After a 5am wake up from the "locals" (aboriginal truck drivers) making their coffees outside our room we packed up and left our little sanctuary. Next stop was Deniliquin - attached find photo of large Murray Cod which we caught ha ha. The weather was getting a little rough - large black clouds and thunder in the distance. We drove off and stayed in front of the weather for a little while till it hit - lightning strikes in the paddocks only a few metres from the car - in front - out the back - thunder so loud it was scary. We managed to stay in front of it until Berrigan where we were advised to get somewhere and get somwhere quick to stay the night. There wasn't much in Berrigan so Corowa became the stop for the night. Another great find - lovely clean motel and advice from the owner was head to the Australia Hotel an go for the stone grill which was on special for $18. After the obligatory wine (or two) before dinner we dodged the storm and headed to the main street for the meal. We can't publish the photos at this stage cos they are on our phones but basically the meal was a whole eye fillet and it came out raw on a large VERY hot stone. We had to turn the steak when it came to the table then slice pieces of it off and cook them to our own liking on the stone. AMAZING. Probably the best steak we had ever tasted. Got to get to the store and get a couple of them stones to take home.

The next day we headed off at the late hour of 8am and made our way to Cooma. Through the Snowy Mountains Highway - we had to stop in Tumut to check of we needed to have chains on our tyres to get through. EEEEK was what we thought - lucky for us the weather had blown through and cleared the ice and snow so there was no need. Phew. Saw the amazing sights of the mountains - brumbies and snow and sheep traffic jams - all that you can imagine. Arrived in Cooma early in the arvo and settled into Made & Cheryl's lovely home. Made was still at work so Kim headed off to the hairdresser for some well earned pampering, while domestic Marg did some washing and chatting. Hee hee. When Made got home we had a huge catch up then headed to Cheryl's Pizza Shop and tasted the delicasies of the town. It was lovely. The next day we went walking with Made and saw the town of Cooma, had a lovely BBQ lunch, squeezed in a massage (Evelyn you are an angel) and had quite an early night to prepare for the city leg of the journey.