We had been recommended a town in the Snowy mountains by a lovely gypsy family in Armidale and so far all of their recommendations have been great so we were also pretty excited about this one.
The drive to Tumut was a little strange as we thought it was going to be a country road winding in and around rolling hills however we soon found ourselves on a double laned highway. After a quick look on maps we found out we were on the main road from Sydney through to Melbourne so the better road made sense. I have never spent much time down this far south so it’s great to do it driving to experience all the differences in tree varieties and vegetation. Sounds silly but spending most of my life in Queensland has meant that seasonal changes big enough to cause the trees leaves to change colour and lose their leaves is still very much a novelty for me. When I first travelled to England as a 20 year old naive country kid and my older brother picked me up from the airport in London in February he told me on the way to his home that a horrible disease has spread through England and all the trees had died which was why none had any leaves. I actually believed him until I realised he was pulling my leg. 😂😂
Driving into Tumut definitely gave us the feeling of being in a mountain town. Lots of pine trees and a crystal clear river running through the middle. The campsite was also conveniently placed along the river so we were hoping for a nice little secluded spot with a great view of the river. Those hopes were dashed on arrival when we saw how busy it was. We we lucky to even get a spot.
We went for a little walk into town as the next few days’ weather forecast was not the greatest so wanted to stretch the legs while we could. The Main Street was a lovely little tree lined street with some lovely shops and majority of shops where occupied which gives the sense of a thriving town.
In breaks in the weather we managed to visit the old Gold battery which was pretty fascinating how they mined the gold out of the quartz and how they harnessed the power of the water to do so. The ruins and the surrounding river and valley were absolutely stunning. The water was crystal clear and the surrounding hills luscious. It did help that the sun came out as well. Back when the battery was running they were using mercury to draw out the gold from the crushed quarts and then a furnace to burn off the mercury I can imagine the valley may not have been so pristine back then.
We also went for a drive out of town to the Blowering dam which is part of the Snowy Mountain Hydro scheme. Driving towards the dam, the wall was pretty impressive at it had looked like they joined two mountains together. We got to walk along the wall and like most of the dams we have seen recently was well over 100%. The scariest thing was walking down at the bottom of the wall seeing how high it was and knowing that the water level was held back high above our heads. I kept thinking about the Little Boy and the Dike.
We had plans to ride our bikes and play golf but unfortunately a combination of rain and then Griffy becoming unwell (he may have overdone it on the uphill hike the other day) we stayed in. With more rain on the way we made the call to get an Airbnb at Jindabyne and wait it out there rather than in the busy Tumut campsite as we had a 70th birthday party group on one side and a bunch of families celebrating on the other. By that stage we were over it and needed to get out and have our own space again.
It felt as if we didn’t really get to experience all Tumut had to offer but sometimes that is just the way it turns out. We have ear marked it as a potential return someday when we pass through this area again. S