Snowy Mountains - 12th September

Weather for Jindabyne & Perisher Valley

Monday -1 / -5, Tuesday 5 / -5



See photo - 'Mum look it's snow' Riley yells from
the back seat.

We decided to have a late start for our departure from Canberra on a lovely Spring day (10 Degrees C with no wind), so after the morning rush hour we headed across the back of the city for the War Memorial, past the Airport and onto the to the Monaro Highway south to Jindabyne and the snow. Across another boarder we go.... We saw lots of 'Wombat' signs, and unfortunately we saw a lot of them .. on the side of the road.. it would have been nice to see a live one! Along the way we passed thru Cooma for some supplies at the local Aldi and into the local Ski shop for gloves......... yes you guessed it, for use in the snow! Who would of thought. Apparently two weeks ago it was looking terrible. It was a lovely scenic drive through the Great Dividing Range, very dry (because of the frost), and an interesting stop at the Snowy hydro information centre.

Of course travelling Australia we had to look up a little more about the Great Dividing Range, or the Eastern Highlands. It is Australia's most substantial mountain range and the 3rd longest in the world. The range stretches more than 3,500 km (2,175 mi) from Dauan Island off the north eastern tip of Queensland, running the entire length of the eastern coastline through NSW, then into VIC and turning west, before finally fading into the central plain at the Grampians western VIC.

Chris was now eating his words now " there wont be any snow left, don't worry bout ya snow gear!" anyhow we were in, out ..... and off for Jindabyne to our new caravan park. We slowly made our way up the range when we round the next corner and Riley yells "there's snow!" he always manages to spot things first! There it was....... the caps of the Snowy Mountains!



See photo - In thee shop, can't wait .. must ride!

The boys were getting anxious....... it was almost to fever pitch!, so we headed on into the Discovery Holiday Park on the far side of town, by the lake and setup for our stay. Half an hour later we were in the hire shop next door getting fitted out and we decided to hit Perisher that afternoon for a test run (no snow at Thredbo). Kosciusko National Park entry permits only allow you in for 24hrs from the time of purchase, so we got a 2 day pass ( $56 ) which would last us until 3.30pm on Wednesday arvo.




See photo - First experience of snow.

We arrived at Perisher to find the car park almost full, Chris headed to the information office to find where the Toboggan Hill and Kids play area was while Bell got the kids kitted out. We headed up to the Toboggan hill and the snow was perfect, the boys took to it like little ducklings to ice! Aiden was a little more cautious and preferred Dad to be on the back for the first few runs. After that he was off, Riley on the other hand was a bit of a Toboggan hog and had to be reminded that we only had 2 toboggans and he needed to share...... with Dad mainly!




See photo - Our first very cold sunrise -4 degrees at Lake Jindabyne.

See photo - Oh .. the family with a new member.

See photo - Of course we had to do snow angles.

We finally called it a day at 5pm and headed back to the caravan park in Jindabyne for dinner and an early night, next day we were up the mountain at 8.30am and the first ones on the toboggan hill, with freshly prepared slopes it was nice and fast......... the boys loved it! We played there for most of the day, made a great snowman and by 3pm we decided to jump on the snow tubes. They haul you up the mountain in a tube and then you slide down in purpose made runs, the girl at the lift gave us double the rides as she reckoned the boys were having too much fun, also it was her last day.....cheers! Riley had the tube to himself and Chris n Bell had to share with Aiden........ which he was pleased with!


See photo - Sunset .. Magic.

We headed back to the caravan park and decided to have a bath, by the way, the caravan park had under floor heating, spa pool, sauna, bath tubs and recreation room with a central log fire...... so much for roughing it! Needless to say the boys were out like a light, that was until we heard an almighty thud at 8pm, Riley had fallen out of bed and was still asleep, almost. Bell managed to cuddle him back to sleep in our bed and then Dad put him back into his bunk, in the morning he didn't remember a thing!




See photo - Riley and Dad, blasting down the hill.

See photo - Dad and Aiden, flying over bumps!



For our final day we hit the mountain again just after 9am, the snow wasn't as good but it was still OK, we had a few hours of toboggan and then playing in the snow with Aiden's "sand pits" (his plastic toy trucks) and some very elaborate tunnels and caves in the snow, it was great. By 11 we were soaking wet and cold so we hit the complex for morning tea and a coffee, the boys got a Lamington and a Jam Doughnut and we grabbed a coffee, Bell got the biggest hot chocolate we had ever seen! It was outside for some more play then back for lunch and off for the afternoon session. Well by the time we got back to the slopes they had been invaded by school kids........... hundreds of them! So if you cant beat them you gotta join them and we got in the thick of it, there were kids slipping, flying, flipping and sliding down the slopes............... in all directions, the teachers were going berserk ....... ahhh it was great to watch!

See photo - Riley testing his limits...

See photo - Aiden going for the tummy bump.



See photo - Snow tubes - Bell & Aiden.

We finally managed to get the boys off the hill carrying huge snowballs, which they planned to drop in the nearby stream, Riley got his in the water without a hitch, Aiden on the other hand almost ended up in the water if it wasn't for Mums lightening reflexes stopping him from falling off the walkway (it was a gust of wind)! We got back, dropped off our gear and relaxed while the boys hit the play park for the next 2 hours........ where do they get the energy!.

Thursday we awoke to Aiden singing "play that funky music white boy" over 'n over 'n over again!!!!!, so it was time to stuff some food in his mouth and quieten him down....... while drinking coffee! We packed up the van while, yes, the kids played in the play park, and then headed for Cooma and Lakes Entrance for the next part of our trip......

Here is our Snowy youtube video