Natasha Brough

Racing rev-heads and serene beauty

The road was long and fit snug along the mountain. Standing on the side of it and looking up made it look incredibly impossible, especially for a learner driver. It was famous for being hard to drive, that’s why its known for a particular race which I can’t remember now. It was hard, long and winding and yet my brother wanted to drive along it.

“Let’s do this!” his voice rung.

“Hang on, I haven’t taken any photos yet,” my mother pointed a camera up.

“Do we really need photos though?” he questioned. My brother never liked taking photos, I on the other hand loved being in them.

“We need the memories!” I argue, standing before the mountain with the letters MOUNT PANORAMA in the background.

“You two are definitely related. Hurry up! I want to drive!”

“Are you sure you can do this?” my father appeared walking back from the other side of the road.

“Of course I can!”

“Okay…”

Accessing the raceway was easy, it was open and like any other road, drive on the left side. There were traffic signs like speed limits and warnings for difficult bends. If it weren’t for the concrete barrier that went along each side of the road, I would think it was just any other mountain road.

My brother started out slow at first and I could see from the back seat his knuckles turning white. So much for confidence. He has a fear of heights and he still wanted to drive on this road, why did we let him? Soon the colour returned to his hands and the car sped up a little.

“Don’t speed,” my mother warned from beside me.

“Yes mum.” If he wasn’t driving, he would have rolled his eyes.

The road became more difficult and soon it felt like I was on a slow rollercoaster. My heart was in my throat and now my knuckles were white from holding onto the door, as if it was much help.

Up, down, sharp lefts and rights, U-turns, almost becoming perpendicular with the earth; this road had it all. I started to feel sick.

“Slow down!” my mother warned again.

“Mum! Calm down, I’m doing the speed limit!”

“Darl, let him drive, just relax.” My dad turned around to look at us.

We stopped about halfway to ‘give my brother a break.’ My mother already had the camera in her hand. I looked out and my breath became caught in my throat. The sky was blue and not a cloud could be seen. You could see for miles and miles. Small towns below seemed so far away. Not just Bathurst, but other neighbouring towns as well.

My brother stayed near the car and volunteered to became photographer. After a few clicks, he hurried us back into the car and soon the mild rollercoaster ride begun again. It wasn’t that long before we soon came to the bottom of the mountain and ended up right where we started. We pulled over again for a break.

My father looked up at the mountain, my mother took more photos with the camera, my brother had some water and I took some photos with my phone.

“I want to drive on this too” My father looked at us.

I hesitated as everyone clambered back into the car, taking the L plates off and changing drivers. Oh boy, here we go again.

Hello everyone!

I hope you have all been well since the last time you visited me. Today’s post is part two to my double road trip during the September school holidays of 2014. Today I want to take you along on my experience with Mount Panorama!

Mount Panorama is home to one of the most well-known motor-races in Australia: Bathurst 1000. So, strap yourself in because this is going to be one hell on a ride. Haha.

The mountain itself, is a short drive from Bathurst, so short that technically it still classifies as a part of Bathurst. It has picturesque views all around it, hence the name ‘Panorama’ and a quick Google search says that it stated out as a tourist drive in the 1930s.

Although originally a dirt track, the road around the mountain has been done up for the annual event in Bathurst: Bathurst 1000. There are concrete barriers along either side of it, pit stop stations and seating areas for crowds. However, it serves as a normal road throughout the rest of the year where anyone can drive on it as long as they have at least a learner license . There is no fee to get onto the track and road rules, like speed limits apply. Go figure.

The track itself is pretty great for rev-heads life my father and brother. If you go out of peak-season, there will be barely any cars and is a lot easier to navigate. It takes over half an hour to drive the whole circuit, if you abide by the speed limits. Beware of your passengers though, especially those you don’t like heights or get car sick easily. I’m still not sure how my brother actually drove the circuit, as he checks both boxes. As a passenger I found the drive quite exciting as it felt like I was on a rollercoaster, however I did end up feeling a little sick afterwards from all the twists and turns.

The town of Bathurst itself doesn’t have much. I can’t remember it being all that exciting, so an overnight stay is perfect to see everything and then head out the next morning. My family arrived at night, went straight to the motel, had fish and chips for dinner from a local shop and then the next morning we walked around and headed off for Mount Panorama. So the mountain is definitely the highlight of the town.

