The Mid-Winter Feast is an annual ANUMC social event combining an easy (though possibly cold and blustery) overnight high country bushwalk with a warm crackling fire, a snug high country hut and plenty of fine food and wine being shared amongst old and new friends. This year the 18th feast that I’ve run returns to Gooandra Homestead. Dating back to 1913, this restored historic four room timber house features an excellent stone fireplace which, despite the complete lack of modern insulation, does a reasonable job of keeping the main room warm and cosy. Nearby are the remains of an old chimney, all that remains of a small gold miners’ hut built at this site in the 1860s. The chimney is historically very significant, being the oldest standing structure in Kosciuszko National Park. Gooandra is located about three hours’ drive from Canberra, 15km north of Kiandra. Access is an easy 5km walking along a fire trail that leads past the nineteenth century gold fields of Six Mile Diggings and along beautiful sub-alpine bush untouched by the ravages of bushfire. The location is high enough (about 1380m above sea level) to be occasionally snow bound, therefore requiring snowshoes or skis to get in. This was so in 2013, 2011 and 2008 and would have been again had the trip been held in early July. Last year it snowed, but not enough to requiring the snowshoes and skis we carried. Maps: Tantangara & Ravine 1:25,000.
As per the trip description