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We have just had a long weekend to celebrate Labour Day and Judy flew up to Albury, on the border between New South Wales and Victoria, to meet me on Friday night. The grand plan was to head south, across the Great Alpine Way to Bairnsdale in Gippsland for Saturday night and then a leisurely drive home through my childhood home.
It isn't obvious to non-Australians but the Australian Alps, a segment of the Great Dividing Range which fringes the Eastern Seaboard, (as the Rockies fringe the US West Coast) create a marked barrier between the inland and the coast. Once one leaves urban Melbourne, there are only two sealed roads across the Australian Alps until you pass Canberra, about 600km away. We had chosen the most recently completed route, climbing steeply southward from Harrietville to Mount Hotham, a popular ski-field and then more easily south to Omeo. We found ourselves competing with the annual meet of the AC Cobra/Shelby meet which takes in this winding route each year.
Signage cheerfully reminds road users to "Keep Right of the Snow Poles" and examination of the option to the left of the poles gives some hint of imminent death. One of those roads where 30km/h seems a really good limit!
Australia is supposedly the oldest continent and our mountains much eroded, Nonetheless they are challenging, even in glorious weather
Recognising the attractions of the skiing on snow for all locals, some road signs have been modified (quite professionally).
We made it to Omeo for afternoon tea and then expected a relaxed run down to the Gippsland Lakes for dinner and an overnight stay. However an accident, involving motorcyclists who hit a Police Car on a difficult stretch of road, cut off the only sealed route south. The optional route was over harsh four wheel drive tracks, unsuitable for our fussy Brunhilde (Mercedes B250) left little choice
We found the only available accommodation in Omeo and made the most of the evening. The gorgeous river near our cabin was ideal platypus habitat and my wife had never seen one in the wild. You need to be very careful as they fill an ecological niche like an otter, but the males (and young females) carry venomous spurs on their hind legs, which they are happy to share with the unwary. We spent a romantic hour, hunting by torchlight along the riverbank. While we did not find one (they are very shy) this is the sort of country to search for them. Even if you do not find a platypus, I can recommend the pleasures of being with your partner by a mountain stream under the full moon (sans children)!
Saturday night in the Golden Age Hotel (it is an old gold town) was educational; good food and better beer!
We got away early and enjoyed the crisp morning
Probably not the trip we expected, but good fun
Cheers
Graham
Graham, Your Australia trip was a real treat. Hope you post again. Now I know where all the AC Cobras ended up. My favorite sports car of all time. You're not pulling our leg on the Platypus hunt are you? I thought they were a mythological creature only found in Dr Doolittle books.
Would love to visit your very unique country.
Graham's evening does sound a bit like a snipe hunt.
Got some Mainer friends arriving this afternoon to thaw for a week. They are renting a car in El Paso and driving up - I don't think they'll have any trouble finding us even though we live a little ways down an unsealed road.
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I know the platypus is a strange beast, but it is surprisingly common, although very hard to find in the wild as they are quite shy. The trick is to search for the right habitat, which involves nearby moving water with quiet patches, The river banks need to overhang and ideally have some tree or root cover so they can dig out burrows.
They really are delightful animals, filling an ecological niche rather like the Otter in the Northern Hemisphere. However, no matter how you describe them they seem implausible. They have a wide bill rather like a duck (albeit leathery textured), which has both movement detectors and electroreceptors (rather like sharks) for detecting food, as the bill is moved across the river bottom. The males have a poison spur on each hind leg, which carries enough poison to kill a dog and cause intensely painful wounds to humans. Whilst they are mammals, they lay eggs like a reptile or bird. They only weigh about 1kg and their fur is incredibly sleek.
I had reason (whilst working) to meet the folk at Healesville Sanctuary, which has the only captive breeding programme in the world. They explained that they could regulate the breeding by adjusting flow rates of water through the artificial habitat. They did explain how this worked but I got lost about three sentences in. They were very enthusiastic and I had to meet every platypus in the establishment, checking first for gender; I am wary of the males whose poison capacity is well known. Have a look at the Healesville web site. http://www.zoo.org.au/healesville/animals/platypus.
One of the special delights of bushwalking is finding a platypus stream and watching around dusk or dawn or on a moonlit night. They dive for about 30 seconds and then spend about 10-20 seconds on the surface. I never tire of the entertainment.
The Omeo locals were very laid back about their platypus population, advising that the only people who every counted them are an American couple who visit regularly to do population surveys.
On the question of mythical beasts, Australia has a few. I am especially fond of the Drop-Bear (Thylarctos plummetus) which has terrorised many boy scout camps over the years. I will leave you to do your own research but here is a starter http://australianmuseum.net.au/drop-bear .
