This easy snowshoe day trip will visit Gooandra Homestead, venue for the annual ANUMC Mid Winter Feast (sadly cancelled for 2016). Dating back to 1913, this restored historic four room timber house features an excellent stone fireplace in which we can light a cosy fire for lunch. 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 less than three hours’ drive from Canberra, 15km north of Kiandra. Access is an easy 5km (no big hills) along either a fire trail that leads past the nineteenth century gold fields of Six Mile Diggings or through beautiful sub-alpine bush untouched by the ravages of bushfire. The trip is suitable for beginners. Maps: Tantangara & Ravine 1:25,000.
It looks likely that there will be sufficient snow cover this weekend to make this low elevation snowshoe trip possible. If there isn’t enough snow we will instead go to higher ground and explore either the area around Simpsons Diggings the trails around Mt Selwyn.