The mountains and the sea of South East Australia. Part 2 – water flowing to sea

Rivers are like arteries of the land

The water they carry the life blood

Water is life!

Something we should never forget.

The Murray River, the longest river has its head waters in the mountains of South East Australia and wends a long path west before crossing through three states to meet the sea.

But these mountains don’t take their from the Murray but share a name called Snowy.

The Snowy Mountains and the Snowy River are both known for their wild beauty

The Snowy River originates on Mount Kosciuszko and flows 352km to the sea at the 90 mile beach at Marlo.

The Snowy was a wild river now somewhat tamed by being dammed at Lake Jindabyne.

When I was younger I walked the trail to the peak of Mount Kosciuszko from the ski resort town of Thredbo.

This trip was a ride through the mountains south to follow the river from Lake Jindabyne to the sea,

The route was through the southern sections of the Kosciuszko National Park and into the Snowy River National Park camping at the famous McKillops Bridge.

The campground sits just above the river with a little beach on the Snowy River

McKillops Bridge is a long narrow wooden bridge opened in 1935 that spans a low gorge of the Snowy River and links remote villages in the mountains of South Eastern Australia.

Originally McKillops Bridge was to open in January 1934 but a huge flood sent a 14 metre high wall of water down the Snowy River lifting the wooden top structure off the concrete pylons. The rebuilt bridge was designed to withstand a 17 metre flood. Not that that is likely now the wild river has been tamed by Lake Jindabyne.

The Snowy River National Park is home to smaller rivers, tributaries and deep gorges in the mountains, reflectiong the wild remoteness of these mountains.

At the little village of Marlo the Snowy meets the sea

At Corringle Beach on the Marlo Estuary sits an old slipway where the boats that used to ply the old wild Snowy were pulled up for repairs.

An immature Osprey standing guard over the estuary

A small line of sind dunes separates the estuary

from the 90 mile beach and the wild sea that pounds it.

The Snowy drops from around 2000 metres high in its short 350kilometre journey to the Ocean. No wonder it was a wild river.