Day 81 Jindabyne

The first thing I heard this morning was an alarm.  I mention this, because it hasn't happened many times this trip.  All three kids, and two adults had slept in past the alarm going off, albeit set for 0700.  But milestones are still worth mentioning.

The downside to this is that it rained all night, so it was cold, wet outside and later than we usually woke up.  Unfortunately by necessity, there were some children's sleeping bags that needed washing, along with all of our towels which were blown onto the wet ground this morning.  With two washing machines running, we stuffed down breakfast and tried as best we could to get ready for the day to come.

We managed to wash and dry everything, and get ourselves on the road around 0845 to get to Perisher for 0930 lessons, which was fine the previous two days, but there was heavy snow last night and the trip in was to be frustratingly slow, and somewhat dangerous.  All 2WD cars were being stopped and forced to put chains on, whilst I was supposed to put the Prado in 4WD, but the road seemed like it was only wet and I didn't want to wind the transmission up.

It was just short of 0930 when we finally parked at Perisher, and there was heavy snow falling. Not the sort I have seen before, with nice soft floating flakes, but needle like balls of ice being smashed around by the wind.

It is amazing how much the landscape is transformed under fresh snowfall, and all of the trees were still clad in their white frozen blankets.  The roads were treacherous and icy, and every few kilometres, some clown would go blazing down the oncoming traffic lane before pulling in front of some poor soul to get out of the way of oncoming cars and snow plows.

We managed to get the kids sorted out in reasonable time though, and went in search of some fun ourselves.  I swapped the toboggans over yesterday for some more stable and easier to ride models.


The snow was falling at quite a reasonable rate this morning on the mountain, and wasn't about to let up.  At times the snow was falling so hard, that you could only see a few metres in front of you.

At the toboggan hill, the first thing we noticed was that there were very few people on the hill riding toboggans, and the second thing we noticed was the fluffy snow drifts that came up to our knees in places making it quite challenging to walk up the slope.  Where is a t-bar when you need one.


We stopped briefly to make angels in the snow, and then rode to the bottom of the hill making fresh tracks all the way.  A great feeling even on the sled.

It would only take one more climb of the toboggan hill for us to realise that we are old and unfit, so we stopped at the top and tried fruitlessly to push snow into a pile to make a snow man, but we were only left with a mush of snow in a vague heap for our efforts.

In my most cunning and convincing charm, I looked to my lovely wife and said "I'm going for hot chocolate" and that was all that was required. 

When we picked the kids up, they wanted to go up to the top of Front Valley, so I let them all go together as long as they promised to watch out for each other.  They were all extremely excited, and took off for the chairlift.

Nobody came back down the chairlift today, which was a great relief, but when Emma came through on her own I got a bit worried.  She waved and screamed out that the boys were taking too long, and she careened off to the chairlift to go back up...what a turnaround from yesterday, and to think she was crying about going up not 10 minutes beforehand because she was too unsure of herself.

The boys eventually came down, but on the last drop, Rowan fell over and just lay in the middle of the slope with his skis off.  People were flying past him on all sides, and I got nervous because Ashley was coming down the hill with one of Rowan's skis.

Like the good dad that I am, I trudged up through the 6" powder covering to where Rowan was lying in the snow, and he was just giggling and having fun.  I tried to get him to put his skis back on, and realised that he can't do it without a lot of help.  This was to be the last time that Rowan was going up Front Valley because it is just too dangerous for his level of experience.

I distracted Rowan with the promise of hot chocolate and donuts, and got Ashley and Emma to go inside as well. 

After a break, we went back out and let Emma and Ashley ski Front Valley a few more times.  I tried to get Rowan to ski the bunny slope a bit more, but he went around once, and then on his second time ski'd straight past mum and dad, and off down the hill past the lodge and out of sight.

Ashley was so quick going around Front Valley, that we missed him every time he was going past.  Emma stopped to wave at us though, and is never too shy about a photograph either.

I am really proud of what the kids achieved in their lessons, with all three of them demonstrating good skills, and balance.  Most of all it was great to see them enjoying themselves, and finding the same joy in the snow that I have.  I was very disappointed at my inability to go skiing with them and spend that time together.  Jindabyne was one of my highlight stops on the trip, and I was let down by my knee again.  Rowan just doesn't understand that though.


Now I mentioned how proud I was because Rowan had displayed huge defiance in doing his own thing, and by the time I caught up to him, there was a strange man (Just some dude, not staff) holding his hand, and talking to him.  The big dad voice came out to play and Rowan was informed that his day was done, and that we were going to the car to get his ski gear off.

The tantrum that followed was massive, and I heard a thousand times about how unfair it all was.  He wouldn't even look at the camera for a photo of the Prado covered in snow.  So along with dealing with his defiance, I was served a nice steaming bowl of guilt because my old joints can't keep pace with him. 

It is probably the most miserable moment of the trip for me knowing that I had to give up one of my favourite activities, and it cost my son the opportunity to enjoy his day because I'm old and busted.  The conditions today on the mountain would have been phenomenal for skiing too...with a nice fresh coat of powder falling fast to fill in the tracks shortly after they have been laid.

Lisa gathered Ashley and Emma, and we left Perisher for the last time this trip.  This igloo had been under construction near the road for the three days that we had been driving in and out, so we thought we should stop and get a picture today.

As we were approaching the caravan park in Jindabyne (Where apparently snow is quite rare) I noticed big fluffy flakes falling.  We made a point of stopping so the kids could see what real snow looked like...I mean the big flaky stuff, not the needles that resemble miniature bean bag pellets that were falling at Perisher.

The kids went crazy, running around and catching snowflakes on their tongues.  Lisa felt much more satisfied with this stop today, seeing the landscape under fresh snowfall, and experiencing the snow this way.

I just think it's pretty cool to get a photo of the Prado in the falling snow too, now that it's been through the desert, and to the Northern regions of Queensland.

My memories of Perisher will be bittersweet.  The mountain is fantastic, with heaps of great runs, and plenty of chairlift and t-bar access.  They groom the mountain really well, and have great facilities. 



I will always remember it though as the place where this dude figured out that he wasn't up to it any more. That sucks a bit, but it was great to see the kids getting so much enjoyment out of it at the same time.

Reflecting on the trip, it's funny how we have come so far and done so much.  Our friends tell us that they are envious of what we are doing, and we hear often that this is the trip of a lifetime. 


81 days down, and I would love to sleep in my own bed, sit on my own toilet, relax in front of a good movie, play some drums, or have a beer with friends.  There has been no time for relaxation, and there is no respite from parenting as we have to be at the caravan after the kids are in bed.  I am tired, and sore and starting to look forward to going home.  To be quite honest, I think Lisa feels the same way.