Please read our news updates below.....
Still Snowing - 25/08/2010
That's right, late August 2010, and we have had constant snowfalls for nearly 2 weeks now, potentially making this September one of the best skiing months in recent years.
- Snow at the Woolshed
Last night it snowed all the way down to Lake Jindabyne so the ski fields must have received a lot of dry snow.
Out at Snowy Wilderness we continue to get good precipitation, sometimes snow, more often rain showers. All the creeks are running strongly and the dams as full as I have seen them.
- Justin going past Ramshead on the way to Koskiuszko
The views from our high acres are stunning with Mt Koskiuszko shining white with masses of snow. I cannot wait for my annual pilgrimage to the top to ski down our highest mountain and have fun in the main range. Anyone wanting to join me are welcome, we use skins on downhill ski's all of which you can hire if you do not have the gear. Just call me on 1800 218 171 if you are interested...... bye for now
Winter Newsletter - 23/08/2010
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Winter Newsletter 2010 Just as a bit of background, the High Country Lodges (2 bedroom and 1 bedroom) are designed as eco friendly with strong passive heating and cooling features as well as being well insulated. They are naturally warm in winter and cool in summer. They were also designed with the outside wilderness bush in mind, floor to ceiling windows are a feature throughout the living areas and bedrooms, there is a wilderness view from every room. We wanted our guests to feel they are outside even when indoors. We also wanted to achieve the "wow!!" factor, that our guests are amazed at the finish and warmth of the Lodges as they enter. So they needed a clean, modern, but country look with rustic high quality furnishings. The kitchens combine country style cupboards/drawers with imported Italian floor tiles, granite benches and splash backs. Italian floor tiles feature throughout the living areas, with heavy rustic dining furniture and a large wood fire with natural granite mantle. The ensuite bathrooms combine the modern with country style. They are designed with imported Italian tiles, feature chandeliers, twin showers with the biggest shower heads, large baths, under floor heating, heated towel rails, and rustic timber cabinetry. Outside the verandahs are really wide, capturing the Australian high country wilderness feel, with the highest quality pavers, Weber BBQ’s for outside living, and BBQ settings with rustic timber bench seating. All guest feedback has been excellent with great compliments from Erica & Chad from Brisbane "the 2 br High Country Lodge would be our idea of the perfect home". Well I tell you, that really got my "wow" factor going! |
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Function Centre completed - 12/03/2010
We have also completed our Function Centre which is a marquee purpose built in Germany with snow loading/rating and 100km/h wind rating.
The roof is made of double PVC lining with an automatic pump pumping compressed air into the roof to keep it rigid.
The eastern and northern sides of the marquee are glass panels providing a panoramic view over the wilderness and down the Sheep Station creek valley.
The Function Centre can seat up to 120 people at oval shaped tables and seat many more with different configurations.
It is positioned just down from and behind the Homestead, so it is ideal for weddings with the ceremony at the Homestead and reception in the Function Centre. We will be holding corporate functions as well with the first being on March 22.
Lodges completed - 09/03/2010
The first 2 High Country Lodges are now completed and what a great effort by all the trades involved and coordinated by Fairidge Constructions. Delia and I were absolutely delighted with the finished product and they are truly luxurious with terrific features and views to die for.
Our first guests moved in late last week for our first wedding reception and the feed back was great.
Photos will follow as soon as we catch our breath.
Our first Wedding Reception - 09/03/2010
We hosted our first wedding reception last Saturday (March 6, 2010) and the feed back was terrific. Our luxury wind rated/snow loaded marquee from Germany was a hit with beautiful views over Snowy Wilderness to the North East.
The ceremony was in front of our picturesque Homestead, and appetizers and champagne served immediately after. Then the wedding guests moved on to the marquee/function centre.
While this was happening a 12 pot camp oven was being slow cooked over the biggest fire pit in the Snowies if not the country, it was awesome and HOT.
Getting dinner carved and out to the 70 hungry guests was a challenge, but in the end we got there and with numerous well accepted speeches, plenty of reftreshments, a great reception was had by all. A lovely occasion and congratulations to Sarah and Adam.
Snowy Wilderness is now in the Wedding business.
