at a caravan park.  We couldn’t believe it actually cost more for a powered site here than the parks along the coast. We weren’t very happy but it was getting late and had started to rain again.

Anyway, fully charged up again and with the fridge restocked, we headed out of town and found a beautiful spot to camp next to the Chaffey Dam, a short drive from Tamworth.  It was only $5 a night in an honesty box.   There was a minor problem though when we discovered we only had $50 notes and had to drive back to the last little town and buy ice creams from the store to get change.

I’m glad I brought my little ‘festival’ wellies.

Chaffey Dam