Friday, 13 November 2015

Aussie Roadtrip: And then the Rain Came

It was lovely waking up with a bit of sunshine and the neighbouring kangaroos nibbling outside our window. It was very peaceful being the only humans staying amongst the chalets at the top of a hill in Jindabyne. And then the rain came!

Good day!

Our Jindabyne home for 2 nights

Lake Jindabyne in sunshine
Lake Jindabyne pre-storm
Jindabyne bush

Cloud collection 
Lake Jindabyne from the top of our hill

Neighbours 
Stormy backyard 
The reason they built a series of giant hydro-electric power stations through the Snowy Mountain region is because there is a lot of water.  There’s a lot of water because, well there’s a lot of rain (snow too, I imagine).  Unfortunately, we had to make an on-the-morning decision to scrap our plan to climb to the summit of Mt Kosciusko (which is apparently quite simple!).

Instead, we went the other way, along the road to Cooma, the home of the Snowy Hydro Scheme Discovery Centre.  It was a great way to learn more about what many describe as the greatest public infrastructure project undertaken in Australia.  We quite enjoyed it, although parts of it could be updated and/or fixed.  It was great to learn about not only how electricity is bought and sold throughout the east coast, but more about the scheme and the people who came to the region to help bring it to life.  I thought it kind of comical that they started the process with picks and shovels, but if that’s what you’ve got, then that’s what you’ve got!  Tens of thousands of people worked in this region to make these dams, it’s really pretty amazing. Many of the engineers, electricians, surveyors and other workers came from Germany, Italy, Spain, Croatia, Norway, Greece and other parts of the world.

What I would still like to know more about is why hydro power is still more expensive than coal, because as a result, hydro isn’t used to generate the bulk of electricity.  Still, visiting has meant that I have more questions to find the answers to, and I suppose that must be a good thing.

Our planned visit to the well reviewed NSW Correctional Services Museum was interrupted by a hiccup with the car, that fixed itself with no intervention from us but a lazy wait and try it again in 2 hours approach.  With the right mindset, you can fix anything!

Today Kat woke up and watched some boxing, kangaroo style- the only kind she enjoys! After some yoga and breakfast we got back on the road to head to the capital. 

It went on for quite awhile
Look at the far kanga propped up on his tail

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