1st 2 High Country Lodges Lock Up Xmas 2009 - 23/12/2009
The 1st 2 Lodges are now in "lock up" which means we still have heaps of internal work to do and lots of landscaping!!! but they do look great and Delia and I are really happy with them.
Internally we have gone with Italian tile flooring and bathrooms, country style kitchens with granite transition tops, and heaps of other beautiful fixtures and fittings. All this still to do and the New Year will present us with many more new challenges no doubt.
Merry Christmas to you all and a happy and prosperous New Year.
Wollondibby Ride - 22/12/2009
Well we completed our first horse ride to the Wollondibby on the Alpine Way and the WildBrumby Schnapps Distillery. There was a great time had by all with many memorable views and happenings.
The first day was spent riding around the high acreage of Snowy Wilderness and then back to the homestead camp site for the night. Dinner was butterflied leg of lamb marinated in Asian spices and barbeque'd on the open fire.
The next day we set out over a high ridge into the Big Trees and Bark Hut, then on to the gold diggings where we saw some incredibly large ock crushing equipment, how they got that in to this remote area is a miracle!!! Then onto the Little Boggy and then past Bruv's summer hut to some brumby yards where we had lunch. This whole area is dotted with free running streams and rivers. Then we climbed out and had our first crossing of the Moonbah River on our way to breathless views of the Chimneys and other high peaks, most at around 1,800+ metres. We the gradually descended from near the head of the Moonbah to Hyde's Flat where the support team had set up the most idyllic camp on the banks of the Moonbah. The grass was rich and up to our knees, the water crystal clear, and we had thick tasty steaks on the open BBQ for dinner.
On the 3rd day we headed out with numerous crossings of the Moonbah, then climbed out through a spectacular pass over the top of a high ridge where the scenery was reminiscent of the Sound of Music. Then an easy descent into the Wollondibby and a well earned beer and lunch at the WildBrumby Distillery where we were transferred back to Snowy Wilderness after our delicious lunch.
Photo's will be available soon from our trek photographer Evie Green.
Construction of Lodges commenced - 26/09/2009
The contract for the construction of our luxury high country lodges has beenawarded to Fairidge Construction and congratulations to Andrew Fairfield-Smith.
The construction team moved in on Friday the 18th of September and commenced the construction of a 2 bedroom and a 1 bedroom lodge in the north eastern corner of the development site.
We expect completion of this first stage by about the end of February 2010.
Photo shows the site of the 1 bedroom lodge before the slab is to be poured.
A Quarterly Newsletter - 31/08/2009
For those of you who have noticed, we have a subscription form on our website, this is a precurser to a newsletter that we will be sending out each quarter once I have been properly trained in the development thereof!!!
We hope this will be of interest to you all and we will keep it interesting, informative, and hopefully very lighthearted/funny. I'm having my final training on September 10 so watch this space.
Ray Matthews - 31/08/2009
Ray Matthews has been our rock when it comes to the development of the Snowy Wilderness resort. Delia & I want to express our deep gratitude to Ray for the guidance, management, and eye for detail this wonderful gentleman has provided to us during the initial critical phases of the development of the Snowy Wilderness resort. We do not know how we would have prceeded without this man's guidance. As we now move into the construction phase, Ray will be taking a less detailed and involved role, but nonetheless he will be continuing to provide guidance to us as we proceed slowly but surely towards our goal of excellence. Thank you Ray!!New Horse Riding Trails - 31/08/2009
Shannon and I have been conducting a lot of new trail blazing at Snowy Wilderness and a bit beyond!! We have come across heaps of new territory and trails which are both exciting, and informative relative to local history. Huts, places, sites, views which will completely astound & amaze you. I am developing new horse ride intineraries for all our multi day horse rides up to 7 days, and a new ride across historical gold diggings and Dan Kelly's grave that will blow you away. I will post these up on the website as soon as I finish the intineraries....in the meantime, keep booking all those multi day rides, we are really looking forward to the Spring, Summer, and Autumn schedules.Infrastructure fully tested on The Homestead - 31/08/2009
We have now fully tested the infrastructure on the Homestead property over winter and almost all has gone smoothly. We just had a few teething problems with water, but that is now under control and full pressure filtered water, both hot and cold is now delivering to all lodge sites and the Homestead.
