Caytie and I woke up with the birds (about 5am) and dozed in and out until 6am. We hit Centennial Park first thing to see The Man from Snowy River statue. (See here regarding this subject.) 
The statue was smaller that we both expected, but it was still cool to see! The park also had mosaic-like pictures on walls at the entrance to the park that depicted the High Country’s settlement – from first peoples to gold to farming, etc. Some of them were really beautiful! 
From Cooma, we drove to Jindabyne (situated around a huge lake high in the mountains) and then on to Thredbo. 
On the road between Jindabyne and Thredbo, we came across an emu!! Including the kangaroos (and joeys) in the Blue Mountains, this emu was one of the native Australian animals Caytie and I had on our “list” to see in the wild! We were driving along a two-lane road that was twisty and somewhat high up in the mountains, so we didn’t slam on the breaks to catch a picture (although we got him and one other on the way back).
In Thredbo, Caytie and I had originally anticipated going to the top of Mt. Kosciuszko (the highest mountain in AU). 
However, it cost our car $16 to drive into Thredbo as the town is inside a National Park. The cost to ride the chairlift ended up being $32 each, so we skipped it and, instead, took a beautiful walk along the Thredbo River, next to the highest golf course in Australia! 
There was some snow left at the top of the mountain, but very little! It was somewhat chilly, so we did end up having to wear jeans and sweatshirts, but it was sunny and beautiful out! After our little hike/walk, we headed back towards Jindabyne to have lunch. 
(I think because it wasn’t quite into summer yet, Thredbo was pretty sleepy.)We stopped at an Information Center in Jindabyne, and picked up some brochures and got directions (screwy ones if you ask me!) to a local burger place. Burger It! was AWESOME!!! I didn’t get a burger, but a chicken sandwich called The Big Kahuna and it was soooo good…chicken, cheese, Jack Daniels BBQ sauce, pineapple, rasher bacon, lettuce, and tomato, with fries (and they actually called them fries, although ketchup was “tomato sauce”). Caytie and I sat outside at a table and enjoyed the fresh, crisp air and ate lunch. I went inside to get a box for my leftovers, and spoke with the owner, Andrew, for a while. We were discussing where we were going and how long we were here and the like. I wasn’t completely sure which way we were driving the next day down to Buchan Caves Reserve, but I knew it was a “back” way. Andrew thought it might be the Barry Way, as that was where the Snowy Wilderness (our horseback riding and campout place) was. He looked a little apprehensive when we discussed it, and asked what kind of car we were driving. He said that he had driven the Barry Way once, and it was a “dodgy road.” He said it was a two-way, almost two-lane dirt road, but that if we were very careful, we should be fine. I was a little worried. Andrew also told me that his mom owns a place similar to his place down along the Great Ocean Road called the Koala Cafe. He gave me directions and his mom’s name, and I told him we’d stop by for breakfast and say hi to his mom!
After we were done with lunch and chatting with Andrew, we headed out along the Barry Way to Snowy Wilderness, a “dude” ranch with horseback riding, 4-wheeling, camping, etc. We were going out there for a 2-hour horseback ride and to camp overnight under the stars. It took quite a while to get out there. The Barry Way (at least as far as Snowy Wilderness) was an easy drive. It was beautiful! The landscape totally reminded me of the movie, The Man from Snowy River, which was pretty cool! It was really neat because there were wide-open grasslands and then all over the place were rock outcroppings with trees (and sheep). Any-who, we got to the Snowy Wilderness gate and the directions we had received from the owners said that we needed to make sure the gate was closed behind us because there are free-ranging animals that need to be kept in. Boy were there ever!!! 
As we drove down the extremely long driveway (don’t know if it was that long, but it took forever to drive because it was filled with ruts from rains). As we drive along and got farther down the mountain, we came across horses everywhere and got so excited I was snapping pictures like crazy!We got down to the “office” (an old watershed/barn) and got signed up and paid up with one of the owners, Bill (?). We followed him down to our campsite (just down the hill from the watershed), and got situated down there. We slept under an A-frame, tin-roofed building with no walls on a metal spring bed. We rented Aussie Swags and sleeping bags to sleep in, and Bill (?) told us he’d have AJ, our trail guide, light our fire after the ride. Aussie Swags…best invention ever!! They’re like your own personal tent, but without room for stuff. They are made out of canvas with a thick pad on the bottom and are big enough for you to slip your sleeping bag into it. The top zips up and over your head with netting at the opening. You’re supposed to string/hang them up above you, but we didn’t do that. (Our Aussie Swags were dropped off for us while we were on our horseback ride.)
