Visitors crossing the carpark bridge at Perisher Ski resort may be thinking about clicking on their skis, but for Lowes Petroleum’s Steve Kay it’s reversing with precision to fill up the resort’s fuel tanks.
As a lad he may have been on the Perisher/Thredbo ski team, but today it’s as close as he gets to the runs, regularly delivering fuel to all the NSW ski resorts. With the Perisher delivery barely 100 metres from the main lodge, the skilled driver is close.
“I have to say, every trip I come up here, there’s always a new story of someone who’s doing the wrong thing and being reckless,” Steve says. “Especially this time of year and especially around the ski fields.
“Last week when I came up here, I got overtaken on a blind corner, double yellow lines. They didn’t just overtake me quickly: they overtook another truck and four other cars very slowly. It was very rattling. To be truthful they are lucky they are not dead.
“They really need to be patient: there’s no rush, the snow is not going anywhere and it’s not a racetrack.”
When you are driving fuel into the pristine Kosciuszko National Park, safety is paramount. Steve was rattled because with the narrow roads, the accident would have been unavoidable for all the other road users.
If anyone knows this ski area best, it’s Steve. Although he was born in Wollongong his parents moved to Jindabyne to run a ski lodge in the 70s. He spent 16 years in the ski/hospitality sector and has spent the last decade in the transport industry.
“I love it,” he says. “I’m on my own, I play my music and I’ve got my run to do (my drops) and pretty much left alone to do my thing. It’s good, I get the job done and then do it all again.”
Operating out of the Cooma Depot, Steve is also delivering to the Snowy 2.0, the largest committed renewable energy project in Australia.
The project involves linking two existing dams, Tantangara and Talbingo, through 27km of tunnels and building a new underground power station.
There are two critical points Lowes Petroleum supplies fuel – “Marica” where the shaft is being excavated and Tantangara meaning altitudes can a vary significantly, from 800m above sea level at Cooma to Tantangara at 1200m above sea level.
Year round that’s a lot of elements to contend with including snowy conditions for at least three to four months of the year making conditions very trying. The Lowes Cooma team are experienced at delivery logistics. Places like Charlottes Pass and Blue Cow, which is at the highest point, must have their fuel delivered for the season before the snow falls because by April/May there’s no access.
“We always make sure we leave time between deliveries so if the weather is bad, we are not taking any risks,” Steve says. “The beauty is there is a lot going on in the area all year round. Thredbo is very busy in the summer with mountain biking so that’s an all year-round delivery.”
Growing up in the area, Steve’s favourite customers are often some of the graziers and primary producers he has known for 30 years.
“Like Sylvia on the Ingebirah run,” he laughs. “I’ve got to have a cup of tea and a scone or I’m never going to get out of there. It’s not so much a job when you’re doing deliveries like that, it’s like a social visit.”
ACAPMA
