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