Winter is comiiingg!! Booooooo!!
I’m not a fan of winter. When I used to live in my home country, I always been dreaming of having one. But now? Naww waaaay! I guess winter is the most annoying season ever! Imagine when you go outside, tightly covered, but you still can feel the cold push against your skin – bloody hurts and uncomfortable. Hence, I now become more appreciate to the existence of the sun.
Winter in Australia maybe not as cold as in Europe or any other western countries. The worst that we had in Sydney this year is about 3 degrees. But that’s obviously enough to make me feel cranky, lazy, and gloomy at the same time. Yet we don’t have snow. Practically, we only can feel the bad side of winter without being able to enjoy the beauty. So unfair, right?!
Actually, snow does fall in Australia. But only in the highest point like in the mountain. For those who live in Sydney or NSW area, the chance to play in the snow field can be found in Kochiuszko National Park, or people like to call it Snowy Mountain. It located about 2 hours drive down south of Canberra. Which means, if we drove all the way from Sydney, its gonna be about 6 hours. Me and my Sydney gang rented a city car for 2 days and went there in the middle of July.
We booked a motel room in Jindabyne, the nearest town from the Snowy Mountain. And spent nearly $200 for a night. Accommodation in Jindabyne or around Kochiuszko National Park during winter can be such rip off. If you want to book a good one with good location, book it straight away a month before winter comes.
We left from Sydney sunday morning and stopped in Canberra for lunch. Then arriving in Jindabyne at 4 in the afternoon. Our first stop was this lake. Named Jindabyne Lake, such a peaceful place indeed. I wish I could enjoy it with a cup of English Breakfast, or Hot Milo perhaps? Hehehe…
After checking in to the motel and had a bit of rest. We decided to go out at night, checking out the hot pub in town
Woke up (not so early) in the morning, had a breakfast in the motel, and drove down to BP Jindabyne (Yes, BP as in the gas station). We had to rent some snow equipment here. For those who drive 4wd car, you don’t need to rent anything for your car again. But for those who drive city car, like us, we must hire a chain for the wheels. Otherwise you couldn’t get into the snowy road, besides it would be pretty dangerous too.
Here, you also can hire any survival kit in the snow. Like waterproof jacket , pants, boots, googles, also fun stuff like tube, snowboard, or toboggan. Learning from my first snow experience in Mt Fuji – Japan back then, I understood that boots with a good grip is very essential. So I hired it. I already got my own waterproof down jacket and I used jeans double with a warm legging inside, so no need to hire them again. One thing that I missed was, a proper gloves for snow. So for you who will have a snow session, please prepare a proper snow gloves. My hands got completely frozen and super painful because I only used knitted gloves. And please note that it’s better for you to hire all the snow equipment in Jindabyne than in the National Park! It will save your money a lot!
After all the equipment was ready, we headed to the National Park, which took us almost half an hour to get there. At the gate we needed to pay $29 per-vehicle of entrance fee. With this cost, you are free to explore and play in any snow fields like Perisher, Thredbo, or Charlotte Pass.
We only had chance to visit Perisher. Road to Charlotte Pass was closed due to snow blankets. But I think Perisher was lovely enough to visit for those who only want to play with the snow like us (e.g : tubing or tobogganing), not skiing or snowboarding. If you want to do skiing or snowboarding, it’s better to go to Perisher or Thredbo Ski Resort. Of course, they will charge you to enter the ski fields. You can check the ski package on their website.
It was a fine weather in the morning, we played toboggan like kids do, so fun though!
And of course, a classic snow war 😀
Finally snow started to fall around 2 pm. My first snow falls! Yay!!
The most romantic part was…having lunch in the park surrounded by snow. Aww..aww..aww
We spent like 3-4 hours in Perisher then off to Jindabyne again. A friend of ours recommend us to visit a quirky cafe named Wildbrumby Schnapps in Jindabyne. A cozy cafe with a contemporary design both indoor and outdoor. So lovely!
