Day 80 - Sunday 24th March 2024

Awake with the alarm, and straight up to get my kit all repacked and ready for the off. I nipped into the cafe next door for breakfast, and checked out of the hotel and was on my way by 08:00. 

I made my way leisurely to Central Station; on checking with hotel staff they recommended this way as it was mainly downhill. Onto the platform, and a 5 minute wait for a train before arriving at the International Terminal of Sydney Airport at around 08:30. A phone call to the car hire company, and they sent a van that delivered me to the hire office at 09:15ish.

All the paperwork done, and I loaded up the car (a Mazda CX-3)  and got ready to depart after setting up the music and sat nav. Just out of the gate, and I noticed a stone chip and crack right in front as the sun caught it, so straight back into the car park .... one of their staff was still outside, so I pointed out the chip to him, and he reported the chip back to the office. I obviously couldn't take that car, so they had a look at what else was available.

Parked next to where the first car was sat a Mazda CX-30; this is a lot nicer .... more room in the boot, leather seats, Satnav built in ..... I was more than happy to accept this and seem to have landed on my feet again! Everything moved from one car to the other, I didn't bother setting up the phone as a Satnav and keyed my destination into the built in version. I almost immediately regretted this; there are a load of new roads around Sydney airport which the satnav didn't have, so I ended up a bit lost.

I found somewhere to pull over, and plugged in my Google Maps which did navigate me out of Sydney eventually; I have it set to avoid toll roads, and the main motorways out of Sydney are all tolls, so it took me an hour to escape from the Sydney streets and find the motorway south. This car has something I've not had before; it has a Heads Up Display (or HUD) where the speed and speed limit is displayed on the windscreen at the bottom. It makes life much easier, and I could get used to that! 

Once onto the motorway, I cruised along at 110kph as I got used to this car. A 15 minute stop at 12:30 to stretch the legs before hitting the road once more. I tried to figure out the cruise control on the road but couldn't, so at the next stop at around 14:30 I dug out the users manual.

Cruise control engaged after this, which made keeping a consistent speed simple; I'd been up and down like a yoyo as I tried to figure what 110 feels like in this car!

Today was very much a day of travel, and as I drove along into the Snowy Mountains the scenery kept getting better, but unlike New Zealand there were no signed viewpoints to stop at. Coverage of today is therefore minimal. At 17:00 I entered the Koscuiszko National Park (pronounced 'Cozzyoskow'     Cozzy to rhyme with Fozzy bear, and oskow like Moscow but without the M), having to pay for two days as I'm staying within the park. I finally found a scenic point beside the road, so pulled off for some photos and footage (including the car I have for the next couple of months).

Just a few minutes along the road was the village of Thredbo where I have the next couple of nights. Google maps took me past the turning for the village, and then informed me I'd arrived. I series of steps disappeared downwards with a sign for 'Pure Chalet', so I ventured down 42 stairs to find the chalet. A ring on the bell and I was in. I parked the car up in a spot saved at the road, and then manhandled all of my luggage down the stairs ..... I'm not looking forward to getting it back up there on Tuesday.

By now it was 18:00, so I ventured down more stairs to find a German themed bar and restaurant for dinner; a Currywurst with sauerkraut (still don't like sauerkraut, and I do try every time just in case) and a huge plate of chips that I couldn't manage before returning to the ski chalet to catch up on the day.

It's been a long and tiring day, 513km covered (over 300 miles) and a bit of a drama with the car collection which meant I had to go through all of the paperwork twice, but I'm here now. I don't have another 300 mile day for a few weeks, so it was all about getting into the mountains from Sydney. 

There is an element of fate about today .... on the day where my ski buddies arrived in the Italian dolomites for their second trip of the winter, I find myself staying in an Australian ski resort. The snow conditions aren't great here though!