Plenty of guests have subscribed to the broadband service and have been amazed that we deliver in the middle of nowhere, but many thanks to Activ8 & Telstra, we now have great phone and broadband coverage in such a challenging and remote area.
We are now ready to go into the construction phase of the Snowy Wilderness resort.
A New Brumby in the Riding Mob - 31/08/2009
Hamish is a relatively new member of our riding team.....he is only 8 months old/young, but he really has attitude and is the cutest looking foal, Delia and I want to take him home every night!!!
He feeds out with the big guys every day, butts in on their food bins with no fear, and gave me a friendly bite on the bum the other day when I was not looking.......he reminds me so much of Tin Mine (Tinny) but with a little more attitude. This guy is going to make the best riding pony when the time comes. We love him dearly and he is really part of the team already.
Hamish has a new friend - 31/08/2009
We have just brought in/weaned a new brumby colt (6 months) who we have named Max (pictured). He will end up being a "blue" and he has already been befriended by Hamish, but is still missing his mum. But he was up close and personal yesterday feeding on our new load of oaten hay from South Australia, so we believe he will become a handfull very soon just like Hamish.
Lorelei and her new foal Levi - 31/08/2009
Lorelei, one of our pure bred Waler Brumbies gave birth to Levi about 6 months ago. Lorelei has been giving her all to Levi like so many of our beautiful mares and looks a little "ragged" in her giving. But both are doing well, especially Levi, and in about a month, we will wean him from his mum who will then earn a well desreved rest away from hassling stallions for at least 2 years if not forever. She is a darling who we love dearly and has done a great job for Levi as all mums would.
Levi will then hang out with Hamish and Max until he is old enough to be trained in as a riding horse. Being a full brother to Jake we expect him to be rather tall and hopefully another dark grey like his big brother. Photo to follow....
Construction - 31/08/2009
Having successfully completed the critical infrastructure phase (filtration system and pressure pumping pictured), we are now ready to proceed with construction. Final contract details are being put in place with the short listed builder and we will announce this in the next few weeks.
Infrastructure now complete - 26/06/2009
The huge infrastructure project is now complete, each site now has power, gas, storm water collection, communications, broadband, satellite TV, sewage, and we have a back up generator that can run the whole resort if power fails. We also have over 700,000 liters of water storage with filtration systems (filtration systems pictured).
Some project, and finally complete!!!
Now to start the construction, we are just making some final changes to plans with the council, and we will commence building shortly.
Infrastructure Commenced - 26/07/2008
We have just let the infrastructure tender to Eden Constructions and work has commenced. The infrastructure involves the establishment to each lodge site of power, gas, sewerage, water, and the building of over 1 million litres of water collection and storage.
A power generator (pictured) will also be installed which can support the whole resort in the event of a power failure.
A communications centre will also be part of the project, this will house the telephone system, cable, and computer systems, delivering a complete communications system to service our valued guests.
The infrastructure project will run for 30 weeks, but we will commence the first stage construction during the infrastructure project.
Congratulations to Cess and his team for winning the tender.
A new Reception - 18/06/2008
We have moved reception to our heritage wool shed. This is closer for guests and more convenient to the horses and quad bikes.
We have renovated the interior to include executive office furniture, a bar, communications room, parking area, and shutes for dispatching unruly guests (we don't really have any!!! these are the original sheep shutes)
We are told the wool shed came from the original Jindabyne, but whether it did or not it does have heaps of history and character. We love it and we hope you do too...
Civil Work is now complete - 18/06/2008
All the lodge sites are now prepared for construction and the new road in and access paths complete. Richard McMahon Earth Moving has done a great job with just a few tidy up bits to complete.
We now move in to the infrastructure phase and are considering 3 short listed tenders. This is a most important phase which needs to ensure the Snowy Wilderness resort is independent, drought proof, and bush fire proof. We need to ensure uninterrupted enjoyment by our guests.
Photo shows the beautiful view from one of the lodge sites.
Oak Tree Planting Truffles!!! - 28/03/2008
Last week we planted 740 oak trees on our 1.8ha truffle block up on the high acres near Lake Buona Vista camp site.
It was hard work for two days and then hand watering the trees, all of this just a few days before the Easter rush.
