Not With A Bang But A Whimper (and a Howl)

Mother Nature had the final say in the end of the summer season in Thredbo. She turned it on, on Friday, and kept it going until Monday (today), when the clouds parted revealing a crystal clear, crisp, blue sky.

The weekend was the final weekend of the mountain bike season and the last chance to ride the Kosciuszko Express chairlift before being taken off-line for pre-winter maintenance.

Ol' Mum blew and cried across the valley. Winds reached 113kph and wind chills went sub zero. There was more than 27mm of rain that, at times, howled like an unleashed fire hose. The weather conditions meant the cancellation of the special Jazz lunch and dinner sessions at Eagles Nest and the chairlift never even opened up for Sunday due to the wind.

By contrast, the 29th Thredbo Jazz Festival went off with a bang. Yes, Ol' Mum forced all the wet weather alternate venues to come into play, denying some the experience of playing and singing outside by the poolside and in the Village Square but this year's smaller crowds made the numbers manageable when moving a poolside audience into the Lounge Bar.

The artists, many of whom I have not had the pleasure of seeing before, were a treat and as usual brought a wealth of talent and entertainment to the village. All in all, a most pleasurable weekend, even if spent indoors.

Proceedings got underway on Friday evening with the John Harkins Quartet in the Lounge Bar

Mahalia Simpson in the Kosi Room was one of the headline acts

... bringing a stunning new voice into the world of Jazz

Feel The Manouche with a rarely seen hatless George Washingmachine on violin
And swing dancers in front of The Big Ol Bus Band in the Lounge Bar

Blues Point Vocal Group
George has become such an integral part of Thredbo Jazz scene that may be it's time we renamed the festival
The Washingmachine Festival ;-)

Dale Barlow on piccolo sharing an impromptu moment in the Schuss Bar with
Lisa & Mark Fitzgibbon, Craig Scot & Danny Fischer

The Big Ol Bus Band demanded and received audience participation with their deep south vibe

John Morrison standing on far left with his ever-so talented John Morrison Student Band
during a warm-up session in the Kosi Room

The Afro-Cuban salsa beat of Chukale

Indeed there was something for everybody :-)

Thanks to all the performers, their support teams, the always hard working sound guys, our regular and generous sponsors - Yalumba, the organisers, the volunteers, the village staff and of course the avid listeners and everyone else I forgot.

Slowbums double chair is operating to help get you towards the top of the mountain, if not the top. Bring on the white stuff. No, we didn't get any over the weekend but it's not far away.

Alas, it's on again. The NSW government is calling for a massive Brumby cull - to the point of decimation. Why? Because they're an easy target for horse haters and our politicians have no idea.

There's no mention of culling the rapidly-expanding feral deer population, the feral goats, the wild dogs, the feral cats, the huge rabbit population or the vast numbers of foxes.

Do brumbies eat more of our native fauna (pygmy possums, emus and the like) than the dogs, cats and foxes? Do they breed faster than rabbits? Do they eat more native species of flora than the deer and the goats? No, but there are those that hate the horses more than the rest. The government was very quick to remove the non-native willow trees planted to hold the hillsides together but the blackberries, burrs and lantana remain. What are they thinking? What are their priorities?

What wildlife (dead or alive) do you see when driving through the Snowy Mountains National Parks? As you can imagine, I'm not finished with this one. Get on-board http://www.savethebrumbies.org/