Saturday, October 01, 2005

Ups and Downs

We've just passed the summit of the Snowy Mountains and have seen snowier places along the Baja peninsula. Given that this is the first week of spring and that the ski resorts have only just ended their season this weekend, the conditions here must be a sorry state.

We're at 1400 metres (5000-ish feet, according to the good doctor) in elevation and it is impossibly dry and arid. Their self-annointed motto here in these Snowy Mountains is, 'the Roof of Australia'. It is easy to imagine the roof... the roof... the roof being on fire.

First day of trout season is today, there are many anglers angling to get good river spots. We passed by a giant trout and the gas stations up here (up on the roof) double as fish mongers, bait shops and rod n' reel suppliers.

Our highlight of the day was descending into the Yarrangobilly Caves, an intricate network of caves and caverns (what's the difference between the two, by the way) that provided for some sensational stalagtites and spectacular stalagmites. All the algae and moisture in there gave it such a dense, organic feel making it what the representative in the visitors center called a 'soft' cave. Ahhh, the times we spent spelunking the Yarrangobilly. The name just rolls right off the tounge.

We've passed towns with some very colorful titles on this trip. Dookie, Howlong, Wagga Wagga (Wags as the locals say it), Yea and Sale. With regards to the last two, we're pondering appealing to their respected town councils, advocating that they both add exclamation points to the end of their names. Nary a passing motorist that wouldn't want to stop in a place named Yea! or buy a home in Sale!

Not many police on the trip,either. This is not surprising, given the large amount of ground that they have to cover. One amusing thing that the Australian Police do, they post rotating signs about what area of the law they're currently targeting. For example, we've seen districts and shires (there are actual shires here - hobbits not included) with signs saying, 'targeting: drink driving ' or 'targeting: motorcycle speeding'. Not sure why 'drink' is used in present tense, as opposed to 'drunk' or 'drank driving'. We're on the lookout for the next district that is targeting bad posture and the 10 & 2 hand position, as we're both repeat offenders.

posted by ncawthon at 12:35 PM