After our Canberra jaunt, we headed further south. And as we headed, the air got icy and crisp - Australia's alpine area here we come!
We booked a lovely apartment in the ski village of
Thredbo - the ski season hasn't started yet (or we couldn't afford to stay there!) and they have excellent Stay 3 Pay 2 deals in summer, which include a bunch of activities.
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| I had to take a photo before we messed it all up! |
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| The view from our window |
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| Figuring out the gas fireplace |
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| Hot chocolate - yum! |
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| We promised Wombat Girl lots of board games - we started with Rummy-O |
The weather was forecast to turn nasty, so we decided to get out and go for a walk while it was nice. Down in the village, it was positively balmy, no wind and just a lovely autumn day.
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| Just a nice day for emus... |
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| The Thredbo River |
We caught the chairlift almost to the top of the ski resort. Unfortunately,
yesterday was the last day the Koscuiszko Express lift was open to the top. We had "just a short 400m walk" from the Snow Gums lift, up to the summit. Yeah. 400 metres VERTICALLY!!! Bloody hell - we nearly burst a blood vessel - you know why you ski
down the mountain!
And it got very cold very quickly! The wind which was non-existent down the bottom was freezing up high! But we were excited to see snow patches and the kids were excited to make snowballs.
I love Australia's alpine environment - it is so special and rare, because, let's face it, most of Australia is hot and flat.
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| Snow gum - Eucalyptus pauciflora |
The view from the top of the lift is quite spectacular.
And it's also the starting point for the walk to Australia's highest "mountain"
Mt Koscuiszko, which is a whopping 2,228 metres (7,310 ft) above sea level. The walk is 6.5km and is a mesh walkway, which protects the fragile alpine environment. It is not a difficult walk and we have done it before in 2008, but in January, when it was a LOT warmer. It can snow at any time of the year, but obviously the chances are the closer you get to winter, the colder it's going to be (duh!).
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| At the summit in January 2008 |
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| Start of the walk to the summit |
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| Snow on the path! |
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| Quick snack and put on every piece of clothing we had with us! |
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| The photos don't show the icy wind which we were walking into |
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| Mt Koscuiszko or Mt Everest?? |
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| View from the lookout (about 2.5 km down the track) |
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| Same spot in 2008 |
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| Mt Kosciuszko - January 2008 |
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| Mt Kosciuszko (under that cloud) May 2012 |
As you can see from the photo above, the weather was coming in. Didn't look pleasant. The kids were already cold, so we decided that it wouldn't be much in continuing. Mt Kosciuszko's not going anywhere - it'll still be there to climb on another day.
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| Snow bunny |
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| Creek hopping (didn't fall in, phew) |
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| On the lift on the way back down. |
A nice hot chicken and corn soup and toasty breadrolls awaited us when we got back to the apartment! That afternoon we used the bobsled (can you believe I didn't bring my camera with me??).
I love your adventures, Ingi! I can totally imagine the icy wind belting at you on that hike—how impressive that you gave it a go. I loved the contrast between summer 2008 and autumn 2012—what a difference! Now I DEFINITELY know which season I'm picking for my mountain climb… :)
ReplyDeleteAnd your pyjama day looked just as cool as the day before, for different reasons! Love all the games and the snuggliness. :) I can feel peace and joy coming out of all your photos, Ingi. I'm so glad you had such a wonderful holiday.
It was pretty cool to see all the snow, although ski gear would have been more appropriate! And despite very a tad guilty about no one getting dressed all day, we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly and felt as though we got excellent value for money on our apartment!!!
DeleteThat top of Mt K pic looks so awesome!!
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome adventure, your family have similar taste in board games to us.. we are however going to have to investigate Three of a crime!
ReplyDeleteJan K. in NZ