Yarrangobilly Caves Thermal Pool

I recently spent some time down in the Snowy Mountains. I was there to walk some of the tracks around Thredbo, including the walk to the summit of Mount Kosciuszko. It was a very cold week for late autumn while I was there, with temperatures ranging from -3ºC to 5ºC. There was even a snowfall up above 1900 metres, most of which was still around on my first day of walking. With temperatures like those I shied away from a swim in a very cold Thredbo River, and instead travelled to Yarrangobilly Caves where there is a thermal pool.  The caves are in a karst region of the Snowy Mountains, and several are open to the public as show caves. They are within the Kosciuszko National Park. The pool was constructed to contain the waters from a hot spring emerging from the limestone. The water is 27ºC all year round. The pool is 20 metres long and deep enough to dive into (if you're that way inclined). I did several lazy lengths, feeling quite warm despite the cool mountain air.

The thermal pool

The hot spring water drains from the thermal pool and flows downhill to meet the Yarrangobilly River about twenty or more metres away. There's a small zone in the river where the waters are warmed by the hot spring water. I enjoyed sitting in this warm river pool, but then, as I swam out into the river itself, the water got colder and colder. By the time I'd crossed the swimming hole it was downright icy. This was a very quick swim indeed.

Yarrangobilly River swimming hole

I soon warmed up on the very steep half kilometre walk back up the hill to the caves themselves.

Walking back to the caves from the pool

Swimming In An Onsen

The last week or so, temperatures in Sydney have been incredibly hot, and it's been great to swim in the ocean and the harbour in cool saltwater. On Sunday it reached 41 degrees Celsius, and we complained again and again about the heat (except when we were splashing about in cool seawater).

I was remembering a holiday in Japan during their cold, snowy winter. We spent quite a lot of time (especially after skiing) soaking in onsens (volcanic thermal mineral springs). These baths, indoor and outdoor, are always over 40 degrees - precisely the air temperatures we're grumbling about here and now. Still, they felt rather special after the snow.

Most onsen, and outdoor rotemburo, were small, deep baths, with just enough room for a couple of people to sit comfortably. Sometime, they were large enough to do a bit of floating. But in Beppu, there was an onsen complex, Kitahama Termas Onsen, with an outdoor swimming pool sized hot spring. This was just great to swim around in, then we would vary this routine with the huge outdoor spa, the hot waterfall, the mist baths and the (very) cold "squall" shower and bath.