Bought a big box of the higher density ear plugs from Bunnings a year ago. 200 pairs will reduce the impact of bogans and canines for a few years.
I checked out Diggings and Ngairo on Tuesday arvo when I was down there (as not skiing due to inability to reserve spots in that sh#* show online ballot) and both virtually empty. Also checked out Leatherbarrel and Tom Groggins on Wednesday- both deserted. Thredbo day carpark was virtually empty at 5pm that afternoon. All very frustrating this Covid business, but had a nice walk up the Cascades trail to find some snow with the family which we wouldn't normally do.
All seems a bit underdone and overly cautious - like it's fine to go to the supermarket but, a pit toilet (virtually the only touch point I can think of in NP camping setting) can only safely cope with half the number of campers...give me a break.
I was out skiing out to Ruined Castle at Falls yesterday with my family after we aborted plans to ski the lifts there because of the new 6+ week restrictions on Melburnians travelling (and now the lifts are closed) and the skiers and boarders were bunched up there too on Towers chair. So by comparison the NSW campsites with all sites open would be MUCH safer.
I thought the point was we should avoid travelling full stop? The virus doesn’t move, we move it. We stop moving, the virus stops moving. Virus dies.
Mtn. Creek or Tom's Hut would do the trick for car camping vaguely near Fall's Creek. Even the picnic spot just past the tennis courts at Bogong Village could be a sneaky pack up early kind of car camping spot.There are spots along the Ovens river for car camping before taking on Hotham or Feathertop.
Hi all, just an FYI. Looks like there has been a number of cancellations of bookings for island bend probably due to VIC residents being in lockdown. There is now availability until the end of the season. Might want to book spots for those who missed out initially.
All well in theory. Reality is hiding at home for who knows how long while COVID denying numpties carry on the spread regardless!
I went for a drive down to Island Bend last Wednesday at about 3pm. Only 3 or 4 campsites setup. So either the rest of the bookings were changing over that day or the people staying pack up their site each morning before going for a ski. I assume it was actually lots of no shows, with the difficulty in getting lift tickets I suppose that’s not surprising.
Sent Parks an email Wednesday last week advising that i would like to cancel reservation for this week. Just received an email today! "Good afternoon Northsail, Thank you for your enquiry about cancelling your existing booking at Kosciuszko National Park. The cancellation of this booking can be processed as per our Terms and Conditions that I have listed below. - No refund will be provided if you change/cancel any part of your registration. - All booking fees are non-refundable. I have also attached a copy of the Terms and Conditions to this email for you to review. If you wish to continue with the cancellation of this booking, please respond to this email or call us on 13000 72757 (13000 PARKS)."
So you may as well not bother canceling, it’s just going to cost your time. Really encouraging folks to release unwanted bookings. Poor, very poor.
Maybe check that as I cancelled two bookings and received the following; Thank you for your enquiry about cancelling your existing bookings at Kosciuszko National Park. We apologise for the delay in responding to you. We are currently experiencing a high volume of enquiries. I have sent a request to have your bookings cancelled and a refund will be issued back to the credit/debit card used for payment. Please allow up to 10 business days for this refund to be received. You will receive a booking cancellation confirmation email within 3 business days. Please let me know if you do not receive this. If you have any further questions please visit our website or contact us on 13000 72757 (13000 PARKS).
I also got a refund pre season when I noobed up and accidentally booked the wrong campsite. Called parks and asked if they could cancel it, they did so and returned my $6.
Me also. Not pleasant, but not the end of the world. Fingers crossed it's negative! I just saw that the Jindabyne Lake Hotel has made the news as the 1st hotel in NSW to be closed down for flouting social distancing rules. Not the publicity Jindy businesses need right now.
It gets worse. They have been getting regular warnings for 2mths of breaking the rules. Shutting them down for a Sunday, Monday and Tuesday is basically letting them off.
Oh. When I had my test I asked if I was allowed to ask about the number of positives in cooma overall and they said yes. So I asked how many total? The answer was zero. Great work Cooma.
I tried cancelled a camping booking through the same website that I booked it, and this is the email response I got back from NWPS on 7th July. No follow up.
we are down next weekend. All booked and ready to break the van in for some alpine camping. Unfortunately the thermal inserts for the poptop haven't arrived yet, so the kids will have to layer up the top a bit more. They don't arrive till the end of July, then we have to get them sent down from Gosford.
You can buy neoprene from spotlight in most thicknesses. Then you could make a slipover sheath for the pop top fairly easy.
I am thinking sticking up on the inside and hold in place with velcro. If the rumour mill I am getting about imminent border closures for NSW, I might not be skiing next weekend anyway.
