Day 79 Jindabyne

It was not bright but very early when small voices made resting impossible.  The excitement got too much for the noisy one, and little brother was awoken, along with mum and dad.  I'm sure sister was woken too, but she pretended to sleep for a bit longer.

So it was 0600, and it was a brisk -4 Deg C which meant two  things from the outset.  Firstly it was extremely cold outside, and secondly all of the water to the van was frozen, so just as well we have the tanks on board.

The sun rose beautifully over a very glassy Lake Jindabyne, although I don't know if I was exactly thrilled to be up to see it.  I would say here that every cloud has a silver lining, but not a cloud to be seen here.

We would have plenty of time, or as it may, should have had plenty of time to get organised and out to Perisher for the kids lesson at 0930.  Not everything goes to plan though, and we didn't actually leave the caravan until 0815 with a half hour drive out.

We also had to stop on the way for National Parks Pass for the region.  We were to arrive at the Perisher car park with 20 minutes to spare, and then things got really interesting.

Even though we all tried on our gear in the shop yesterday, Ashley had a huge tantrum because he couldn't get his boots on today.  All of the kids started complaining about different things at the same time, and mum and dad fairly wigged completely out.  It was with some deep breaths and gentle coaxing...that I was able to go back and assist.

We managed to get the kids to their lesson with only minutes to spare, and when we asked what we had to do next, we were told to go away and come back at 11:30...Lisa and I were a bit dumbfounded...we have been threatening the kids with abandonment recently, and Lisa eventually took the car keys off me. 

I headed for the bunny slope, as it has been 10 years since I last set foot on a snow covered mountain, and how things have changed.  Perisher has moving carpets (Conveyor Belt) to get up the easy parts of the mountain.  I managed to get on without stacking, and also made it to the bottom without a fall either. 

If you are reading this Chris from the USA, that is your parallel there...some things aren't forgotten easily.  I was pretty happy and comfortable, so went looking for grander challenges.

The first major difference to the places I've been skiing before, and Perisher is that the mountain is much less forgiving than many others.  I would do most of my runs today on the Front Valley run.  It is wide and speed controlled, but in 3 sections is quite steep.  Thankfully there is a good (Sorry for the Americanisms) inch or two of powder over the whole run, so it was very forgiving when it came to small technical errors.  (No stacks for me).

After 5 or 6 runs, I noticed that my boots were ill fitting and it was going to be a long day out.  I was cramping badly in my feet, and ended up having to release the upper buckles to let the blood circulate from my calves...will have to go back to the shop and try on different boots later...Poop! 

Even though Perisher was quite crowded today, the Village Eight is a good high speed chairlift, and there is never more than a couple of minutes wait for it.

I found Lisa again, lurking around the ski school, but she had to leave as the kids were whining and moaning about how much they hated it when they saw her.  There's $1000.00 well spent. 

Their lesson was almost over though, so we decided to collect them and head over to the Perisher Quad Express chair and took it to the Mid Station Unloading point to get some lunch.

After lunch, we jumped back on the Perisher Quad Express and rode it to the summit. 2014m above sea level.  The wind was howling over the summit, whipping up ice crystals and shooting them around in a frozen whirlwind.

Without proper face protection, the ride up was pretty uncomfortable.  Lisa was particularly cold, and was worried that she was going to hate the snowfield experience.


The kids found a huge snow drift, and started climbing it to the summit and then slid back down to the chairlift station on their bum.  I have done something similar before, and have realised that ice and snow go in all sorts of places where it is not welcome, but they are kids so we let them go.

The view from the summit was truly spectacular...or maybe that was just the altitude.

Even Lisa started to get into the spirit of things when my eldest decided it was time to pick a snowball fight with the wrong dad...Respect your elders son.

Also, remember that I can throw further, harder, bigger and more accurately.  I'm also likely to slip a snowball down your neckline when you least expect it.

It all starts with laughter, but ends in tears when someone loses an eye.  It was a great throw and a great photo.  Hit him right in the butt with this one.

There are always casualties in war son... I seemed to end up with much less snow on me than he did.

This little arrangement of photos I like to think of as;

Hear no Evil

See no Evil

...

Speak no Eagle....BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!

I took off to ski Pretty Valley run, but somehow got lost and ended up skiing no trail according to my GPS tracker, and just went bush for a very long and difficult downhill.  I must admit I was tired and sore at the end of that one, but it was around 3km of trail in tough terrain.

When I reached the bottom, Lisa and the kids were just coming back from the chairlift ride down, so after another hot chocolate, we took the kids to a gentle slope so they could practise.  They are so cute all rugged up in their Michelin Man suits.

Ashley is doing well, Emma has really picked up the skills, and started turns, whilst Rowan just shows no fear and throws himself in head first...to the nearest snow drift, or creek, or passer by.  But he is having fun.

Now I'm not sure what's going on here, but again no reportable injuries or lost clothing...Sorry to the die hards that are daily readers and just want to know about the next  big stack.  Patience, there are two more days on skis.

At 3:00pm, we put our gear away and went over to Tubetown, and got ourselves some tube riding action.  This was a pretty cool way to finish off the day.


It would have been perfect if not for one final tantrum, but we shall ignore this one and live on the high of a great afternoon.  Although it was very cold, (Less than 2 Deg C) all day, the sky was blue and the sun was out all day.  Picture perfect conditions.

I would even go as far as saying that I was hot for most of the day. I was tempted to lose a layer for tomorrow, but they are predicting snow showers, so I have invested the dollars in some ski goggles and face protection as it was uncomfortable to be on the lifts today.

For all the tantrums though, the kids reckon that skiing is not too bad after all, and would prefer to come back again tomorrow than wash the Prado in the caravan park, so we will head back in the morning. 



I drove into town and got the issues with Ashley's and my boots resolved, and also hired two toboggans for the kids and mum to have fun on.

I have a very sore knee tonight though, and will be smashing down some Ibuprofen tomorrow.  Even a long hot spa hasn't taken the swelling down.  Damn.  Might be time to drag out my old knee brace.

Whilst I was sorting out our gear, Lisa walked the other kids down to the lake for some more photos.  I can only hope that the clouds stay away, and we have beautiful days for the rest of the week.