Snowy Extravaganza 2.0

04 April 2026 / Words by Simon & Cathy Trickett. Photos by Simon Trickett, Lili Chen, Rob Wilkins, Nick Satsia, Rod Nicholas and Bob the Drone

Snow, wind and rain was the long-range forecast but the six cars and 11 people that were starting from Canberra were greeted with blue skies and barely a breeze. Leaving Hall, we headed along the highway to Jugiong for our first refreshment stop. We were joined on the run by Joanne and Adam from Sydney who had come down the night before. It was great to meet both of you and have you along for the weekend.

The Long Track Pantry was the chosen café. Their website states they are the #1 café in Jugiong, from what we saw, they are the only café in Jugiong so not a difficult accomplishment!

Leaving Jugiong, it was good to see the four NDs lined up waiting patiently for the superior (IMO) NCs to pass and take up their rightful position at the front of the convoy.

NDs wait for the NC to take charge

We had a short stint back on the Hume, before turning off into Tumbalong, where we briefly doubled the population! Heading down what turned out to be previously undriven roads for all of us, we motored on towards Adelong (sorry Rod for the small stretch of dirt).

In Adelong we met up with Emily and her friend Jenny who live close by and who were joining us on the run. More new MX-5 friends, welcome to you both. Emily had recently purchased her first MX-5, a 35th edition car in the lovely Artisan Red with beige soft-top and trim, not sure where you go to from here but for me this is the top of the MX-5 tree. It reminded us fondly of a Heritage NB that we once owned.

Where do we go from here ...

It was only a short drive from Adelong to Tumbarumba where we had lunch and were able to have our first proper chat with the interstate members of the group. Lunch at Café Nest was pleasant as always, great service and yummy food. Following lunch most of us topped up our cars as this would give us sufficient range to get us back to Canberra. We felt the pain in our wallets as we paid $2.89l, at least we don’t have diesels as this was closer to $3.55l!

Driving towards Jingelic we crossed the Murray River and into Victoria. Parallelling the Murray we drove to the Mt Alfred look out and the eagle sculpture. While we were parked a ‘pose’* of Porsches went past tooting their horns and giving us a wave – I bet they were jealous of our little Zoom Zoomers!

The stretch of road beyond Granya is popular with the motorbike fraternity and although we didn’t come across any bikes, we certainly found out why the road is so well liked. Third gear corners that just flow into each other all while weaving their way through forest. It was all over too soon as we turned onto the Murray Valley Highway and headed for Corryong, our overnight stop. This section of road was hit hard by the recent bushfires and while the road was in good condition, the trees and bushland were definitely looking the worse for wear. It was encouraging to see many native trees already sprouting new growth, the same can’t be said of the pines which are normally in abundance through these parts.

Arriving in Corryong five of the seven cars pulled into the Corryong Country Inn. Dinner was at the Corryong Hotel Motel, only a short walk from our motel. It was here that we caught up with The Breakfast Club who were also in town that night. They offered up the chance to depart with them ‘before dark’ the following morning, but this was politely declined as we had no intention of leaving that early!

It was a cool start to the second day and a few of us wandered down into Corryong to seek out some breakfast. There was not much on offer early on a Sunday morning, but the bakery was open thank goodness and the coffee was good.

It wouldn’t be a Snowy run without visiting part of the Snowy Hydro infrastructure. This time it was the Khancoban Pondage which the Murray 2 Power Station drains water into. Before commencing our ascent of Mt Kosciuszko, we stopped off at the Pickled Parrott Providore in Khancoban for drinks, morning tea or breakfast for some.

The run from Khancoban up the Alpine Way towards Thredbo did not disappoint. Seventy kilometres of pure top-down MX-5 driving pleasure. Sweeping bends, scenic views, hairpins, up hill, downhill all while surrounded by forests. If you have never driven this road, it is well worth the trip (maybe once the fuel prices have dropped a bit).

At the top of Kosciuszko, we pulled over into Dead Horse Gap (local history states that the remains of around 26 brumbies were found under the South Rams Head range during spring after a winter thaw). A popular place to stop for hikers, it also allowed us to regroup after the long ascent. In the meantime, a couple of us took the opportunity to have a snowball fight as there were still remnants of the snow that had fallen a few days prior. A snowman (which looked more like a duck) was assembled by Maryanne and Rod for the photo op. Just as we were about to leave, ‘MXFUN’, a Victorian MX-5 pulled over, we had a quick chat with the driver before they headed off towards Victoria after spending a few days driving the great roads in these parts.

The gang, with added Snow Duck

A short time later we stopped at the Jindabyne Brewery for lunch and to sample some of their fine ales. A few were also purchased to be enjoyed at home.

Leaving the brewery, it was found that one of the ND boots wouldn’t open with the key fob or button. The only positive about this was that it was at the end of the run and not at the start! A couple of cars headed directly for home, but for those remaining there were a few more sweeping bends and scenic views to be had as went back to Cooma via Dalgety and the undulating hills south of Cooma.

Heading in to Dalgety

A final pitstop in Cooma saw Emily and Jenny turn south towards Tumut while the rest turned north and headed for home.

For the most part the roads were devoid of other vehicles (and wildlife which is always a good thing!), the weather couldn’t have been better, and the accommodation and food stops were all quite agreeable. We also had the pleasure of meeting new people who also share an interest in our great little cars.

Thank you to all, especially to those from further afield than Canberra, for joining us on the most enjoyable, Snowy Extravaganza 2.0 (3.0 is already in the planning stage, possibly a 2-night run next time…see you in 2027!).

Thanks again to Rob for creating the Relive videos:
Day 1 - https://www.relive.com/view/v7O9g99k4Qq
Day 2 - https://www.relive.com/view/v26MzQnY23q
Plenty more photos on our Facebook page too – thank you Lili.

* The collective noun for a pack of Porsches is a ‘pose’.