Christmas in the Snowy Mountains

I'm a little behind in reporting, as Moritz has now entered the film business and taken over my computer to edit his demanding animal documentaries and a sequel to 'Star Wars'!!!

Yes, it is already January 8, 2020! That's why I will try to provide a quick overview with the next posts:

So, after Sydney, we drove for about 6 hours, passing Canberra, on December 24th to the Snowy Mountains to celebrate Christmas. More specifically, to Lake Crackenback Resort.

The traces of the bushfires

We traveled several hundred kilometers through smoke-filled air and 'Smoky Sky', passing black, burnt eucalyptus trees. So far, however, we have always been lucky - Touch wood - that we could avoid the bushfires!

And what can I say, Lake Crackenback and the associated resort were worth the drive and are simply paradise! Truly the right decision for a 'silent night, holy night'.

We celebrated with a good meal, a small gift of 'socks ;-) for the men + a painting!!! for me', the 'holy platypus', and the English version of 'Trivial Pursuit'.

After the bustling city of Sydney, we enjoyed being back in nature...

Lake Crackenback Resort

This tranquility, this view, and the many opportunities that the Snowy Mountains offer for nature lovers: from hiking trails to mountain biking, canoeing on Lake Crackenback, archery, but the best part was the 'wildlife' around us and, of course, the magnificent, almost unreal beautiful mountains.

Wildlife: wild kangaroos peacefully grazing, red and blue parrots, and many wombat burrows, unfortunately without the accompanying cozy, round four-legged marsupials. Although we took a twilight walk with flashlights along the Snowy River to the wombat burrows, as explained to us by the locals.

But my theory has once again been confirmed, 'When you are looking for the animals, they won't show themselves to you, you will see them when they want to!'

And so, in the twilight, we didn't see a wombat, but we saw a beautiful brown (wild horse) Brumbie with a black tail, peacefully grazing with a group of kangaroos in a meadow, and the next morning, it leisurely walked down to the lake in front of our Airbnb house.

The Airbnb house 'Black-Diamond' was also a real experience and just what we needed for the holidays: well-equipped for preparing our homemade 'festive menu', tastefully and modernly furnished, with panoramic views from large windows and a cozy fireplace, which we didn't really need at 32 degrees Celsius.

With chairlift and hike to the summit of Mount Kosciuszko

And while Günter, Maxi, and Moritz took a tour to Mount Kosciuszko from Thredbo the next day, I relaxed my weary feet in the sauna. The men took the open chairlift from Thredbo, riding above the tree line, to cover the last few meters on a demanding 13 km round walking track. It was noticeably cooler and windy up there.

At the 'summit cross of Mount Kosciuszko, 2,228 meters high', Günter and his crew enjoyed homemade meatballs and the magnificent view of the surrounding hills with snowfields!

Unfortunately, 3 days in the Snowy Mountains were too short, you could easily spend a week or longer here!!!