Tumut and Talbingo

It was cold when I went for a morning jog along the river so a hot cup of coffee was very welcome for breakfast (the trangia has been a savior, making morning coffee and re-heating curry for tea). At 9am we gathered for a briefing on the plan for the day ... it was off to Tumut No3 power station (which is actually in Talbingo) this is a small town on the Tumut River at the edge of the Snowy Mountains (410m above sea level), about an hour and a half up winding roads with some really amazing views. The purpose of the visit was a fantastic tour of the power station which is part of the amazing snowy river hydro scheme. "Tumut No 3" is one of 9 power statins, 2 pumping stations, 16 dams and 225 km of tunnels, pipelines and aqueducts that make up the system which was constructed between 1949 and 1974. The new Snowy 2.0 will come on line in 2025. A lovely young electrical engineer called Will (as a favour to Ken - a Ghostrider from Cooma) had come in on his day off to take us through the power station... it was amazing and fascinating ... we saw the turbine hall and even when down to the lower levels to see the inlet and pumped hydro pipes. The system fired up briefly while we were there ... what a racket! After the tour it was back down to Tumut where I popped into the Tumet River Brewery for a beer (and some to take home to share with Sam) before rejoining the Ghostriders at the Riverside Café for lunch. Post lunch it was time for a brief ride on what was a glorious autumn afternoon around the Tumut River, River Flats.. just a quick 26 or so km be quite delightful... then the hour back to Tumbarumba as the sun set over the spectacular mountainsRead more