Great Scot May 2020 Great Scot 159_MAY 2020_ONLINE_V3 | Page 76
OSCA
Koomerang
EVACUATION FROM THREDBO
A ‘surreal’ drive from Thredbo to Canberra during the summer’s bushfires
Despite the ferocity of last summer’s
widespread bushfires, Koomerang Ski
Club’s four lodges escaped unscathed,
though all the lodges were evacuated
and closed for bookings between 4 and
20 January. Two of the evacuees from
the Thredbo lodge were new Koomerang
member, Phil Young (‘81), and his wife,
Lynda. Here, Phil tells this story of the
couple’s evacuation from the club’s
Thredbo lodge during the bushfire
emergency:
‘I enjoyed visits to Thredbo and to Buller
over the 2019 ski season, so I decided to
book a new year 2020 trip to Thredbo to
do some hiking with Lynda, and to see out
2019 walking to the summit of Kosciuszko.
A few friends asked us if we were worried
about the fires, but when we arrived at the
Koomerang lodge on 29 December the
main concern was just the smoke and haze.
‘We had a wonderful two days’
bushwalking but then it all got too much.
During our walk back from Cascade Hut the
emergency services teams had driven in to
ask everyone to get out: they were worried
about the fires coming up from Victoria.
Those fires got progressively worse, and
closer. We went in to Jindabyne on new
year’s eve for a coffee, only to discover just
as we arrived that the roads were being
closed back to the resort. We promptly
drove back, to be told at the park entrances
to "stay at the lodge until informed
otherwise".
‘What did that actually mean? We
got back and there was no real sense of
urgency or concern. I asked one couple
in the village whether they planned to
evacuate and they had no clue that the
situation had become that bad.
Having decided to wait and see, we
went to the pub for dinner and I had a
couple of refreshing new year’s eve beers.
We sat outside only to have dirty rain fall
on us, at which point concerns with fires
eased somewhat.
‘Little did I know that when we got back
to the lodge, and with the glorious views
of Thredbo virtually blocked by smoke,
Lynda had sensibly become uncomfortable
staying on. Well, you’ve never seen the
Soccer
OLD SCOTCH
SOCCER CLUB HITS
THE FIELD RUNNING
THE OLD SCOTCH SOCCER CLUB CARDINALS TEAM,
PICTURED IN 2019
lodge cleaned up as quickly as we did, and
off we went to drive to Canberra.
‘The drive was surreal. We saw only
three or four cars, and many fire trucks. It
was quite amazing driving 150km entirely
in smoke, and Canberra was a smoky
hell. The next day it wasn’t until we got to
Wodonga that it started to clear.
‘As a footnote, we hope to complete our
walk to Kosciuszko before the ski season
starts. Finally, I can’t sing the praises of
the Koomerang lodges too highly, nor too
often. We are looking forward to checking
out the other three Koomerang lodges in
the coming season.’
Koomerang President, Prudence Barker,
added: ‘We were pleased to report all
resorts − and our lodges − were untouched
by the fires. However, we were acutely
aware that the regions, and many of their
traditional summer activities, were not so
fortunate. When the resorts reopened, we
encouraged the Koomerang community to
show its support by visiting the resorts and
surrounding areas or participating in the
various fundraisers.’
The Old Scotch Soccer Club’s season was scheduled to begin on 21 March, until
the COVID-19 pandemic caused an indefinite delay. Once the season starts, the
club will field six men’s teams and eight junior teams for boys and girls. Our home
games are played at H A Smith Reserve in Glenferrie Road.
Training for the first and reserves teams began in January, with several new
players making their presence felt with impressive training form. Among the new
faces have been two young Old Boys from the Class of 2019, Callum Oblak, a
member of last year’s school 1st XI Soccer team, and Declan Dumville, who played in
Scotch’s 2nd XI soccer team in 2019. Both will play on Saturdays with Old Scotch.
Training for the Sunday teams began in February. An enthusiastic group of young
Old Boys from last year’s Scotch 3rd XI Soccer team has formed the nucleus of one
of the Sunday teams.
If you’re interested in playing competitive or more social soccer, you will be made
most welcome at our club. Email us for more information ([email protected]).
For juniors, the email address for more information is [email protected].
The club warmly welcomes players, sponsors, volunteers (to help with the many
tasks involved in putting 14 teams on the field each week), and of course supporters.
We are a great club, enjoying excellent training and playing facilities at
H A Smith Reserve, and we encourage Scotch Family members to be part of it all.
JIM KEEP (‘77)
76
Great Scot Issue 159 – May 2020