Cheers
Graham
No hitches in our return trip to Fairbanks: The weather was perfect and traffic was light. I'll have to share a couple Denali photos when I get home tonight and can access them.
Taking a little road trip over Sunday/Monday. Bringing my mother back from her visit to my sisters.
About 375 miles each way. Weather on Sunday doesn't look great, but Monday looks sunny and warmer.
Haven't decided if I'm going to take the Escape or Fusion.
Was thinking about the trip as being an 'Escape', but it does seem like more of a 'Fusion', so Fusion it is!
In this area, we were traveling at about 60-65 mph, with about 4" of fresh snow on the road since the last plow went through, and WE were between the Denali National Park Road entrance and Carlo Creek to the south.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hB8OEvUfUGc
The first three photos feature Denali (Mt. McKinley) from southern to northern vantage points. The last is of mountainsides on the western side of Broad Pass. In terms of time of day, the first was at 0845 (ADT) and the last at 1003 (ADT), so sunrise in full effect!
The only platypus I have ever seen was in the Taronga zoo in Sydney. At the time one of only two zoos in the world with a platypus. Like Grahame says, they swim around, hang on the top of the water, rinse and repeat. What surprised me was that when he was swimming he looked positively graceful. This I did not expect from a platypus.
One of the locals was telling a story of going fishing one time and hooking a platypus and having to figure out how to release him without getting those hind claws near him.
Ah, swimming pools, movie stars....
Anyone getting out? You're not still traveling are you @gagrice?
My grandmother is making her way back down to Oregon after that, which much better approximates a road trip (but I don't get to go on that one)!
Have not left yet. The plan is April. Heard from a friend the Rhododendrons are in bloom on the coastal highways. Will hit the coast at Eureka, CA and head inland at Reedsport along the Umpqua river. Also plan to check out a couple places close to Salem this trip. Got to find a place with water before CA runs out.
http://www.woodenshoe.com/events/tulip-fest/
We visited a friend in Salem years ago and went to a tulip farm in full bloom, and took photos of us surrounded by "miles" of tulips. Really neat. No idea if it was the same place, don't remember having to pay to get in.
Road tripping for the rhodies would be fun too.
No that is exactly what you get for $11 with a side of fries, potato salad or slaw. That is the Thursday special. Regularly $12. Still a bargain. Each filet is at least 6 oz. They are happy to split the order on two plates no extra charge. In fact they recommend it.
http://www.harborfishandchips.net/menu/specialplates.html
Took a flyer on some "fresh" rainbow trout from Albertson's yesterday and it wasn't very good. The red-dyed farm raised Idaho stuff is better.
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/mar/24/lake-cuyamaca-record-trout/
Had a great trip into the Swanson with said Salem friend back in the early 80s. The portages were especially difficult since he made us pack in 10 (seemingly 20) pounds of potatoes. I understood that part better after we base-camped on an island for three days and ate them with trout for breakfast and dinner.
The trout fishery up in Southern Idaho is interesting and the area is the largest producer of commercial trout in the world. The university here is spinning off a commercial farmed shrimp operation.
http://www.seafoodwatch.org/seafood-recommendations/groups/catfish
Plans for an ambitious 12,400-mile superhighway linking the Atlantic and the Pacific are reportedly being considered by Russian authorities.
The Trans-Eurasian Belt Development would see the construction of a vast motorway across Russia. It would connect with existing networks in Europe, making road trips to eastern Russia a far easier proposition. While roads do currently run across most of Russia, the quality tends to deteriorate the further you travel from Moscow.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/11493681/Plans-for-superhighway-linking-Britain-and-America.html
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Took the Fusion to my sisters on Sunday to pick up mom. Car ran great, better than the driver. I had a hard time keeping my speed reasonable. Stopped a couple of times, but not for fuel, 375 miles in 6 1/4 hours. Cool, so ran the heat for the whole trip, 27 mpg.
Before leaving on Monday, BIL hit my car leaving for work, but just a fender scrape(estimate about 1k).
Put the cruise on 72 for the trip home as much as possible. It never downshifted once no matter what the incline.
I did kick in the turbo a few times to pass slow movers.
Stopped for fuel and a sit down for something to eat. 375 miles in 6 hours. Mileage around 31 mpg.
My mom did comment that is was a much better vehicle to travel in than my sisters car, a Prius V.
I would like to blame my youngsters on slowing us down when we travel, but the truth is that I tend to need to make "pitstops" more than anyone else in the family. LOL