On the morning of pack up day it was rather cold and we had decided on an early mark as all campers had to be out of the camp grounds by lunch time because the whole Exhibition grounds were hired out for the Annual Canberra Folk Festival.This is said to be a fantastic event running for 5 days over the Easter break. It is a shame that we missed out on this festival but would be something we would like to come and see in the future.We were on the road by about 8:30am (earliest yet!), beanies, scarves, gloves all check, S#%T! It was cold.Visibility was about 50m due to thick fog and the worst thing was that we were headed to the Snowy Mountains! WTF were we in for if it got any colder!!

Wasn't too far out of Canberra when the fog lifted and the day turned into one of those postcard kind of high plains days without a cloud in the sky and warm sunshine soaking through the layers of clothes we had on.Sounds pretty nice eh!? We pulled in early to a great rest area for some smoko, and to enjoy the morning change as the fog lifted.The highway we were following as well as the surrounding area is known as the Monaro(pronounced more like an E then A as in the car) stretches south from Canberra and East around the Snowies down into Victoria and is a very fertile farming area. After a warm cuppa and pit stop we got back on track, Jindabyne here we come!

As we drove down into Jindabyne the view was awesome. The water glistening, the colourful trees which were thick throughout the town, it is a sight to see.We pulled into the van park and set up right on the banks of Lake Jindabyne, what a view.Must say so much for the cold weather is wasn't long before we were swapping the scarves, beanies, jeans and jumpers for the good old shorts shirts and thongs it was magical.Now this day was also my (James) birthday. Happy Birthday to me!Now to mark this occasion, I managed to persuade Charli to join me in a quick dip into the rather refreshing (read farkin cold!) waters of Lake Jindabyne.The sun was shining but truthfully it was having little impact on the temperature of the lake.All that said we managed to get wet, in a flurry of thrashing arms and legs with a running jump!Now since this day Charli has given me some strange looks and is not quite as keen when I have mentioned a swim in a couple of the creeks we have come across since then.Ha Ha Ha wait til you see the photos.

Thredbo was our first high country adventure, and what a great day it was.Catching the chairlift up to 1900m above sea level was a ride we all loved, and the views are amazing!Then a nice 2km walk in about 7 degrees to Mount Kosciuszko's lookout. As our luck with the weather was holding, the sun started shining as we reached the lookout. The walk up to the lookout is quite easy and there is a good path all the way.I felt sorry for the poor blokes that had to lay all those pavers up here in the cold.Few there looked a bit loose, might be a contract for the Tiler from Yabba Creek!?We were not sure if there would be any snow, so it was a great surprise to actually come across some.The kids (ok us to) were pretty excited.With snow being a new thing for all of us we had a ball with a small snow fight and building snowmen.Now real snow aficionados may scoff and talk about icy slush not being real snow, but let me tell you it was real enough for us mob of banana benders and at 2000m above the pacific it is as close as we will be for a long while again, so they can get stuffed!There is a restaurant and rest room at the top of the chairlift so you can grab some refreshments or a beer!

The next day took us to the small townships of Adaminaby and it original location Old Adaminaby. Such a little town with so much history, and a great big trout! (another Kodak moment) Oh and a playground, the girls just reminded me.After a great lunch in the Snowy Cafe (really top shelf Australian cafe food with down to earth style service) we headed out to Old Adaminaby for a look.It was here in 1949 that the construction of Lake Eucumbene commenced.It was originally thought that it would be built 3 miles away from Adaminaby.But after extensive survey work a new site was chosen 5 miles further down the Eucumbene River increasing the size. This meant that the town of Adaminaby would be flooded therefore needed to be relocated.In 1956-57 the century year old village was relocated 8miles to the northeast.In all 101 buildings were relocated.Today you can still see some of the town's footings and landmarks around the watersedge of the Lake.This Lake is massive!Think 9 times the size of Sydney Harbour and a shoreline of 224kms, it is quite impressive to see.It feeds into the equally impressive Lake Jindabyne to provide the constant flow of waters for not only the Hydro electric scheme but also the irrigation needs of the area.Also on the way back to Jindabyne we were lucky enough to see a great car getting put to good use, the almighty Honda civic(Kylz first car for those who are wondering why) being used as a letter box.Obviously old mate was a little bit more attached to his car and couldn't part with it, what a great idea.

We had a great stop at Jindabyne it is a beautiful place and we will be back in the future to go to the snow but for nowit is time we head to Bombala and try and catch a glimpse of the iconic animal the area is famous for!?