Ian's Snowy Mountain Birthday!

Ok. We're departing from the chronological order of events here. Now we're skipping to Ian's birthday, June 10. Not to worry, I'll get back to the Australian summer and autumn very soon......

So, did we mention that June is the beginning of winter in Australia? That means that Ian got to experience a winter birthday (normally, I'm the one with the winter b'days and he gets to celebrate in the summer!). To "make it real" we headed for the Snowy Mountains, only two hours away from Canberra. It was a beautiful sunny day; cold, but sunny. About one hour and 10 minutes into our trip just past a town called Cooma, there it was...snow...on the mountain tops...just barely visible in the distance.......above the cows grazing in a pasture....awesome!

We stopped in the town of Jindabyne for a picnic lunch and a little bit of "footy" (throwing and kicking an AFL - Australian Rules Football League - football), then continued on to the town of Thredbo, in the Snowy Mountains and the Koscuiszko National Park. Thredbo is the closest skiing town (only 2 hours away!) and Mt. Koscuiszko is the tallest mountain/point in Australia. Its peak is 2228 metres above sea level. We took the chair lift from its base (1365 m) up to the Eagles Nest (at 1937 m). Then we walked further on a trail, but believe it or not, it was too cold and windy (and too late in the day) to get to the top. We'll have to go back in the spring and give it another try.

Ian and William on Mt. Koscuiszko......

The view from the (almost) top on Mt. Koscuiszko....