Day two Dead Horse Track

Another beautiful sunny Thredbo day. 14 intrepid walkers set off up the chairlift to eagles nest and from there we headed down to Dead Horse Gap, about 5kms. Darylene only stayed with us to morning tea before deciding the downhill stretch was not for her.  We walked from the alpine area ( >1850m) to the sub alpine area amongst the snow gums. Kerry kept a sharp look out for brumbies but all we could see was piles of horse poo -I am sure the horses were watching us in the bushes!  Sandy our intrepid leader was quizmaster asking us questions about the area and handing out Freddy frogs for correct answers. Sin Pin had her head to the ground looking at the array of flowers. Dianne was organising group photos for the blog.  Neil and I had to remember what was happening in order to write the report.  Gerard, Sin Pin and Maryanne donned their fly nets against the army of flies the rest of us just did the Australian wave.
Lunch was at the Dead Horse Saddle by the river. Doris and Hardy were first to put their feet in the freezing mountain water and along with Sandy and the rest of us tentatively followed.  Heading back to Threadbo along the river was a lovely way to finish the walk.  
Julie and Janice headed to the shop for ice cream, Kerry and Neil to the pub for a beer and others dispersed back to the lodge for a well earned cuppa.
Kerry and Neil

Common name Alpine Rusty Pods, scientific name Hovea Montana. 

Day one Mt Kosciuzsco 1st day of summer

Fifteen intrepid walkers spent their Sunday scaling Mt Kosciuszko from the steepest slope (the only one). Starting with a temperature of 10 degrees set off the scene - Dario managed, or coerced, the ski lift operator to give us a discount rate for the 10 minutes ride up & down. I noticed the operator shaking as we boarded the chairlift seats but that may be incidental.

Despite Sandy's warning of very cold weather & need of many extra layers, we had to shed  layers as we climbed.  Despite the weather warming up dramatically, there was still some snow on the mountain, which made the scenery picturesque and the walk across challenging.

We reached the top of Australia, Mt Kosciuszko after a few hours and took quite a number of photos. Julie insisted she could do better and had to stand on top of the cairn and be the tallest person in Australia. Some people will do anything to be noticed.

The 14 kms walk was impressive, long and tiring, coping with altitude, but worth every moment especially when led so professionally by Sandy and Dario, locals of Thredbo for 25 years.

Gerard

Morning tea at Mt Kosciusko lookout

Hurray we made it!