Summer Alpine Walk Among Wildflowers

Hello Friends,

This is Part 2 of my walk in the Snowy Mountains. You can find Part 1 here.

Last week ( 6-9 February) I set off with two of my dear women friends for a camping and bushwalking adventure without children, something I have not done for about 25 years. I left behind the roles of mother/partner and was just myself for a few days.

Our base camp was at Thredbo Diggings, a wonderfully natural campground in the Snowy Mountains National Park, right on the Thredbo River. Being mid-Summer, the weather was mild enough to sleep under the stars (but we were prepared for anything, even snow!). The following days we would be up on top of the ridge we could see above the river (in the picture below), above the tree-line.

We collected dead wood (from outside the National park) for our campfire, and set up tents with a great view of the river. I slept under the stars and was kept awake by a marauding possum sorting noisily through our pots and pans looking for food. I wondered if he'd have the audacity to climb into my sleeping bag with me, as he'd come right up to sit at our camp table to help himself to our food as we ate our dinner!

A great river for a quick cold dip after a long hot walk...

A dragon fly...

A crow's nest...

Sitting in a snow gum...

The start of our trail...

Almost above the tree-line...

Mt Kosciuszko is at the far left. It doesn't look much higher than the surrounding mountains, because it's further away in these pictures.

I love the wide expanse of open sky... the clouds change all the time in the wind.

Granite rock sculptures covered in lichen...

A funnel web spider hole... no fingers down there thanks!

Rivers begin here at the top...

My favourite flowers - the blue bells. These are the biggest I've seen anywhere.

The flower below is one I thought of as an anemone, but I 

found out it is Muellers Snow Gentian (Chionogentias muelleriana).

What a beautiful bridal bouqet this would make!!!

I love the herbal smell as we tread through the alpine plants, (never stepping on flowers, of course!). Such a fresh and unique scent - though I feel guilty treading even on the grasses, but they are so hardy.

Looking up to the top of Mt Kosciuszko, you can hardly make out a few dots of people on top.

I love the papery everlasting daisies...

A hollowed-out granite bowl...

Paper daisies in drifts at the foot of Mt Kosciuszko...

Some yellow daisies too...

So windy up here on the highest point of Australia -Mt Kosciuszko!!!

We walked 35 kilometres in two days. I was a bit sore afterwards, but it was worth it!

Old worn fence posts from the days when cattle were brought up to the high country to graze before the National Park protected it...

A few fresh  snow daisies...

Looking back over the start of our walk...

 The friendly duck at our base camp...

Driving home up the coast for 4 hours, a rainbow graced the sky...

Thanks Annie and Mini for a great walking trip!

Thank you, friends, for joining me on my journey...

Hugs,
Jesse XXX

Healing, Processing and Dreaming Time

Hello dear blogging friends,

I've been absent from Blogland for a while (since April!), processing big emotions from past events, and working out how to move on and grow.

It's affected my health, but I am getting support from many directions, and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. This hitting rock bottom has opened up the possibility of huge personal transformation, which takes time and inner work. 

The usual activities of my life have been shelved while emergency healing, reading, writing and talking have been the focus of the last few weeks. The warm cosy comfort of purring cats has helped me to come back to my feelings, which have been frozen for many years, taking much energy to remain incarcerated safely within.

Both of our cats are from the RSPCA, abandoned as kittens. The large grey cat is Willow, who was malnourished and terrified when we got her, a 4 week old bedraggled and skinny, shaking kitten. She didn't purr for a week, and I just held her in my jumper every day. She remains very traumatised - afraid to go outside, afraid to even go through a doorway to another room without pausing and fearfully running through.



They are family to each other now, and a special part of our family.

Both cats are a metaphor for me to learn from! Willow who carries her fear with her all the time, holding her back from life, and Gypsy who is well-adapted despite her early trauma. She was part of a litter dumped too young to be separated from their mother, and left in the rain to die.  

Like the cats, some people are more affected by their negative experiences, while others are more resilient. But unlike Willow, who might never learn to be brave and bold, people can make decisions and changes in their thinking patterns to grow more resilient. That's what I'm doing!

One of the best things that has come out of this experience is how books have come into my hand just at the right time. I have picked up many an interesting book at a garage sale, thinking, "I wonder if this book has something to say to me..." and brought them home to add to the pile of possibilities by my comfy chair for a spare moment. The pile at my chair ebbs and flows as I read them, put away or pass on those I've read, or decide it's not time yet for others, so into the cupboard they go for a while. 

And so I stumbled on these...

What a wonderful coincidence that my daughter's primary school is the first school in Australia to include a mindfulness course as part of its curriculum, and I attended a recent information night on it.

Subsequently I bought this book and CD which comes from rigorous research through the Oxford University. I'm into my third week of the course, and it's transformational. I'm feeling like the Ice Queen, melting into Spring (even though it's Winter here!).

The forest near our home has been a source of grounding, peace and inspiration to my process. Every day I spend some time there.

I'd like to take you on part of my walk and let you, too, hear and see the beauty of an Australian dry sclerophyll forest.

From our back gate I cross the bridge we made from fallen trees. There's rarely water here, only just after rain.

The tracks wind up to the ridge, some fire trails, some foot-worn paths.

The spotty gums are white after their old bark drops off. The ironbarks and spotty gums are over 30m tall...

The bird calls are amazing here... have a listen to a recording done on my smartphone:

I have discovered a superb lyrebird here, and I've been following him to watch and listen. I'll have some videos of him soon for you in another blogpost.

So until then, enjoy each moment as much as you can...

Jesse