Bubble wrap and gaffa tape. I used an old blanket cut into shapes for years and it made a huge difference on the canvas pop-up section.
Not in-situ at Island Bend yet but made a field trip yesterday to scope conditions. Wow! The snow was very deep in places (the wrong places, corners that have been known to harbour ice on the roads) and wet and very slippery as it would compact. When trying a normally simple drive in normal snow, the Triton with new A/T's, low ratio and diff lockers just slid off on a minor incline into the side ditch. We had to use Max Tracks to get any traction at all - the usual remedies didn't work. Planned to take van up today, but delayed on the basis of that inspection and whilst I'm planning to go up tomoz, I will be taking it very, very careful once I get to the Island Bend turnoff. Guthega Road was otherwise fine. Bookings are now available again, as they have learnt that a large percentage of campers who booked weren't turning up. There were signs of abandoned camps after the big snowfalls, but still very few campers compared to a normal season.
Funny experience yesterday at Island Bend. I was looking for Plan-B sites in case I couldn't get to my fave spot and I found conditions very, very tricky. Turning around in 25cm of slush was so difficult compared to turning around in 50cm of dry snow, so many of the Plan B sites I know well were off limits for a few days yet. As I was leaving the area and about to get to the relative safety of a cleared Guthega Road, we noticed the road was blocked by two minivans, with arms waving us down. They were low-riding mini vans completely full of sub-continent snowplay enthusiasts, who asked us if this was the camping area? "Ah, yes, but surely you are not attempting to go camping in these 2WD vehicles without chains?" "Yes" they replied "We came over hear because the two camping areas up toward Thredbo were closed due to too much snow." We asked if they had chains, shovels, snap straps? "No", so we immediately told them (in that sort of voice) that they shouldn't even think about camping under prevailing conditions. We left and belly laughed for about 30 minutes straight. I don't mind people having a crack, but this was as ridiculous as I have ever experienced.
I won’t even think about not fitting chains When trying to get to the upper camp site at IB while towing the camper again in 6” of fresh .
Planning on camping at the bend this weekend, chains and shovels (plural) packed in the back of the pajero
That was just pissed of at 1/2 hour of shoveling and fitting chains, yehaa was at the Guthega turnoff.
What a difference the ball weight of the trailer makes with chains on the rear! I learnt the lesson about chaining up with a trailer on differently going very slowly as I knew there was a chance the next corner would be interesting I ended up doing a 180 in super slow motion and then fitting chains for about 3kms before I was out of the snow.
On the subject of chains, I need to invest in a pair for our new Forester. What is everyone using? Are the cheap Autotecnica ones OK or is it worth spending substantially more for the Konig brand etc. ?
I've only just seen this comment Coolair, and whilst I'll pretent to be offended, I'm more concerned about the number of Likes you received!!! Consequently, your spot has been re-allocated. In fact, a lot of spots have been reallocated, possibly due to the amount of snow on the ground and the knarly state of the track down to the bottom camp area. The high ground is premium real estate this year!
I've got V2 branded chains for my Forester and my Pajero and I've used them on each vehicle a few times each. The V2s are often used as hire chains. I bought each pair second hand on Gumtree for under a $100. They are better than the really cheap Autotechnica ones with thicker links for longevity. The cheapies will still work and can be ok I think if you are not gong to be putting lots of ks on them. If buying any brand of chains second hand, check for perishing of rubber and platic parts and check for worn or damaged links. Most importantly, do a trial fitting. Do that with new ones too. You are better to have practice at home in some nice sunshine so that when you get out in sleet and cold wind it will be smoother to put them on plus the tyre sizes printed on the chain box/bag don't always fit truly. Chains come with a couple of emergency links so check for them when you are buying chains. If they are missing, get some...just in case.
https://www.xswinter.com/pages/traction.html I hve no association with V2 chains or any retailer - of anything! - I just think they are well made and affordable and a must if driving in and out of 2020 camping sites and on icy alpine roads. I've done a few slides in my 4wds with good tyres on snow and ice so I'm more likely to fit chains when conditions are dicey.
Yup, I’ve got similar self tensioning Konig’s https://bumps.com.au/konig-xg12-pro-suv-snow-chains-size-235.html
i've been rolling auto track auto tension chains for two season and they seem to be doing okay. Biggest killer I face is being forced to fit them while the roads are still clear!
Just spoiled myself with a new Mont bag. Expensive but similar in cost to 3 nights at the LJ in winter I know which one I prefer. Now to decide if the back of the Impreza is workable or stick to the swag/tent.
The back of our impreza is not flat when you fold the seats down. It’s a right old bugger get it really comfortable.