Overall, the trip to Bathurst was an alright one for me, it was just another town that was known for something. But for my brother and father: it was amazing. If you or your companions are not that into cars, I would possibly give it a miss, unless you need a town to stay overnight and break up a long road trip. If you do plan on driving around Mount Panorama, I would suggest going during off peak-season, so that aren’t many other cars and don’t go during Bathurst 1000, the track will be closed off to the public.

Have a good one,

Natasha xx

Natasha Brough

A fairy hideaway?

The road leading up to the town had been long and windy. My father had refused to stop at the last town and the town before that. It had been ages since any signs of civilisation. So when the a row of trees on either side of the road began and a sign with the letter “BRIGHT” appeared, he knew we had to stop. My brother and I were getting restless. The weather outside was perfect for running around and playing in, even though we had long outgrown those days we still wanted to get out of the small, cramped car. When the car pulled up beside a river, we all jumped out as soon as possible.

And we weren’t disappointed with what we saw.

“Don’t go too far kids!” I could hear my mother saying as I walked towards the river. It was surrounded by many people. The locals tourists had come out during the nice weather.

The warm sun glistened off the small river, reflecting trees and other shrubbery that surrounded it. the water was clear as crystal and the bed underneath could be seen. It was too tempting. The grass beneath my feet tickled as I took my shoes off and dipped my feet in. The cool water a drastic contrast to the warm sun beating down on my back. I almost retract my feet from the difference, yet the calm sensation the water brought compelled me to leave my feet in.

This place felt like it had come straight out of my childhood dreams. I almost expected fairies to begin flying around, but I knew better than to believe fairies would fly around in the open air as apposed to the woods. On the other side of the river was lots of trees and I began to wonder if there were any fairies in there.

Children giggled a few metres away, completely soaked from the small body of water. The water level must have been lower than usual, the banks of the river much higher than the surface of the water and the bridges built across looked unnecessarily high. The water only came up to the waists of the children that splashed about. Yet everything was still green, pink and blue.

“Kids, come have a cup of tea and a sandwich,” this time it was my father’s voice that could be heard. I splashed my feet a little, not yet willing to give up the cool sensation.

“Natasha! Come eat something proper!” My mother’s voice was more stern. Reluctantly, I dragged my feet up and out of the clear water, slipped my shoes back on and returned to my parents.

They had found a small picnic table not far from the car park. The small containers with sandwiches, boiled eggs and fruit were already open, laying on the table. Small cups of tea were steaming close by and I wondered if I wanted a hot cup of tea in this weather, but once I smelt the hot liquid, that’s all I could think of.

That and wanting to stay here forever in the place from my childhood dreams, with low rivers and hidden fairies.

Hello!

I hope everyone has doing well and is ready to strap themselves in because today I’m going to take you on a time trip.

Ooohhh.

Let’s rewind back to 2014 when I was 16 and had gone on not one but TWO road trips with my family during the September school holidays. Although I didn’t get to see my friend for the whole duration of the holidays, I had a great time with my family and made memories that will last a lifetime, memories that I want to share. For the next couple of weeks I’m going to focus on the these two road trips and bring you all along to a time when life was much more simple.

Bright, 2014

For those who don’t live in Victoria, Australia. The September school holidays only lasts for two weeks and is in the middle of Spring. In the first week and a half of these particular school holidays, my family went on a long road holiday up to Sydney and back. In the last few days, we went on a last minute trip along the Great Ocean Road. Yes, my family are travel bugs and love to get out whenever we can.

My memory isn’t all that great so I will talk about some stand out places that I visited during that time and share some family photos. During the time of year it was still a little chilly in Australia, however, it wasn’t raining and we didn’t have any terrible weather.

In the little vignette above is a strong memory I have from stopping by a small town called Bright. And yes, as a child who loved fairies, elves etc., this place was one of my favourite places I have visited to date (there will be a few more of these in the coming weeks, haha). Mostly because the weather was perfect on the day and it seemed like the perfect place to find fairies. It was a great stop over town to break up a long day of driving, especially if there are kids in the car.

The town itself is pretty small with not much going on, but the river was definitely a highlight of the whole road trip. There was plenty of small paths to explore, especially along the river, although I wasn’t able to explore them myself due to time constraints. I remember the drive into Bright being very scenic, in the sense that the trees that lined the road in made everything look like something out of a fairy tale.

Getting to the town isn’t difficult. A tourist website for Bright states that it’s only a 3 and a half hours drive from Melbourne. If I remember correctly, my family was on the way back from Sydney at this point.

Overall, I quiet enjoyed Bright as a teenager. It is a great stop over and would recommend exploring the paths around the river.

