Thursday, October 25, 2012

High altitude pool spotting in the Snowy Mountains


Staying at Thredbo in the NSW Snowy Mountains in April this year we encountered a potpourri of pools.


On the trek up to Mt Kosciuszko we passed small pools formed among the rocks and melting snow.



Just over two kilometres from the summit we stopped at the glacial Lake Cootapatamba.



The Aborigines named the water hole, kau-oola-patamba, the place where the eagle drank.


Not far from the lake we came across a whale; well, that's what it looked like to us!


On the chairlift heading back to the village we spotted the round pool at the Alpine Lodge.


Trekking up to our apartment we dropped into the Denman (originally Bursill's Lodge), which used to have pool.


Now a restaurant, the Bursill's pool (built in the late 1950s) was a gathering place for a schnapps and swim after a day on the slopes, and was the scene of many parties.


After tackling the Merrits Nature Track (uphill option) we ventured over to the Thredbo Leisure Centre for some high altitude training.


We returned to this AIS-accredited pool the next day as snow flurries were falling.


Heading home we stopped in Jindabyne for a walk by the town's very big pool,  Lake Jindabyne.

Photo from Snowy Valley Resort website.
Finally at East Jindabyne we went in search of the pool in the 2004 movie Somersault starring Abbie Cornish and Sam Worthington.


But all we found at the Snowy Valley Resort was a building site and a hotel temporarily closed for business.


Monday, October 15, 2012

Reflecting on pretty patterns at Annette Kellerman Pool


This morning when I swam at the Annette Kellerman Aquatic Centre in Enmore the light was streaming through the large windows above the deep end.


The lime-green on the trim around the windows was reflecting in the water.


Other colours also joined in creating beautiful patterns in the pool.


It was like looking through a kaleidoscope that would have lured the pool's namesake Annette Kellerman to dive in.