On the Tuesday after Easter the heavens opened up and we recorded some 40mm of rain over two days, terrific for the newly planted trees.
Now for the nurturing and waiting, hopefully only 3 years for our first sign of truffles.
We are still debating whether we use pigs or dogs to hunt for truffles!!!
Photo shows the cute oak tree.
Channel 7 film Staurday Weekender at Snowy Wilderness - 28/03/2008
On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, Channel 7 came to Snowy Wilderness to film Sydney Weekender.
The crew stayed in the homestead and cottage, and we cooked up our signature camp oven of lamb and chicken for Tuesday night's meal.
Filming focussed on our homestead and cottage, fly fishing, quad biking, and the brumbies, with the Silver Brumby's mob starring on the Wednesday.
The filming of the quad bikes was full on with James, 7's presenter, pulling some exciting moves including a full on water shot.
Great fun was had by all and we look forward to our moment of glory around the May timeframe.
You can now view the video that appeared on Sydney Weekender on our home page.
Ground broken at the Lodge sites - 28/03/2008
Ground was finally broken for our resort development of 17 eco-friendly lodges and function centre/restaurant.
Richard MacMahon earth moving won the civil tender and are fully into the project. Part of the work is to widen our entrance road and gravel the surface.
Pete Bartrip wins first prize with Snowy Wilderness photos - 10/03/2008
Pete Bartrip, a well known Jindy local and part time photographer extraordinaire has won 2 first prizes at the Dalgety Show for photos he took on Snowy Wilderness.
One photo was of our beautiful Brumbies, and the other was of a scene on top of the Tuppits featuring grass trees.
Congratulations to Pete and 2 years ago he won another first prize in the Jindy art show.
The photo featured is one of Pete's Snowy Wilderness brumby snaps.
Aussie Bush Showers - 28/09/2007
We have just introduced our Aussie bush showers, inspired by 1970's Benny Hill TV skit.
Basically, we have continued our galvinised iron "wilderness" theme with a shelter dedicated to a bush overhead shower using warm/hot water and "luxury" nozzles. Even clothes hooks and foot stands are features.
The Lake Buona Vista site was a big hit on debut with the Schimpf family celebrating Ron's birthday with a 3 day horse ride.
Ron was the first to use our Snowy Wilderness bush shower, with an amazing rendition of song during a thoroughly enjoyable shower (photo shows Ron emerging from the debut shower). 4 more showers followed with terrific reviews.
I must put in a huge mention for Cath (one of our guides) and her innovative partner Lindsay, who built the showers for our main camp sites.
Display at Cooma Airport - 23/09/2007
We have commissioned a lit display box at Cooma Airport in the baggage collection area. It features the Sliver Brumby with one of his mares near the truffle acreage. It's a great photo as he is looking back at you with a beckoning look while at the same time swishing his tail at you.
We hope the display makes many more people aware of our many attractions.
Temporarily, while the display box is being manufactured a large blowup of the advert will be displayed.
We hope you like it.
First Foal for Spring 2007 - 17/09/2007
Our first brumby foal was born this weekend with a blaze just like her mother's. Dad is the Silver Brumby and they are up on the top acreages looking at the snow capped mountains.
Photo's will be posted as soon as we get close enough!!!
Truffles - 17/09/2007
Yes, we have cleared 2 hectares on the top acreages in order to plant truffle infused oak trees. We should have our first "discovery" in ab out 3 years...we need a truffle trained dog though so if anyone can help??
These will be really good for our world class restaurant that will be constructed by June 2008. We will keep you all posted...
Lady finally has her Foal - 02/07/2007
On June 2nd Lady gave birth to a beautiful colt on a very cold and frosty morning, in fact the foal came out and was immediately covered in frost so Ross and Maggie toweled him off, much to the dismay of Lady.
All the other horses gathered around to view the new foal, it is incredible how social these wonderful animals are. Lady was so proud and protective of her new addition.
4 weeks on and the foal is practising double barrelling (kicking) her mum and then racing off so he does not get into strife. He mixes with all the other riding horses now and has his own place in the social group.
He is a very fast horse, and is never very far behind his mum when it is feed time.
It is so beautiful to see another life brought into being at Snowy Wilderness, it gives us all such joy and what a very proud mum!!!!