Have a good one,

Natasha xx

Natasha Brough

Being on top of Australia!

The ground was mostly flat, yet I struggled to steady my breath. It came in short puffs of smoke as the air escaping my lips froze instantly. The ground in front of me was mostly made of dull green, brown and spots of white. Winter had been over for months, yet here it seemed it was only just ending. Trickles of water passed the side of the metal-path and, at some points, crossed beneath it. The snow was finally melting and I wondered how long it would take before the locals here saw the sun, if at all.

The hike was a long one and I was only at the beginning. My body was still warm from the heater inside the building at the bottom of the mountain. The ski lift up had been a short ride. The wind had brushed my hair and tinted my cheeks red but failed to penetrate my thick snow jacket. My parents had sat beside and I wondered if they would make it all the way. Now I was wondering if I would make it.

The path went up and down, as if bending the earth’s will. It sometimes disappeared under a large pile of snow and reappeared a couple hundred meters away. Mother nature was playing tricks on those who wanted to stand at the summit of Australia. A large river passed under the path and my mother stopped for a break. My father had long given up and had retreated to the warmth of the heater and a steaming cup of tea. My mother never gave up on anything and this was no different, she would make it to the top. I could not let her do it alone.

I looked around, observing the people who were also attempting the trek to the highest point of Australia. A girl was standing by the river in nothing but tights and a sports bra, posing for a photo. A shiver ran down my back as the man behind the camera took one, two, three photos. As soon as she heard three clicks, the girl ran back to another companion and put on a snow jacket that had been waiting for her.

My mother and I resumed walking along the path. Slowly, one foot in front of the other, counting our steps as we went.

203. 204. 205.

During a particularly large expanse of snow, it became completely quiet. Too quiet. I had  spun around to check on my mother whose footsteps had stopped and caught her red handed gathering a small pile of snow ready to throw at me. We made eye contact and she still threw the small ball of ice, it making contact with my left arm. My eyes narrowed into slits and I reached down and gathered my own snowball, throwing it at her but chickening out last minute and only hitting her feet.

A small bubble of laughter escaped her throat as she continued to walk, this time leaving me to follow.

Hello!

Recently I went on a family road trip with my family for my parents 30th wedding anniversary. We had decided to go up to Jindabyne as my mother’s workmates always boasted about the small town for the large lake and close proximity to Mount Kosciuszko. I had been especially excited to climb the tall mountain which is the tallest mountain in Australia!

Jindabyne

Mount Kosciuszko stands 2 228 metres above sea level and is surrounded by more mountains almost the same size. Between the mountain range stands a few small towns like Jindabyne and Thredbo. Trekking to the top would mean talking a short ski lift from the town of Thredbo to the base of a neighbouring mountain and walking 6.5 kilometres to the top (13 kilometre return) which would roughly take 4 – 5 hours to get to the top and return. Alternatively, there is a longer hike from the other side of Mount Kosciuszko, starting at Charlotte Pass with no chair lift this is 18.6 kilometres return and takes roughly 6-8 hours return. This was the most popular hike that my mother had heard about, however due to out health conditions, we decided to take the ski lift option.

Hiking to Mount Kosciuszko

My father stopped just before a resting place 2 kilometres into the trek, which he definitely felt proud of himself for. My mother and I never did get to the top, but we felt accomplished just reaching the base of the mountain. We had hiked 5 kilometres before turning around, which meant we had done 10 kilometres in total. The hike itself is fairly easy and mostly flat, but it does get a little steep in certain areas. It was the beginning of November so there was still left over bits of snow, but with a steady foot, shouldn’t be a problem.

The area surrounding Mount Kosciuszko had plenty of things to do. In town, there was a large lake where my dad had gone fishing (he unfortunately didn’t catch anything), and a local shopping centre with plenty of warm smiles and friendly faces. A brisk walk around town leaves you knowing more about the local history and its Polish roots with monuments and plaques that line the nearby body of water.

Distiller’s Plate

A short drive out of town led us to a local distillery, where we had a Distiller’s Plate for lunch, which consisted of three types of meat, three types of spreads, three types of cheese and three types of bread. I also had a hot chocolate with a cheeky shot of peppermint schnapps. It was quite tasty and I would recommend it.

Altogether, I would recommend a trip to Jindabyne for a long weekend getaway. The highlight of the trip is climbing Mount Kosciuszko, the tallest mountain in Australia. However there are plenty more activities to do while there.

Have a good one,

Natasha xx