Winter in Australia! What better way to spend a holiday than up in the beautiful snowfields of Victoria. The beautiful and different thing about going skiing in Australia is that in this case the village is actually at the summit of the mountain. So every single car whether 4 wheel drive or not is required to put chains on their tires. James and i had taken his parents Land Cruiser on the trip thinking that we would be able to pass without the chains but it was a no go. Now i think it's pretty excessive that even 4-wheel drive vehicles have to wear chains...but then again...people in Australia really have NO idea on how to drive in snow so it's probably a good thing.The drive up the Mountain is absolutely incredible. A very windy road through woods and open snow fields. In all the trip took us about 4 hours from Melbourne. Not too bad really. There are closer mountains but just like anything thats close thats where everyone ends up going. So we decided to drive one mountain further.
Many of you might recall my pictures from the Great Ocean Road?? Well this is called the Great Alpine Road and i can imagine that the drive would be just as beautiful in summer. Actually Stacey and I drove a small portion of it during our camping trip back in February....
Anyways, like most national parks you must pay a mountain fee to drive up to Mount Hotham. As James and i were paying this the guy at the booth asked us whether or not we had put "high altitude additive" into the fuel....obviously we hadn't...but neither of us had even thought about that. I've driven up plenty of mountains in the states and never had to put "high altitude additive" into the fuel....we were also driving a diesel. Apparently diesel fuel can "gel" in cold weather. No wonder i've never heard about adding anything to fuel in cold weather as i have never had a diesel car to drive. James and i seriously thought this guy was pulling the wool over our eyes just to make an extra 25 bucks...cause he just so happend to have some in his pick up. Yeah weird right? Anyways james and i paid our dues and were on our way. Once we got to the top of the mountain we were informed that we were to unload our luggage and then our car had to be moved to the parking lot at the end of the village. Cars are not allowed to be driven from place to place (there are no parking lots at any of the hotels, restaurants, lodges you name it) but there is a free bus that runs up and down the village. Everything is pretty much walking distance...but of course it's freezing cold and windy and slippery...Bus is definitely the better option. But waiting for the bus in the freezing cold is definitely NOT fun.
Day 1: was absolutely stunning. Beautiful sunny day although the snow started to get a bit sticky towards the end. We mainly stayed on one run (which was the hardest the mountain had) but you got to the bottom in about 5 minutes and so we both got bored pretty quickly. Of course this gives you the opportunity to practice other fun things such as jumps and turns and going switch which James and I took full advantage of. Unfortunately i had left my personal snowboard in the states and so i was stuck with this rental board that was absolute crap and tired me out very very quickly! Fortunately there was a half pipe competition on to watch and I happily settled in with a glass of wine. Behold some beautiful views.
In the evening we caught up for dinner with friends. A mirrored ceiling offered an opportunity for a tricky photo.
Day 2: Storm rolls through and beautiful scenery from yesterday turns to absolute crap. Thats James in the photo Thankfully he was wearing black and not white otherwise i wouldve lost him. It was a complete white-out and the going was absolutely awful. It was windy, freezing and every bump was seen just as i was going over it. I hate bumps.
More drinks in the lodge next to the warm fire....
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