Frogdancer’s Crazy Road Trip – Day 16: The Silver Brumby’s Snowy Mountains.

Before I left Griffith, I wanted to see The Hermit’s Cave, so I drove up to where the supposedly well-sign-posted track was.

I read about the hermit and his sad life, and I was curious to see where he lived for all those years.

However, I was thwarted. I found the Lookout, which gives a nice view of the city, but the track was one that you had to pick out for yourself, by the looks of things. I was there on my own, so if I injured myself I’d be toast.

The only people nearby were 3 dodgy-looking people in a car near where I parked mine, which also made me nervous. I decided, after walking a little way down the track, to stop when it became steep and tricky to descend. I didn’t want to screw up the Crazy Road Trip now, when I was so close to getting to the final destination before I headed home.

So I walked back to the car, disappointed. Still, maybe one day I’ll come back and try again, this time with a better map.

I found another silo. It seems that the rural communities have absolutely embraced the trend of decorating silos. Everywhere you turn around, there’s one.

Anyway, time to hit the road. This was another driving day to get to the resort at Lake Crackenback – which is probably how my back will feel after 16 days behind the wheel!

Sometimes I stopped to take pictures when I saw something pretty and it was safe to park the car.

I love this one. I stopped, got out and walked back to take this.

I love the one white face staring back at me from the mob. She was intent on monitoring what I was doing. They other cows couldn’t care less.

Google Maps sent me down more back roads.

One shot I didn’t stop for was one of a bull, alone in his paddock. He had the biggest set of testicles I’ve ever seen, but since this is a family-friendly space, I decided to keep driving.

Hay bales were dotted everywhere. Aren’t they pretty, close-up?

So many grasses.

In the afternoon I began to see the mountains I was heading for.

There were also some ominous clouds forming.

As I was driving along, I got stuck behind a ute. This turned out to be fortunate, as out of nowhere a kangaroo bounded out of nowhere onto the road, saw the ute and backtracked as quickly as it arrived, while the ute was braking and weaving.

It was certainly exciting to see, but I’m glad that someone else, presumably more experienced than me, was the one actually avoiding it.

I had lunch in my car, but by Tumbarumba (what a great name!) I needed a pit stop.

This tree was near the public restrooms. I walked over for a closer look.

People leave gnomes here.

From all over the world.

You can see through the smears of dead bugs on the windscreen what the countryside looks like here, in the foothills of the Snowy Mountains.

Apologies for the thumb in the corner. I was so excited that I didn’t realise it was there.

I was driving along, minding my own business when I saw this sign… with the last three names on it.

Have any of you read ‘The Silver Brumby’ books by Elyne Mitchell when you were kids?

It’s a funny thing when reality comes crashing into your imaginative world. I read all of the Silver Brumby books when I was young, even the last few which were all a bit too airy-fairy. The first 4 or 5 were cracking good reads, though!

These names were mentioned all the time, especially the Cascades, where the brumbies used to go in Spring when the grass was plentiful after winter.

I mean, I knew that the books were set up here in the Snowy Mountains. But in my mind, they were still in fiction-land. It gave me such a thrill to see those names.

I stopped the car, as you can see, and walked back to take a photo. To the left of me was a young woman, leaning on a gate. We said hi to each other, then I explained that I was taking a photo of the sign because of the books I’d read when I was a kid.

She laughed, “Looks like it’s turned into a good day for you, then!”

She wasn’t wrong.

There have been bushfires here. It will take a little time for the trees to regenerate, but as long as another fire doesn’t come through here too soon, the bush will go back to normal.

I stopped to take a photo of the sign, but then thought I’d show you what this place sounds like. It was going to rain very shortly, but the cicadas were out in force.

You can even see the smears from the bugs who lost their lives on my windscreen. They were shortly to be washed away by the rain, saving me the trouble of doing it.

See the sign? Also part of the novels.

I was thrilled.

The Pilot!

Thowra climbs up there a few times. It’s the peak sticking up behind the other hill.

Look at this photo! The eerie blurriness of those hills is EXACTLY what it looked like. I was standing there at the Cascades, longing to go for a quick walk and really see it, but the rain was coming.

Time to jump into my trusty Golf and race to the resort.

I drove through a tremendous downpour, which is always fun when you’re driving along the sides of a mountain. I got here unscathed, collected my room key from Reception and walked into my apartment, where I’ll be for the next week.

Look at my balcony. It’s directly over the lake. It reminded me of my Alaskan cruise with our balcony, but with this one the water is close.

So are the ducks. This is going to be a lovely place to rest, recuperate and then explore. After all, the tallest mountain in Australia is here!