Well, we headed up to the watershed about an hour later in order to get boots and helmets picked out. (Pic to right is view from watershed to our A-frame campsite.) We were also told that a couple who were staying there for the week were coming back from a 3-day 4-wheeling trip and wanted to join the horseback ride, so we’d be a little late getting started. We didn’t care, so we hung out at the watershed for a while waiting for Lisa and Tim to arrive (they were on vacation from Brisbane) and waiting for AJ to catch the horses we’d be riding for the day!
I rode Duke and Caytie rode Sienna (a male horse). The ride was awesome, but very different from horseback rides I’ve taken here in the states! First of all, the do not use a western saddle (of course), but an Australian saddle. There is no horn to hold on to. There is, however, a pommel swell that I was able to grab onto whenever we took a little run. Second, these horses are not neck reigned (meaning, they do not turn based on the gentle laying of the reigns.) Instead, we actually direct the horse where we want them to go…especially because they really don’t follow the horse in front of them that well!! Third, AJ (the guide was awesome, but I use the term “guide” fairly loosely) was only in front of the group (albeit there were only 4 of us) for about 20 minutes of the 2-hour ride! He’d point and say take that direction and we’d lead the horses along the “trail” in the direction he pointed.
The ride itself was beautiful! As we headed out, we went into the woods and climbed a huge hill. We stopped at the top to take in the views and to let the horses rest from their climb. The top was a beautiful meadow where about 20 other horses were wandering around. I realized that my camera’s batteries were dead and I hadn’t brought along any extras, so I got very few pictures on the ride!!! Poor me :(Here’s where it got really interesting! Our horses didn’t really want to go trail riding anymore…they wanted to play with the other horses. So, against our wishes, our horses ran (which I was so not ready for) over to greet their friends!! I held on for dear life to the pommel swell and tried my best to stay on Duke! Soon, the four of us (AJ was able to control his horse, of course) were surrounded by about 20 horses! It was pretty cool! We discussed the horses’ pecking order, and how Shelly (Lisa’s horse) was the top “dog.” Duke got a little too close to Shelly for her comfort, and she gave a little kick…and caught my left foot and stirrup! It HURT, but nothing was broken. We had a little trouble getting our horses back on the road (Tim had the most trouble), but we were off again!
We came across kangaroos on the ride, and I attempted to get pictures, but I was only able to get one shot off due to battery shortage. :( About halfway through the ride, we did a Jim Craig!!! There was this hugely steep hill (it doesn’t look as bad in the pic), and we went down it. Granted we didn’t run like in the movie, but I couldn’t help but think how crazy Jim Craig was! The horses did switchbacks in order to go down the hill! Towards the end of the ride, we came across a lazy river where the horses pretty much jumped in to cool off and take a drink. It was kinda funny, because the horses used their hooves to kick up the water in order to cool off their bellies!Not far from “home,” we finally came across the one thing that both Caytie and I were hoping to see…brumbies!! For those of you who don’t know the term or haven’t seen the movie, a brumby is a wild horse that roams free.
We came across a newly-made family—stallion, mare, and foal (bott left hidden by bush). AJ said that we couldn’t ride any closer because the stallion would most defiantly charge us! It was AWESOME! About 5 minutes after this, we got close enough for the horses to know they were almost done with lugging us all around, and they all broke out into a full-out run! This time, I was ready and did a great job (if I do say so myself) of going with the flow of the horse! Poor Lisa (on that mean old Shelly) got thrown off! Her tailbone was sore and they were driving back to Brisbane the next day!
We dismounted and headed into the watershed to get off the boots and back into the regular shoes. Let me tell you, that was not fun at all!!! I limped my way down the hill to the campsite and AJ built us a fire. I sat in front of the fire for a bit and wrote out my journal entry for the day, but then I ended up in bed with my leg on my suitcase for the night! It was still bright light out (about 7pm) when I went to bed. It was a good thing too, because Caytie and I were up early with the birds! The sun was still rising when we headed out for the day to take on the “Dodgy Road.”
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