Kozy to Arapiles

Well the fearful Mt. Kosciusko was a beast of a mountain, coming in at just over 7,000 ft towering over everything else in Australia. It is arguable whether or not the Mt. is considered one of the seven summits, as it's the highest in Australia but not on the Oceana continental plate, which is Carstenz Pyramid in Indonesia. All debate aside I thought it would be a fun thing to put on the to do list while here in Australia. It is located in the snowy mountain region of australia and I believe is part of the great dividing range. At the base of the Mt. there are several ski resorts. The actual hike itself to the summit of the mountain departs from the top of one of the Thredbo Resort chairlifts. It is recommended that it takes roughly 4-6 hours round trip from the top. The trail is actually a raised metal grate almost the entire way to keep people off the brittle alpine plant life. That being said there was no navigation required as you follow the yellow brick road to the top. I jogged most of it actually and made it to the summit in 49 minutes. Check that off the list I guess but wouldn't exactly consider it an accomplishment aside from actually coming to Australia to do it. The Kozy National Park was a beautiful mix of alpine mountains and Juniper bushes and I spent a few days in the area. If you haven't noticed Australians have a short name for just about everything not excluding the names of their National Parks. on the other side of the snowy mountain range I stayed in a small town having a weekend festival honoring the Man from Snowy River. I'm assuming the movie or book was based on this area? Anyway, it was a fun little redneck festival in a small farming town much like it would be in any similar town at home. I picture the Riggins Rodeo. I spent the entire next day driving across the state of Victoria to get to a place called Arapiles. It is a state park and an Internationally recognized climbing hot-spot, much like what Yosemite is like in the states. There is a base campground called the Pines which is similar to the reputation Camp 4 in Yosemite has attained. There are nothing but climbers here, some for a short time and some that have all but taken up a permanent residency in a tent. I love it here! My favorite part of Australia is oddly enough but definitely not the beach. The campground is a 2 dollar a night honesty system which fits well within the budget. The weather is awesome most of the time. It's nice being in one place for a while so I have time to cook and relax a bit. My typical day in Arapiles: Wake up to nice weather, cook breakfast, pack climbing bag for day, climb all day with thousands of routes to choose from within 5 minutes walking distance from camp, return to camp to cook dinner, search camp to find another partner for the next day and plan tomorrows routes, repeat. Awesome! The only thing better I could ask for is a solid partner, but there are plenty of climber here that are also in need of a partner so it works out well and it's a good way to meet new people. There are people here from all over the globe. Ironically enough the first two days of climbing here I paired up with a couple of firefighters from Seattle. Small world I guess. The closest tiny little town called Natimuk is about 5 miles down the road where you can pick up a few supplies and grab a shower every now and then at the paid campground. For anything major including gas and groceries you have to head into Horsham which is about 20 miles away. I may leave here with enough time to drive the Great Ocean Road which begins west of Melbourne and have a stop over in Melbourne for a night or two and see another friend of mine.......but then again.......I may just continue this sweet routine until I have to drive back to Sydney? So much climbing to do and so little time. I could easily spend several weeks here for sure.