TRAVELLERS often stop in Adaminaby for a snack, a toilet break or to check out the distinctive Big Trout on their way to Somewhere Else. That Somewhere Else might be the snow in winter (Selwyn Snow Resort is just up the road), Tumut and Blowering Dam, or any of the fishing and camping spots in the Kosciuszko and Namadgi National Parks along the route. But the Snowy Mountains town is much more than just a stop. It is worthy of a stopover. And a big look around. That is why the Adaminaby Chamber of Commerce has just spent more than $10,000 adding information panels and murals to buildings in the town centre. As spokesman, Tim Corkill, said, "to let people know about all the amazing activities and sights available in the area". The work has enhanced the former toilet block, the new toilet block and the park surrounding the famous Big Trout sculpture. A mural by Daniel Hend from Mullumbimby and Tasmania created from a photograph of the Yaouk Valley, to the north of Adaminaby adorns the new toilet block. Information panels about activities available in both national parks and in the region generally, along with information about the Snowy Scheme and Snowy 2, have been placed on the outside of the old toilet block, which is currently a storage shed. "We wanted to let people know that there is more to Adaminaby than just a stop for the toilet or a coffee," Mr Corkill said. "There is bushwalking, fishing, skiing, snowboarding and snow play, horse riding, mountain scenery, flora and fauna and, of course, Lake Eucumbene and water activities. "The region has a rich history with the Kiandra goldfields and the Snowy Mountains Scheme." The murals and information panels were funded by a Snowy Hydro Community grant of $9800 and topped up with Chamber and Snowy Scheme Museum funds. Adaminaby township once lay nine kilometres further southwest, until it was the first town to be flooded by Lake Eucumbene as part of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme. The town and most of its significant buildings were re-located (sometimes brick by brick) to higher ground in 1956. Lake Eucumbene is the largest lake in the Snowy Scheme, holding nine times the volume of water of Sydney Harbour. Its Snowy Scheme Museum has become a major attraction and an adjunct to the Snowy Hydro Visitor Centre in Cooma.