The 5 Day Trek....Trip Report - 16/04/2007
Well we completed the 5 day trek with Geoff Prince, Greg Tannock and Pete Bartrip with tour guide Justin.
The first of 3 days on Snowy Wilderness, we followed Sheep Station Creek to our creek-side campsite, and then climbed out to the east over Middle Ridge, then descended very steep terrain down onto Reedy Creek where we had lunch. The day was warm and dry.
We followed Reedy Creek to the south to our Reedy Creek campsite, then ascended the roller coaster track to the east to the top of the Paupong turn off. We left our day packs for the steep walk down to Gully Creek and then the very steep climb up to the top of the Tubbits (3 extinct volcanoes) where we had great views of the property and the Snowy River to the south east. We then climbed down a spur to the bottom of Gully Creek and waited for the short ride to the Gully Lake campsite and a cold beer, barbeque, and well earned rest.
Day 2 dawned sunny and warm, but well rested with a delicious breakfast of bacon and eggs. We departed Gully Lake campsite bound for Lake Buona Vista campsite near our highest elevation, but we still had Mount Carlisle to climb and 2 very steep ridges to cross and climb before we even arrived at our top acreages. Mount Carlisle was stunning with terrific views to the south and northeast. We then descended a spur to the northwest into the Reedy Creek valley. We then climbed out on a spur to once again ascend Middle Ridge and the descended to our Sheep Station Creek campsite for lunch with Delia and the German Shepherds Lasca, Rani, and Yoshi.
Then the real climb to the top, this was tough but beautiful with the views getting better every rest stop. When we finally made it to the top, there was still plenty of hiking with the trek out to the Devils Marbles and the Rabbiters Hut. We finally made it to the campsite at about 5:00PM on schedule for a scrumptious camp oven and some delicious Snowy Wilderness Silver Brumby Shiraz.
Day 3 was again warm and sunny, we hiked to the highest part of Snowy Wilderness (1,450M elevation) and then descended through an amazing tropical zone down from Lake Buona Vista. Ferns, tree ferns, springs and an Echidna feeding in an ant mound welcomed us into this Garden of Eden. We hiked to another elevation near the top of the Roller Coaster where Aboriginals from as far away as Tumut used to gather to sharpen weapons and hunt kangaroo and wallaby. Finally it was back to the homestead with a short quad bike ride to visit the secluded cottage and the fly fishing lake.
After a layday, we set off on the 4th day from Thredbo Village bound for Lake Albina via Mts Koskiusko and Townsend, our highest and 2nd highest mountains. With 25 kilo packs on each back, this was a trek. Mt Koskiusko is really a walk in the park, but the climb to the top of Townsend is challenging with some scrambling up rocks to get to the top. The view down into the Wilkinson Valley is awesome as is the all round view from Townsend. Then it was off to Lake Albina which is a beautiful glacial lake situated in a craggy bowl created by Townsend, Mueller's Peak, Mt Clark, and the ridge leading up to Carruther's Peak. It was a full moon that night, and the landscape looked like the surface of the moon, sensational!!!
Day 5 and we started out from our camp climbing out up the Carruther's Peak ridgeline, quite a heart starter for early morning. We had breakfast on top looking over Club Lake into the rising sun. We then walked over Carruther's, past the Sentinels to the main ridge leading up to Mt Twynam. We left the packs and hiked out to the Watson Crags which was just breathtaking in more ways than one. Then it was the march up to the top of Mt Twynam which has great 360 degree views, north back to Koskiusko and Townsend, and south to Anderson, Tate, Jugungal, and Blue Cow.
We then descended over the rocks to the south east, and finally dropped into a wide vally of alpine water streams, then the hot and mainly dry walk out to Guthega, via the Snowy River. It is a long walk from Mount Twynam to Guthega and evenm longer when you start from Lake Albina. It was good to be greeted with a cooler full of water, soft drink, and beer, not to mention getting those packs off our weary backs...funny, those packs never lose weight!!!
A great 5 days had by all.
Dusty another new Brumby - 12/01/2007
Naming a Brumby has become a popular activity in recent times at Snowy Wilderness. A recent visitor, Georgie McLucas spotted a new brumby foal on our top acreage and asked if she could name her Dusty, so Dusty it is and she is a real looker as you can see from the photo. The McLucas family from Adelaide camped at the Wilderness and did horse rides and fly fishing.
