A Long Weekend

The Queens Birthday long weekend in June is traditionally the beginning of the Australian ski season. This year it also coincided with my sisters birthday. To celebrate my sister her boyfriend and a bunch of good friends made the trek from Sydney to our mountain home.

The weekend started with some beers in town. I haven been to the pub for a few weeks and there are a lot of new faces in town. What’s with the tall boy long t-shirts and hoodies fellas? Im not that old, and im sure people said what I wore looked f*cked, but they do look a bit ridiculous.

Anyway, rant over. We had a few people staying at our house and other staying in town. We met for breakfast at the famous Serges Cafe. The snow isn’t great at the moment so we made the call for a walk up to Horse Camp Hut.

Breakfast at Serges



Pumped for the walk





The hut is quickly becoming my go to for a quick escape. Its only a 6km round trip but it feels like you have stepped back into Australia’s pioneering mountain past.





Holly and I





Patty’s full bore creek crossing assault



The hut







The Horse Camp Hut ghost was not impressed by all the noise



Leisurely walk back





Flat tyre, girls watch and laugh at boys





After our walk we had a big cook up and bonfire at our house. I unleashed a new drinking game on the crew which involves hammering nails into a stump. It sounds pretty simple and it is, last nail in has a shot of schnapps.







Following our big hike, some of the crew were pretty keen for a chilled out day exploring Thredbo village. The rest of us got into our ski gear and hit the road to Perisher. There is an amazing café at Perisher called Aldos where I end up most days on my morning tea break. I introduced the gang to the delights of the expertly cooked bacon and egg rolls and we watched the punters tearing up the terrain on front valley.

Two coffees later and we decided to save our cash and not ski. It is hard to commit to one run in the crappy weather. Dane was dressed in his most splendid 80’s fashion and was quite the poser.



We spent the evening at our house again, this time inside, as a new storm swept through the mountains. We cooked a heap of pizzas and celebrated Sophie’s birthday.





The final day we met again at another café for yet more bacon, eggs, toast and coffee.



The gang hit the road back to Sydney. It was an awesome weekend, Holly and I really enjoyed having everyone down. Things should change pretty rapidly now that the season has kicked off and it wont be long before I am out in the mountains enjoying some aussie powder.

South Coast Winter Surfing & Camping

With all the early snow we have had this year, I have mainly been climbing and sliding over the last few weeks. I was starting to yearn for the ocean and it was time for a saltwater soaking.

Holly and I left the mountains early on Saturday morning taking the familiar drive to Pambula. Surf wise, this past autumn has been one of the best for years with numerous east coast lows producing consistent east groundswells. Arriving at Pambula the effects of the first system of winter were evident. A clean 6ft swell was hitting the coast.



There is a great river mouth left hander in the area. I like to think of it as an Australian mini Mundaka. When I arrived there were only 5 blokes out with nice long waves reeling through. I paddled across the scary, cold, bar into the lineup and got some great waves. One I go felt like it went for 500m. A pod of dolphins surfed a set. It was nice to be back in the water.

Australian Mundaka





After the surf we hit up the local fish shop for some fresh sushi, something severely lacking up in the mountains. We drove to a beautiful campsite in the Mimosa Rocks National Park checking some other beaches on the way.





We pitched the tent metres from the beach, although the surf was massive out of control closeouts. The view was spectacular however. We watched the sunset and had chili con carne and beers by the fire. It was a bitterly cold night and holly and I froze our asses off in the tent. We really need to invest in some winter bags. I woke up early and enjoyed the misty sunrise.

Crap photo, nice campsite



Local wildlife





Sunsets….







… and sunrises







The surf was still pumping on Sunday





I went for a surf at a small pocket beach in the National Park. Although pretty much out of control I managed to dodge the bombs and get a few waves. Despite all the great waves around over the weekend this is the one of the only photos of me on a wave and it is a crap one, oh well.



We hit up Tathra Bakery for a feed and hit the road. Back in the mountains it was cold and windy as a new storm front moved through. It was a little amusing to see my wetsuit hanging out on the clothes line as sleet began to fall.

A Night at Horse Camp Hut

A few weeks ago I spent a night out at Horse Camp Hut. I had got some new gear, a Vango Tempest tent a Mountain Designs Reactor jacket and a Black Diamond Icon head lamp and wanted to test them out.

I hiked up after work and got to the hut right on dark. The sunset was beautiful over the local hills.











The hut was empty and I quickly made camp and got the fire going. Dinner was a delicious tuna pasta followed by some Port and chocolate.



I spent some time reading a book by Hunter S Thompson and watching Summer Heights High on my ipod. It was a beautifully clear, but cold night. I had a crack at getting some shots of the stars but found it a bit hard as I hadn’t brought my tripod. I managed one noisy blurry shot.



It got pretty cold, around -5C. I had a chilly night as my old synthetic bag is only rated to around +4C. I ended up wearing my down jacket. The new tent was great.





In the morning I had a quick breakly, a cup of tea packed up camp and walked back to the car.











It was a nice little adventure and all the new gear performed well. I think I will need to invest in a proper winter bag.