Over the last few days we’ve been exploring parts of Australia we know little about, particularly the Riverina district along the Murray River.  The greater Riverina area has some of the richest soil in Australia, perfect for growing endless crops of wheat, canola and other grains.  The small rural communities that line the Murray support the farmers of these vast fields and have found their niche drawing visitors with golf courses, water ski parks, camping areas and the slower rural life on the river.  The whole scene appealed to us and we lingered in the area for many days.

As we slowly moved east along the river the Murray Valley National Park reappeared as small enclaves on a number of occasions as it preserved special places along the Murray, particularly where an impressive beach had formed, a thick forest of river red gums flourished or a series of deep billabongs had covered the floodplain.  We pulled into many of these places, exploring their overgrown tracks, marvelling at these beaches on the river as the muddy water swiftly flowed past us.  Very cool stuff.

We ended the day camping on the banks of Mulwala Lake, a huge lake formed by a weir across the river, now enthusiastically used by large numbers of fishermen, water skiers and other aqua seekers.   The lake is not deep and has many dead trees acting as sentinels over the cold water which added an eerie feeling to the scene.  The tall trees in our camp were inundated with a hundred or more squawking cockatoos, unhappy with our presence or just excessively boisterous in the afternoon.  Either way, we had a hard time talking over their beautiful squawking.

Our goal for the day was the major regional centre of Albury which also marks the end of the flat Riverina floodplains and the beginning of the Snowy Mountains.  But before the mountains we made a special visit to our old friend Jo who we met while still in Europe in the early 1980’s.  Jo has done it incredibly tough over the last four years with personal loss and her own serious health issues but you couldn’t imagine a more positive outlook from anyone.  She is an absolute inspiration, that’s for sure. It was great to see her again and catch up about family and friends before settling for a modest caravan park in the nearby town of Howlong. 

We had another three day before arriving in Cooma where we would see our beautiful grandchildren again.  But there are a few national parks between us and them, including the big boy of them all – Kosciusko National Park in the wonderful Snowy Mountains. 

As I’ve said before, NSW has over 230 national parks – an astonishing number by any measurement – but many of them are surrounded by private property and not available to the public.  They were formed as a leftover from previous policies on state forests, old logging areas, conservation efforts or areas with special value to flora and fauna.  We wanted to see how many we could visit, especially if they were in our general path.  Our first target in the morning was Benambra National Park, an area preserving forests of rare gum trees, and we passed through beautiful green grazing land in the rolling foothills of the Snowys before learning there was no way into this park.

We had much better luck at the larger Livingtone National Park just south of Wagga Wagga and explored some of its rough 4WD tracks before finding a pleasant clearing for lunch.  Then it was on to the small town of Adelong which has a fabulous but rarely visited old mining site.  From 1858 to the 1910’s hearty prospectors mined for gold in these ancient hills, a life which must have been brutally tough.  We walked amongst the old ruins and wondered what it would have been like to live under such difficult conditions in the never-ending search for riches.

We ducked into the very pretty regional historic town of Tumut, nestled into the foothills of the Snowys, to explore its shops and spread some money around.  On a local tip we headed out of town and drove to the top of the Blowering Dam and took in the huge Blowering Reservoir, almost full to the rim, before ending up camping a few kilometres below the dam on the banks of the Tumut River.

The river had beautiful clear shallow water rustling over a rocky bottom, large willow trees draping branches over its soft current, a complete contrast to the huge muddy Murray and Darling rivers.  At dusk a local fisherman came along and stood out in the middle doing a bit of fly fishing.  We built a big fire and enjoyed a fabulous night under the stars, absolutely perfect. 

We were getting closer to our grandchildren but we still had time to explore the northern sections of the national park, something we had never done before.  We followed the road along the shores of the Blowering Reservoir, the large expanse of water smooth as glass, extensive tracks of scorched mountains from the recent fires rising up on the other side.  From the little town of Talbingo the road went straight up through burned forests, climbing 800 metres in elevation in no time, until we forked off and followed the one lane road down to the Yarrangobilly Caves. 

With a cool name like Yarrangobilly we knew this had to be good and we weren’t disappointed.  Though recently hit hard by the bushfires, and the caves themselves closed due to Covid, all the walking trails and the thermal pools were open.  Julie and I strung together a number of the walks that allowed us to see the first sections of a couple of the caves and walk along the picturesque Yarrangobilly River, then enjoyed a refreshing swim in the 27C (81F) waters of the thermal pool, warmed after the water had bubbled up from way underground.  Great fun.

We then drove out on a side road called the Long Plains Road, a very boring name after being surrounded by all things Yarrangobilly.  But this road was spectacular, across open high plains, herds of brumbies (wild horses if you’re not Aussie) roaming across the open land.  The elevation reached 1390 metres, practically on the moon by local standards, and we passed a couple of old huts built over 100 years ago by some of the original pastoralists.  How those early settlers survived in these harsh conditions is anyone’s guess but at least they had a beautiful place to call home.

We went up and over some rough tracks as the rain started to fall and by the time we reached the Blue Waterholes campground at the end of the road, where we were planning to camp, some of steep sections had started to get a bit greasy.  So instead of camping in the rain and risking getting stuck we retreated about eight kilometres to the beautiful Cooleman Mountain campground on a sheltered ridge, kangaroos and brumbies near at hand.  We spent the night inside due to the foul weather but we knew it was beautiful outside.

On our last day of this great loop around the far reaches of New South Wales we returned to Blue Waterholes and tried to do the recommended Clarke Gorge walking track – because any gorge walk is a good walk – but the rocks that we were supposed to hop across the creek on were deeply submerged and it appeared the whole gorge was flooded.  Never mind, we followed the long and beautiful drive back out Long Plains Road, detouring to see the Tantangara Reservoir which was full enough to flood over the track, before finally reaching the bitumen again and winding our way through more burnt forest to the nearby community of Adaminaby. 

Within the hour we were back in Cooma and getting hugs from our two beautiful granddaughters.  We spent four more glorious days playing Papa and Nanna before finally heading up to Sydney and home.  It had been a fabulous exploration of our state, revisiting many favourite spots but mostly exploring new regions, hidden gems and unexpected highlights.  The people we met along the way, the beautiful rivers, the red desert and the starry nights all made for an overwhelmingly special experience.  We travelled over 6,100 kilometres, (about 3,800 miles), not a single one to be missed.  And our list of new places to explore for our next journey is longer than it has ever been before.  How good is that?