Snowy Mountains Highway

Brrrr...... freezing start to the morning with the temperature being either -2 or -4°C depending on whose phone we looked at. What's more, the town is shrouded with fog. We planned to drive the Snowy Mountains Highway to Tumut - a bit over 2 hours drive if you don't stop - and return to Cooma.

About 5 minutes out of town and the fog cleared to another beautiful winter day - clear and not a cloud in the sky. First stop was Adaminaby, a small town that is home to a BIG thing - a big trout. This town is only about 50 years old as the original town had to be relocated when the Snowy Hydro Scheme went through and would be under water. We drove out to Old Adaminaby where there is still a township but it would have been built after the dam was made and Lake Eucumbene formed.

Further along the highway we came across a couple of groups of brumbies (wild horses) which was a bit of a surprise. Not much snow apart from a light cover at the higher elevations. This area was devastated by the bushfires last summer and while large areas are regenerating, some sections will take a lot longer...if they recover at all.

Once we had crossed over the Great Dividing Range, closer to Tumut, the contrast between the two areas was remarkable. Cooma side, the country was dry, brown and quite bare. Tumut side however was green and mostly lush. Tumut itself is a very pretty town and it would have been nice to stay and explore it more but we wanted to get back over the mountains before dark.Read more