Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Winter Holiday

Two weeks ago (apparently I am two weeks behind schedule) we went on a little weekend getaway with a group of friends. I have to be honest, for some reason I had it in my head that we were going to Kangaroo Valley, a coastal town, reputably "one of the most beautiful valleys in the world", located two hours south of Sydney. It was only the day before that I realized that we were actually heading to the Snowy Mountains, a six hour drive from Sydney, through the ACT (Australian Capital Territory) and passed Canberra, to our own property, Kallarroo Homestead, located outside of Nimmitabel, in the midst of nothing (seriously).  The two places are about 365 kilometers apart. Shows how well I know my NSW (New South Wales) geography... Luckily I was in the presence of great company.
Wombat and kangaroo road signage. Look closely at both Kangaroos-- this is not Photoshopped!
We arrived in Nimmitabel (try pronouncing that) around 9pm and soon after were at the entrance to the property. We thought we were close but we weren't getting anywhere. It took about 30 minutes to get from the driveway entry to the actual house! Let me paint a picture for you... A dark road with absolutely no light (besides ours), dead animal carcasses (roadkill) dispersed along the dirt/gravel curvy and hilly road, abandoned cars, wandering wombats and kangaroos which we were warned to be aware of (I nearly killed a kangaroo the following day-- not my fault!). It felt a bit like "Blair Witch" Down Under. As we drove up to the house flurries of snow began to fall (first snow I have felt in this hemisphere). Dinner was waiting for us (Thank you, Nadine and Adam).
The 30 minute driveway (during the day)

More of the "scary" driveway (during the day)
The Homestead
Kangaroos! They either stop, freeze and stare at you or hop away (very fast)

The weekend was perfect with acres of property to explore... Muddy trails, tall grass that appeared almost cotton soft, creeks (supposedly the home of Platypus' which unfortunately we did not get to see), waterfalls, wombat caves, hopping Kangaroos, wandering sheep... Back at the house fireplaces were blazing (I could smell the residue smoke on my jacket for days), games were being played, books were being read, good food was being made and wine and cocktails were flowing,. 
Our property...
More of our property...
The crew (Jonny, Richie, Oonagh, Emma, Jeremy, Nadine, Adam and Kate)
More...
And even more...
Sheep fossil, described by our resident doctors
More of the Homestead
Good food...
Lots of r and r. It was a perfect weekend (and worth the six hour drive). Great friends and good company, what more can one really ask for? Thank you Oonagh for coordinating, Jonny for letting Jeremy (thanks, Jeremy) and I drive your car; Kate, Emma and Nadine for their gaming coordination/supervision; Richie and Adam for being amazing fire starters/bbq masters. Let's all do it again soon!

For more pics see Emma and Jeremy's blog, click here.
The drive home.. back to work...

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