Early Bird ? Not much of a worm

A quick report before Easter. Yes, I've been all over the place, very little of it in Thredbo. Annie and I did enjoy our time up north.

Thredbo early-bird lift passes close on April 5th. I am told there will be no local passes or shareholder discounts this year. If you don't want to pay full price for either a platinum or winter pass, then you best get online ASAP. It's not much of a discount but then it's not much of an early bird either. Just look at what North American resorts offer for really early birds.

Yep, as you can guess, I'm not happy with KT's approach to lift passes and I can bet there will probably be thousands of others more disgruntled than I. The good side (silver lining) is that the lift queues will be shorter still this year. I wonder when KT will realise they are a service industry and that by spending a little they can make a lot, whilst saving a little will cost them a lot. Oh well - life goes on.

Some extra special slope prepartion for 2010

Heavy mists and frosts have been seen on several mornings

Spectacular colour over Thredbo

Evening sky over High Noon

A watery place north of Sydney

Annie and I climbed mountains...

Took in the views...

Swam in the sea (no photos of that ;-)

The south coast gets its rain

And is wonderfully green again

The Big Grump:
I have not heard a single comment in the media from reporters or politicians or any one else regarding the massive inflationary effect a 62% increase in NSW electricity costs will have. Not only on the residents and businesses of NSW but upon all Australia with the inherent increases in interest rates and unemployment that always go with big jumps in inflation.

Without even taking into account the cost of home electricity, consider the following:

> Obviously electric trains and cars will cost more to run.
> Food preparation, storage in supermarkets, on farms, in warehouses will cost more.
> Lighting, lifts, security and air conditioning in every office, school, hospital, etc
> Street lighting, traffic controls, de-salination plants, water pumping
> The list goes on and on...

All these things will cost more and all of it will be passed on to the consumer and taxpayer.

Everyone knows how a 10% increase in petrol causes a huge rise in inflation. The NSW increase in electricity costs will cause such a hike in inflation that doubling the price of petrol couldn't generate.

And how green is this policy as more people burn fossil fuels and candles?

Are "they" all stupid or deliberately withholding this information from you?

Ask "them". They won't tell you that it's about selling off the industry.