Sorry things went a bit Sideways. (Great and appropriate film reference).
Took the family up to Bright in the Victorian Alps.
Alps is a fairly vague term which in Australias case the Mosquito bites in Victoria are the nearest we have.
We went up Mount Buffalo again and the change was unbelievable.
It was like evil super villian had sucked the life out of it.
A year ago this was a magical place.
Isolated from the main bit of the high country for millions of years it had developed it own little unique ecosystem.
Misty peat bogs and stunted snow gums.
We wandered around in the chill, damp and fog swirling around.
This winter there was no snow at all.
So there was no melt water to feed the peat bogs.
No protection from the cold for the pygmy possums
Then came the fires.
Which raced through the bone dry park.
Turning it into a dead place.
As a bitter aftertaste for some reason only the Europian wasps survived in frightening numbers.
Will it even come back?
I doubt it.
Not in my lifetime.
The incredible (Shining-like) lodge is closed.
The rangers look sad at the entry gates and no longer charge you a fee.
How could they?
The island in the sky is almost dead.
Yet I am but a climate change hysteric.
Pushing some agenda.
Reporting something you'd rather not hear.
It's getting harder and harder to cling onto that straw.
Harder to block up your ears.
As Arnold said
"You are a penguin on a little ice berg that is rapidly melting. Goodbye my little friend"
