Jan and Brian have lived on the properties for thirty years and are both keen shooters, holding seven national titles for marksmanship between them. They currently run merino sheep on the property, growing superfine wool and yes a shearing demonstration is part of the tour. Brian's great grandfather came to the property whilst working in the goldfields, bought a small block and eventually built it up to 16,000 acres. Since then the land has been split up into smaller parcels, if you can call 4400 acres small.

A combination of Australian country charm and hospitality, good food, good conversation and no doubt one of the most beautiful places on earth, all contribute to a day you'll never forget. The tour itself is a culmination of many things including four-wheel driving, as your able driver Brian takes you up and down the many bush trails in surprising comfort past the native black cypress pines, pointing out the many interesting natural features and historical relevance of the land.

First stop on the tour is the amazing Lion's Head Portal, a huge rock formation precariously balanced like some magnificently incredulous sculpture, making for some amazing photo opportunities.

Next it was on to Balancing Rock above Matong Falls for morning tea where you really start to appreciate the grand scale of the geological features that make the Matong Gorge, one of the most awe inspiring places not just in the Snowy Mountains but anywhere in the world. Hundreds of metres below the cliffs on which you stand, a beautiful waterfall cascades down the side of the gorge into a rock pool.

Old-style country hospitality is something that obviously comes naturally to the Mitchell's with one of the highlights of the day being Jan's magnificent lunch accompanied by great conversation, laughter and stories as you would expect on an authentic Australian country property.

For millennia, the Snowy River has been carving out some of the most breathtaking scenery and rock formations that really have to be seen to be believed - the Stone Bridge - which is no doubt the grand finale of the tour where the Snowy River over thousands of years, has undercut the massive slabs of granite creating caves and structures of rare beauty and fascination described by author Professor George Seddon as ‘the most unique and significant feature on any Australian river’. The rocks are sculptured in so many forms that every camera shot is a work of natural art; the stone twists and flows as if it too were liquid like the water that shaped it.

The outside of the Stone Bridge is magnificent enough but crawling inside a cave whilst the Snowy River rushes through, watching the light penetrate through crevices bouncing off the flowing river gives you a feeling that you are witnessing something never seen before and ironically, it is the Snowy Scheme and the reduction of flow down the Snowy River that has uncovered this great beauty.

Amazingly, inside the cave, you can watch the Snowy River disappear under the rocks only to re-emerge approximately one hundred-fifty metres downstream into a bubbly rock pool before resuming its journey towards the ocean – a very rare geological occurrence.

It is amazing how after a tour containing so many elements, at the end of the day, you are totally and utterly relaxed. Jan said ”This place has a great ambiance; if you have a love of nature, if you enjoy a magnificent view, peace and quiet, if you like the bush, then this is for you. Some people just sit and feel the vibration going through the rocks, others just watch the water cascading down. It's a place that appeals to the soul.” “Everybody who does the tour takes away something different, whether it is the natural features that they love or the four-wheel driving they enjoy, and for some people, it's just chilling out in our hammocks under the veranda.”