A Memorable Four-Day Adventure in the Snowy Mountains

January 2025

A fun four-day trip to Jindabyne and the Snowy Mountains to celebrate my [Redacted] milestone birthday, featuring Porcupine Rocks (at Perisher), Merritt’s Nature Trail (at Thredbo), Jindabyne to Hatchery Bay by bike, the Sawpit Creek Waterfall track, Moonbah Cemetery and plenty of beautiful Lake Jindabyne.

Don’t let the weather fool you – there was a heatwave across the entire Snowy Mountains region across three of the four days we were there. I’d hoped for cool days for walking and biking, however it was anything but. Scorching in the midday sun. But also very nice early in the mornings…which is probably why I took so many sunrise shots of the lake.

Moonbah Cemetery: a small church and cemetery on the Barry Way at – yep, you guessed it – Moonbah in a beautiful location. There’s a lot of history here, with many graves dating back more than a hundred years. Lots of the famous Pendergast family, including “Nugget”, who my parents knew back in the 1980’s (and who the Jindabyne shopping centre was named after) are buried there, and other family dynasties as well.

Porcupine Rocks: past the main Perisher terminal is the newly-refurbished track that heads slowly uphill, winding through scrub and past some impressive snow gums and through rock formations until you reach the summit, which offers incredible views in both directions into and beyond the Thredbo Valley. For mine, it’s the best view in the whole of the Snowies, and seeing it never gets old.

Thredbo: we took advantage of a fairly quiet day at Thredbo to take the Koscuiszko Express chairlift up to Eagle’s Nest and walk down to Merritt’s, crossing over ski runs and under lifts at some points whilst dodging bikes for the last third, before going back to the village via the new gondola. We also rode the new Alpine Coaster, which is epic fun. If you thought the old alpine slide there was fun, this is even better and faster.

Jindabyne: epic at sunrise and sunset (use Google Maps to get yourself to Sunset Hill, which really lives up to it’s name).

We rode out from Nugget’s Crossing to Hatchery Bay past Curiosity Rocks, which was a mostly flat ride free of mountain bike features (just a few banked turns) but extremely hot given the conditions.

Obligatory stop at Wate Point on the Kosciuszko Road after we did the Sawpit Creek waterfall track, which was a bit of a reprieve from the sun, but still warm. Like everything else.

Ate at the Lake Jindabyne Hotel (the outdoor dining area overlooking the lake is fantastic), Banjo Patterson Inn and had more than my fair share of the sweet treats on offer at the Sundance Bakehouse in Nugget’s Crossing. The only thing better than their donuts and milkshakes are their pies. Especially the Thai chilli chicken one. I’ve been eating at Sundance for almost my entire life and it’s still really, really top quality. Can’t recommend this place enough.