Three days in the snow.

Hi lovelies,

We have had the most amazing 3 days at the Perisher Valley Snowfields.

Warning this is a very text heavy post.  Photos are limited, you cannot take many while you ski/board.  Robbie will have a video soon.

On Monday we headed up just for a drive and to see what was around.  The day was perfect.  Not too windy and bright and sunny.

We parked at Bullock Flats and caught the Skitube to Perisher.  This is really the best way to get there.  Nice highway all the way, and while the train is a little expensive at $55.00 per head return it is preferable to an extra hour drive on roads that may be a little less than ideal.  There is also only limited parking at Perisher so the train is the way to go.

 

We had a bit of a look around Perisher before heading off to Blue Cow, again by Skitube.

It was so lovely to wander around.  

 We were thankful that we hired boots as it was a little fresh on the mountain. 

 

The snow was not really soft, and so while I attempted a snow angel but was not very successful.

Robbie organized his ski lift tickets, and Skitube tickets for the next two days and we caught the tube back and headed back to Jindabyne and find out what I can do there while Robbie goes fishing on Thursday.

While driving home we discovered that there s night skiing and fireworks at Perisher on Tuesday night so we decided to see if we could stay overnight.  A quick call to the lovely Lily and we had a room booked for Tuesday night.

We got checked in, and while our room was being prepared they stored our luggage and we went off to hire ski gear for me.  It was an overnight decision that I would have a go.  The saying that "you regret the things you don’t do" played through my mind so I got kitted out and gave it a go.

We had decided the day before on our wandering that we would attempt the Pony Ride track, and catch the Pony Ride Carpet back up the hill.  

Walking in ski boots is not the easiest thing to do, and so I was quite nervous about actually putting the skis on.  

Robbie was very patient and helped me out for a bit.  I don’t like the speed, but did manage to find out how to stop. 

It was then Robbie’s turn to have a go at the snowboard.  He was unfortunate as I was no help at all.  He did pretty well.  

It was then time to try and go down the Pony Ride.  It was not too bad, but again I had Robbie along side making sure I was okay.  I got to the bottom in one piece, and then had to get onto the Pony Ride Carpet to take us back to the top.  That is where I came unstuck.  The end of the ride you get ready to take off, but the ramp is pretty slick and I went a little faster than I thought.  My first crash.

Robbie then helped me down again and it went pretty well I think.

Then Robbie had a couple of turns while I stayed at the top and watched.  He did pretty well, with just a couple of tumbles.

It was then time for lunch in the café at the top of the hill.

We then headed back to the Pony Ride and tried again a couple of times.  This time I was on my own.  Managed to stay upright for the most part, but I cannot figure out how to stop when going left.  Unfortunately you cannot always head right, so if  heading left I was pretty certain of taking a spill.  

Robbie was still working out how to work the snowboard, but getting more confident each time.

The day was not nearly as pleasant as the day before.  The snow was called sago snow and it was quite hard.  There was a lot of wind and visibility was pretty low.  It was not possible to see to the bottom of the Pony Ride hill when you left the top.

 

So it was back to the hotel for a shower and a rest.  By the time we got the train back to Perisher and got to our room muscles were starting to ache and we were pretty tired. The room was beautiful 

as was the view.   

We were blessed to be given a complementary bottle of bubbles.  As we were so tired, we decided that it could wait until we returned from dinner.

Showers, a rest on the balcony to watch others fall and it was time to wander down and grab some dinner.  

We had dinner in the Snow Gum restaurant and it was wonderful.  There was a smorgasbord of delicacies on offer.  Robbie indulged in some prawns and bugs that he said were the best he had tasted since Gramps had his boat.  

Back to the room, Robbie did some work and I watched the night skiing.   

Alas due to the weather conditions the fireworks were cancelled for the night.  It was fun to watch the snow form on the roof.

Wednesday morning we headed back to the restaurant for breakfast, which was delightful again.  Then it was back ot the room to get changed into our snow gear and get pack up. The hotel again stored our gear while we headed back out to the snow.  

It was a perfect day and we decided that we would stay down at Persher for the day and have a go at the beginners hill and take the Magic Carpet Ride.  

I did not enjoy it very much at all.  There had been a fair snow fall overnight and while it looks really pretty it makes it harder to go slowly and it was very slippery.  I did manage to get down twice with Robbie helping me, but then I was done.  So I returned by my gear and got into my snow boots to go back and see if I could help Rob.

He persevered with the Magic Hill for a couple of more times and then we caught the chairlift to Md-way where we were planning to have lunch.  This chairlift is the only one that non-skiers/boarders can catch.  It was lovely.  Mid-way offers a great view and a lovely café for lunch.  

 The veranda showed how much snow had fallen overnight.

Robbie had decided that he was going to go down on his snowboard while I got back on the chairlift and returned to the bottom.

It was such a brave Robbie to take the hill down.  The start was quite steep, and we did not have much idea what the middle was like, but the end was pretty steep too.   Such a brave move and he made it most of the way.  When you fall on the snowboard it is more difficult to get up again and so by the end he was exhausted.  After a bit of a rest we got back on the train and returned to Bullock Flats.  

We cannot recommend the staff at the Perisher Valley Hotel highly enough.  From the moment we called to book the service was amazing and everyone was so welcoming and friendly. Being transported to and from the station to the Hotel, having people available guide you to different areas of the resort, being escorted to dinner by the head Chef, and having the reception staff always on hand to happily help with any queries nothing seems to be too much for them.  Everyone has time to stop and chat and see if they can help. If you are thinking of heading down staying there is something I would recommend.  

We returned all our snow gear and headed back to the van.  

We were exhausted by the time we returned.  I have no idea how people can ski/board all day and party all night.  We were both proud of our efforts on the snow and are pleased we gave it a go, but it will definitely not be a sport that we will do again.

It was colder this morning than it was at Perisher.  The car showed where one of us had touched the side.  Early forensic testing my mum says.

The view before the fog lifted was really lovely.  

 The hoses were again frozen

 and while we got the washing machine pipes clear and got the washing done, the sink pipe is still blocked tonight.  I don't think that they will clear overnight :-)

All for now lovelies

Stay safe and keep enjoying life.

 Love us.