A comment Darren left on my previous post got me thinking. How fortunate we are in this country to have the opportunity to ride waves, slide down mountains, roll down hills or do whatever it is you like to do that is any combination of challenging, dangerous, exciting and fulfilling.
With the affects of an another unseasonable east coast low hitting the coast lining up with a fresh dump of snow on the alps combined with Holly being away in Melbourne, this past weekend offered a chance for me to go crazy with adventure.
Saturday 3 August
6:29am
Berridale getting the show on the road
6:55am
Monaro Plains
7:17am
Nimmitabel
7:43am
Brown Mountain
8:02am
The beautiful far south coast of NSW
9:24am
A reeling sand bottom point break with a silly name with one bloke out
10:28
Delicious croissant from the lovely ladies at Bodalla Bakery with a bunch of old fellas and their bikes
10:31
The big cheese at Bodalla has seen better days
11:10
Found this fun looking wedgy left for another day
11:16
Another sand bottom reeling right hander, this time a rivermouth teeming with dolphins
13:32
On the search for one more surf
13:43
Clean beachbreak fun
13:45
The ledge had a couple as well
15:49
Heading back to the mountains
17:08
Cooma another 139km
Sunday 4 August
7:32
Snow on the hills
7:55
Coffee awake my weary body
8:17
Puking
8:22
Slow, snowy drive
8:28
Still snowy and still slow
8:32
A moment of clarity
9:54
Solo to the top on the Perisher quad
10:26
The pow is tracked and its starting to get crowded
10:54
Escape into the storm
10:57
!
10:58
!!
12:01
Paralyser top out
12:18
Skin track stoke
12:35
Wildness amongst the snow gums
13:17
Still hiking
13:40
Tight pow turns
13:44
Back into civilisation
15:39
Couldn't resist a final burn around the park before lounge time
Once again I had the incredible opportunity to help out with the Mountain Pygmy-possum monitoring program. The endangered Mountain Pygmy-possum (Burramys parvus) monitoring program has been going on in Kosciuszko National Park for at least 15 years. Some of the researchers have been involved with the program since its inception and regularly catch the same animals during the monitoring events.
A steep decline in numbers occurred following extensive bushfires in 2003 after which very few animals were captured. Over the past decade, numbers of these cute little marsupials have improved with more favourable conditions and the increased removal of feral predators. However, it is thought that this is a few as 2000 animals remaining.
I spent my first day helping out at Mt Blue Cow. The site is within the Perisher ski resort and is very popular for skiers and boarders in winter. A few years ago a large section of one of the most popular runs was fenced off from riders to protect the fragile possum population. Possum crossings have also been installed across a number of runs to allow small mammals to cross safe from the threat of predators.
Mel climbing the very rocky Mt Blue Cow
First possum for the day, so cute
More rock scrambling
Another cute possum
Twynam West Spur, one of my favourite places to ski in winter
Looks a little different in winter
Me holding the last possum we caught for the day
Wildlife crossing across the Side Saddle run
My second day helping out started at the Charlotte Pass ski resort, a short drive up Kosciuszko Road from Perisher. We started by clearing a line within the resort, a very rocky boulder field perfect for Pygmy-possums. We caught loads of possums and had fun jumping around the rocks. I didn't get any photos of this line as we had a fairly large group and were moving pretty slow as it was.
After Charlottes Pass we drove back towards Perisher to our second line of the day, The Paralyser. The line is a fair way up the valley and we spent about half an hour bush bashing to get to the first trap.
Location of the first trap, the road is way back down the valley
A sniff for freedom
The Paralyser is another of my favourite places to ski in winter. It is relatively close to the resort and offers some easily accessible interesting terrain.
Spring at the mini paralyser
Damian on The Paralyser during one of the biggest snow falls of the 2012 season
Lovely clear day and fresh snow on The Paralyser
We continued on our line catching a few possums and the odd fat and smelly bush rat.
A bit unsure
Posing in the sun
Love the snowgums, photos never do them justice
Rock ice shear
Definitely spring in the mountains
Knobby snowgum
We met back up with another team and shared the last few traps.
