This trip was from the beginning going to be a diving trip but has so far been mostly focused on hiking. (I am planning to do about 50 dives so that is still to come.) Honestly I was not really aware of the hiking available in Australia. I did buy a Lonely Planet called Walking in Australia before I left Sweden but I did not read it until I arrived here. The result has been that I have gotten stuck in places like Bright and Thredbo, ski resorts which offer lots of brilliant hiking.
Because I did not bring any camping gear I can only see a small part of the National Parks and makes me realise that I have to come back to do more camping.
I had some bad luck with the weather in Bright. One day a storm prevented me from hiking and when the forecast promised me good weather on Mt Bogong, they were just joking… Mt Bogong is the highest peak in the Victorian Alps (1962 m, I think) and a challenge with its 1400 m elevation change in 8.5 km. In a few hours I was at the top and it was freezing… It was still frosty on the ground and a very cold wind was blowing. I managed to stay at the ridge for about an hour before it got too cold. It was partly cloudy and I had some good views but not the 360 degrees I was hoping for. The hike was beautiful though, especially when you reached the ridge above the tree line. On a nice summer day it would have been lovely to spend a day up there.
Mt Bogong.
On Mt Feathertop I was more lucky. I hiked the Razorback, a 10 km long ridge walk, to the top. When I started it was overcast but I could see blue skies at the horizon and I did have good views. About 1 hour before I reached the top clouds came rolling in and kept coming. It was not too cold on the top so I stayed there, had my lunch and hoped that the weather would get better. Just as I decided to leave the sun came out and when I turned around it was clear. I had the most fantastic view towards the Mt Buffalo Plateau.
The Razorback and Mt Feathertop.
On Mt Buffalo plateau I found my own little spot on Mt Dunn. This is one of the granite peaks on the plateau but obviously not the most visited. I got about one hour of solitude on the peak, one of those moments you feel like you are the only person in the world. Lovely! The highest peak on the plateau, the Horn, was full of people but a really good sunset spot. It had the most amazing colours.
Enjoying Mt Dunn.
On the way to Mt Dunn.
Sunset on the Horn.
In Thredbo, the main target was to climb Mt Kosciuszko, the highest mountain in Australia. Since Thredbo is a ski resort you can take the ski lift to almost 2000 m and then stroll up to the top at 2228 m. It is basically a highway to the top and it is very crowded because it is so accessable. The hike itself is not as rewarding as Mt Bogong but the views are spectacular from the top. Tomorrow I am heading up to the same area to climb a few more peaks.
On Mt Kosciuszko.