Mont Dragon Fly Tent – review (kind of)

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I have been looking for a new tent for yonks, each year I have said, I better get something that is better suited for alpine conditions. Ever since doing my first snow camp trip with my old MSR Hubba Hubba I have wondered about how well a proper 4 season tent would go and whether it was worth upgrading – noting that really the key difference between a 3 season and 4 season tent seems to be use of a full nylon inner in place of a mesh inner. That air gap between the fly and the inner is what keeps that warmth in. It (4 season) might also help reduce the need for my mega snow walls :) although they are a joy to build :)
I’m by no means a tent guru and my experience is pretty well limited to a couple of lightweight hiking tents and on the opposite end of the spectrum the taj mahal 3 room car camping tent for the minions..that said, that ain’t gonna stop me having an opinion :)

We speak for the trees.

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We speak for the trees.
Interesting week for tassie and the forests down there with the Bob Brown Foundation which is trying to end native forest logging – I don’t really understand all the legal arguments to be honest, but its nice to see a voice for the trees and one that has some grunt.
Here’s todays fun fact – did you know that the Dr Seuss book ‘Lorax’ was banned in a school in California because it unfairly portrayed the logging industry 😉 and .. get this.. a rebuttal story was made from a hardwood company..
“When the last tree is cut, the last fish is caught, and the last river is polluted; when to breathe the air is sickening, you will realize, too late, that wealth is not in bank accounts and that you can’t eat money”
here’s a picture of an enlightened tree, in a area of NSW where most the trees seem to be nothing but skeletons of their former selves.

We speak for the trees – (C) 2020 Gerard Blacklock, all rights reserved

Snow Trees.

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Snow Trees.
One of the most enjoyable things about taking photos in the snow is the search for the perfect tree, the tree that stands out and is isolated from its surrounds.
Looking back at my GPS track for the morning and it looks like a crazied lost drunk dudes path! – quite often i spot a tree in distance, barely visible in the fog which looks awesome so i spend 10 minutes trudging thru the snow to get to it only find out its actually not as good as it looked, but then i spot another and so the process continues
This little gum was one of the better ones and coupled with some nice cloud it made for a nice scene.

Snow Trees.

Phallic Rock

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Remember, whilst one person may see the side that is a square jawed hero, others may see something completely different, like a dick.
Same rock, two different angles (90 degrees to be exact, but whos counting)

Never take life for granite

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Never take life for granite and make sure someone has got your back.

Sometimes in life you just need someone there to break the back of the wind, not to take it all away, but take the edge away.

This little tree and his rock pal were a pair of standouts on this hill up from the Thredbo River, not a majestic snow gum yet, but hopefully one day it will take the place of so many of the old and falling snowgums.


(C) 2020 Gerard Blacklock, all rights reserved

Balls of Steel

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Thelma Point. I visited this little spot some years and have always wanted to get back with the right conditions, its a fine balance between too much water flowing over the rockshelf and not enough to create a nice cascade.

Its also a good reminder to watch the sea and never assume that just cause there has not been any waves come across for 5 or 10 minutes that its all sweet. This spot, on this morning, had some odd rhythms to it, it would go almost 12 or 15 minutes without a wave making it over the shelf, then you get a whole bunch, like 5 or 6 waves that would nail it.. and when those bunker busters are pounding the pavement its hard to hold your own

Taken with the very nice KaseFilters 1.2 grey graduated filter for a shutter speed of 1/4s

Balls of Steel