Having now been home for a couple of days, it’s about time I got around to blogging my holiday. For those of you who missed it, we travelled to Thredbo in the Snowy Mountains for five nights, with a stop-over in Canberra on the way home (you can read more here). The time away was great, and filled with a good combination of adventure and relaxation. I enjoyed being able to ‘switch off’ for a while and not have to worry about work or my business. When we weren’t on adventures, we spent quite a lot of time watching ‘The Office’ (US Version). Several seasons may have been watched. As a result, it is one of my new favourite TV shows!
The photos below capture some of our adventures. The Snowy Mountains are a beautiful spot and it was wonderful to be able to enjoy (and photograph) God’s awesome creation.
One day we decided to take a drive to Khancoban. The town was originally established as part of the Snowy Mountains Scheme. There isn’t a whole lot there these days, however it made for a pleasant lunch stop. On our way back to Thredbo, we stopped at the Murray 1 power station which is part of Snowy Hydro. While I had known a bit of the history of the Snowy Mountains Scheme, I didn’t realise how big it all was (i.e. 145km of tunnels through the Snowy Mountains). It was pretty mind-blowing and isn’t any wonder why it has been named as one of the seven engineering wonders of the modern world. I was also quite impressed by the technology. Snowy Hydro owns several power stations which are all controlled from Cooma. Basically, it only takes 90 seconds from the start-up of a turbine to have electricity reaching the major cities of Sydney or Melbourne! The image below was taken on a tour of the Murray 1 power station.
There is a lot of beautiful scenery in the Snowy Mountains. This photo was taken from Dead Horse Gap, looking down the valley towards Thredbo.
One of the highlights of the trip was the walk to Mt Koscuiszko. The weather was spectacular – quite warm and only a slight breeze (which is rare for the location). As you will see in the following images, my macro lens got quite a workout…
The image below was taken from the summit of Mt Koscuiszko. Let me add that the sky really was that blue – these photographs were taken without a polariser and I didn’t enhance the sky in Photoshop (can you see the moon?)!
The following images were taken at the now unused Michelago railway station. I felt as if I was in a different era…
Our final stop of the trip was in Canberra. We enjoyed visiting the National Gallery of Australia, the Telstra Tower on Black Mountain (which was a tad on the windy side), Mount Ainslie for sunset/night photography and also a trip to the Mint which was very fascinating. Our trip to the Telstra Tower coincided with a number of storms in the area, which made for some interesting lighting in the distance…
Despite the relaxation that had taken place during the week, when I returned home I still felt unsettled and as if my soul hadn’t quite found the rest I was searching for. At church on Sunday the minister preached from Psalm 4, which tells of David calling out to God in his time of distress. Toward the end of the Psalm, David comes to the realisation that God is our source of peace and joy:
“You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound. I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety” ~ Psalm 4:7-8
For several weeks, I’ve had a lot on my mind, some of which I have been worrying about quite a bit. Walking out of church on Sunday, I felt as if God had spoken directly to me, through the minister’s talk, and told me not to worry – He is in control, He will keep me safe (therefore I have nothing to fear) and in Him alone will I find joy. I am so thankful to have heard this message and I am now ready (and equipped) to face the challenges that lie ahead of me.
To finish off this post, I wanted to end with two images that I took from Mt Ainslie in Canberra of the city at sunset…