We have had 7 new foals born this spring/summer.
Katherine Pethers of the UK is also booked to name Lady's foal (yet to be born), but as you can see from a recent photo of Lady, it will not be long now!!
Lady definitely in the family way - 12/01/2007
Unless she is just over eating, Lady is definitely in the family way as you can see from the photo. Katherine Pethers has been promised naming rights for the foal, so get ready with the name book Katherine!!!Trekking - 14/12/2006
We have a trekking tour on Jan 30th to Feb 1st (3 days and 2 nights) hiking through Snowy Wilderness and staying at our serviced campsites. All meals are fully catered and featuring our signature camp ovens and barbeque's.
Price is $565 per person including all meals and swags.
The hikes each day will feature bush walking, sensational views, native fauna, and brumby watching. We will also be doing some short night tours spotting the many nocturnal animals that share Snowy Wilderness with us.
Meals are typically barbeque breakfasts, picnic lunches and for dinners camp ovens and barbeques. You can bring your own alcohol and soft drinks, but we do supply juices and bottled water. You can also make any special requests including any dietary requirements, or your own favourite nibble. Each day is catered for by our backup 4WD service so all food is top quality and fresh that day.
Please book or register your interest by emailing info@snowywilderness.com.au, or using our booking sheet, or just call on 1800 218 171.
Snowy River Challenge - 14/12/2006
We are having a ride to the Snowy River (a Snowy River Challenge) on Jan 19-23. This will be a 5 day 4 night ride with catering each day. The itinerary will be depart the homestead Friday morning and go bush to our "top blocks" which are higher than Thredbo Village and magnificent views. Up here we may run into our silver brumby stallion and his mob as well as our Waler brumby mob. Then we ride down through the Sheep Station Creek valley, then down into Reedy Creek valley, past Mount Carlisle and up to our Gully Lake camp site to spend Friday night there.
On Saturday we ride out over our Yellow Box Gum ridge out into the Kosciusko National Park and down a spur to Gully Creek where we ascend the Tubbit's Ridge. This is a steep ride but takes us up the top of the Snowy River valley with kazillion dollar views of the river and valley. We will lunch from the top of this ridge. After lunch we then ride down a long spur, cross over a valley to another spur and finally reach the banks of our most famous river. We will celebrate that night with Snowy River Challenge teeshirts and certificates.
Sunday will be a lay day on the river with a sleep in, fly fishing, swimming, short walks, just taking it easy.
Monday we will ride back to the Snowy Wilderness property and camp that night at the Reedy Creek campsite. This is again, a beautiful area with Reedy Creek doing a u-turn around the camp.
Tuesday will be a lovely ride up the Roller Coaster valley to the top of the Roller Coaster, and then down past Sheep Station creek to the homestead. There we will celebrate the end of the ride and have one more Snowy Wilderness signature meal before going our own ways with the unforgettable memories of one of the most satisfying horse rides you will experience.
Meals are typically barbeque breakfasts, picnic lunches and for dinners camp ovens and barbeques. You can bring your own alcohol and soft drinks, but we do supply juices and bottled water. You can also make any special requests including any dietary requirements, or your own favourite nibble. Each day is catered for by our backup 4WD service so all food is top quality and fresh that day.
The price is $925 per person including your swag and all meals.
Please book or register your interest by emailing info@snowywilderness.com.au, or using our booking sheet, or just call on 1800 218 171. See you on the ride!!!
Pearl's Foal - 16/11/2006
Pearl foaled on Wednesday November 15, the foal is a real beauty, bay with a little white star on it's forehead. Mum and foal are doing great. Photos will follow.New Season Foals - 07/11/2006
Already we have had 3 brumby mares foal with more to come and our Silver Brumby stallion is a father for the first time. All the new mums are very shy with their newborn so we don't have many photo's yet, but when we can get up close we will get some photo's on the site. However, we were lucky to get this one shot of Ross helping one foal whose mum has a habit of letting her foals get into tight spots....this photo is of Ross rescuing the foal from a water filled wombat hole. The foal is fine and rehabilitated with his mum.
