kangaroos – Ritva Sillanmäki Photography

Talbingo Top Lake: Quiet Beauty in Kosciuszko National Park

Got a peaceful start to the day, after a long weekend, by walking along the beach and on the rocks. It was a good workout, climbing and balancing on the rocky beach and picking up seashells. We took it easy for the rest of the day, but in the evening we got the call that it would be okay after all to go and visit Ritva’s cousin, Kari, and his wife, Susan, in Talbingo. Talbingo is a small town in the mountainous area of Kosciuszko National Park and only 370 km, or about a 4-hour drive, from where we were staying in Batehaven, NSW. 😊

Up the Clyde Mountain again and around Canberra. We drove 3,5 hours until we stopped in town of Gundogai in a restaurant called Oliver’s. We had to stop there because one of our grandsons is called Oliver. Once again, we saw towns with cute names: Tumbarumba, Wagga Wagga and Tumut. Tumut is a town closest to Talbingo that has grocery stores. The distance is 40 km.

Afternoon and evening were spent catching up with Susan and Kari. However, I took a little walk because I knew from the previous visit that the kangaroos would appear in the close by park. Got some pictures of the ‘roos even though they didn’t allow me to get close by. And I must not forget to mention the mountains that surround the town. Lakes, mountains, quiet, what more can you ask for your retirement home. Well maybe general store would be nice, but it closed few years ago.

Talbingo area has couple of dams built along Tumut River and power plant that produces plenty of electricity to a wider region. Two reservoirs were formed because of the dams: Talbingo and Blowering Reservoirs. In the morning, we drove to the Talbingo Reservoir that the locals call Top Lake. On the way we drove by the power plant. The pipes that we running to it from the reservoir didn’t look like much but actually you could drive a double-decker bus inside of them.

Being off-season Top Lake was really quiet. There were only two teenager and us four. Or I should say five because Susan and Kari have a beautiful Akita dog named Nischka. She is big but so peaceful. I’m digressing. Last time our host couple’s friends, Chris and Maggie, took us for a boat ride and waterskiing on Top Lake. Unfortunately, they don’t live there anymore, and we ended up just enjoying the scenery. Susan found a beautiful piece of driftwood on the beach, and she was gracious enough to give it to us. Now it has a special place on our dresser. I can only imagine how long it had been in the water to be so smooth.

As I mentioned before, Kari and his father and maybe one or two more of the brothers were laying the groundwork for the new Parliament House. I say maybe because I heard so many stories from all Ritva’s relatives it is hard to keep up with them.

Later in the afternood we headed back to Caseys Beach we didn’t want to bother our hosts. They were both under the weather. We only stopped at Braidwood, after a three-hour drive. Heli had recommended Braidwood Bakery. We got there too late, just before closing time, and there was hardly anything left to buy and eat. However, we got to Caseys Beach just in time to one of Heli’s scrumptious dinners.

Text Mara Sillanmäki

Fleurieu Peninsula #1

Landscapes, Photography, Travel, Traveling Australia

It was time to move on. Next two nights we would spend in Wirrana Cove in Fleurieu Peninsula. Once again, the traffic was not bad at all in Adelaide. I’m sure it can be bad, like in any big city, but we didn’t manage to find any traffic jams. We drove close by another famous wine region, McLaren Vale, but we decided to come back on our way out. The views in Flerieu were gorgeous, stunning, beautiful, magnificent, awesome, splendid, superb, amazing, astounding, astonishing, marvellous, impressive, wonderful. Pick any word you like… Rolling hills, costal areas, forest, you name it. It had it all.

We got to BreakFree Wirrina Cove Hotel before, but we were able to check-in instantly. Probably, because there was hardly anybody staying there. It was off-season but the hotel was in a bad way too. We can’t recommend it if they don’t renovate fast. No rest for the wicked, so after carrying the luggage to the room we headed towards Jervis Bay. Jervis Bay is port from where you catch the ferry to Kangaroo Island. We were forewarned that there is nothing to see in Jervis Bay besides the lighthouse, maybe. That proved to be true, but we stopped at every beach on the way; Wirrina Cove, Second Valley and Rapid Bay.

Jervis Bay, not much to see.

Especially Second Valley was beautiful, and we ended up going back there the next evening for the sunset. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the time or money to go to Kangaroo Island. Instead, we headed to Victor Harbour. On the way we nearly hit a deer jumping across the road. Also, stopped at Delamere General Store for ice cream and Crunchies candy bars, that Ritva remembered from her childhood. Guess you had to be there, as the saying goes, because I don’t care for them, even though I like just about anything sweet.

Marina St Vincent was the first stop in Wirrina Bay – we thought about getting boat to see sights but it was not due to off season available the days we were there, nothing to see here except for few boats.

Rapid Bay is well known for its very long jetty. While the original jetty built in 1940 is closed to the public, a new jetty (opened in early 2009) is now available for use. The color of the water aah

We didn’t really get inspired by Victor Harbor, even though I went to check out the railway to Granite Island. Granite Island might have been interesting, but it was too far to walk and railway wasn’t running. However, we managed to do some shopping for clothes. I bought a fabulous Billabong bucket hat and Ritva bought few summer clothes. While I was waiting for Ritva, I managed to buy 6-pack of Coopers Pale Ale and some McLaren white wine from the bottle shop.

Victor Harbor really did not inspire us as we had hardly any photos from there.

Second Valley at day time

On the road again.

In the evening, we had drinks outside our room and the animals came out. First the magpies. One of them was eating from my hand. Then the kangaroos came. First couple and then a whole horde on them. Even though they were used to people they didn’t let you closer than 5-10 meters. I know the locals don’t care for them that much but for us tourists they are so cute. The rest of the evening was spent washing laundry. I pushed wrong buttons, and the dyer just wouldn’t stop for some reason, and I ended up spending a big portion of the evening in the laundry room.