We bought a new riding horse at the Cooma auctions recently and named her Pearl. She is a lovely stock horse and already been out on rides, but we just noticed a few days ago that Pearl is in foal and about to deliver....what a bonus, and she is such a looker, we are sure the foal will be terrific.
Lady does not seem to be in foal as predicted so we will have to get in contact with Katherine for her to name Pearl's foal if she likes.
Snowy Wilderness Wines - 07/11/2006
Under the Snowy Wilderness label we now have available an excellent 2003 South Australian Shiraz aptly named the Silver Brumby Shiraz. This is ready for drinking now or cellaring.
We also have a Classic Dry White from the Hunter Valley region available under the Snowy Wilderness label
New Lodges - 31/07/2006
Up to 18 new eco friendly luxury lodges will be built with construction commencing after the winter. Opposite is a superimposed image of a 2 bedroom lodge insitu.
Lodges will be either 2 bedroom or 1 bedroom, all with ensuites, lounge, dining, atrium, and upstairs viewing/cocktail rooms.
Each lodge is individually sited to maximise privacy and views to the north and north east.
Development Update June 30, 2006, Conference Centre image - 30/06/2006
Plans and sites are now finalised for 6x2 bedroom and 12x1 bedroom luxury lodges all with fully equipped kitchens, dining, lounge (fireplace), atrium, and upstairs rumpus. Each lodge is individually sited to maximise privacy and views to the north and north east.
All construction is designed to blend in with the natural environment and will be eco friendly in every way. Designs and project management are by leading high country architect, David Epstein of Cooma, with site and infrastructure planning assisted by Peter Burns of Cooma.
Every lodge is designed to be self contained, however, guests will be able to dine at the conference centre restaurant and drink at the conference centre bar.
A full function conference centre (pictured above) will include a main area with a wide open terrace on the north side and a more intimate area on the southern end with views down to the east. The southern area is raised up- following the natural slope - and can be blacked out for screen presentations. The raised floor is taken through into the general area to form a stage for speeches and also provide space for a band to set up. Both areas have access through to toilet facilities with access to a separate restaurant kitchen. The larger general wing has a bar and service area including direct access to the kitchen. This works very well for receptions, weddings etc. The service wing has a storage area for chairs, tables etc to allow different configurations of the conference facilities. Outside events can also be easily accommodated and serviced by the conference centre.
A large viewing deck is planned for the homestead lake and will be for guests to enjoy a drink and barbeque from the nearby Brumby Bar area. The viewing deck will also be used for outdoor concerts.
Consruction start is planned for after winter 2006 and will be completed in stages.
1st real snowfall this season - 20/06/2006
On the weekend of June 10 we had a 2 day QuadBike tour to the Snowy River with an overnight camp at our Gully Lake campsite.
The ride to the Snowy was spectacular as usual with great views down onto the river as well as cloud covering the mountain tops with glimpses of the snow covered Main Range.
Back at camp for the night we had a barbeque of thick steaks cooked to perfection with wine, beer, and country music.
With the wind whistling through the trees and rain falling we retired to bed and the warmth of our Snowy Wilderness swags and sleeping bags. Being so warm and snug with the wild weather outside the camp shelter was an experience not to be forgotten.
In the morning, we restarted the fire and a breakfast of eggs, bacon, and sausages was prepared with billy tea and toast. While we were enjoying the meal, it started snowing, lightly at first then very heavy.
In all, it dumped 6 inches of snow over Snowy Wilderness that morning. The Quad ride during the morning was sensational in the snow with crystals in all the trees and everywhere white. See attached photo.
While we were busy exploring the higher areas of the Wilderness in deep snow, a signature Snowy Wilderness camp oven was being prepared for a combined lunch/dinner at the homestead Brumby Bar.
A great way to spend the weekend with our first snow dump for the season and those Quad Bikes go great in the snow!!!
Lady in foal - 23/05/2006
We think Lady, our first brumby riding horse, is in foal to Buck who has just completed riding school and is ready to go on trail rides with guests.
Katherine Pethers (9 years), one of our recent guests from the UK is going to name Lady's foal when (and if) the foal is born....we think about August.
Katherine with Lady on the left and Indy on the right