The curse of a wandering soul, I have only been home a few weeks and I already have itchy feet.  I decide to satisfy my soul and head to the snow for a few days.  Yes, non-Aussies, you read correctly, the snow!!!!   During the Australian winter, up in the Snowy Mountains, they actually get snow down under.   It is the end of the season, but for a newbie like me it’s perfect.  Glorious sunshine and just enough snow to fall ride on.

Thredbo

I hitch a lift with a backpacker’s tour.  I meet the mini-bus at 6pm and it is a long, long, long, long journey to the mountains.  A total of 7 hours to get to Thredbo.  It was a pretty uneventful until the drive from Jindabyne to Thredbo.  The guide tells us he has to drive slowly due to the wild life.

He was not wrong!!!!

The sign was not wrong!!!!

There were kangaroos bouncing alongside the bus and just to scare the driver, a few jumped out in front of us.  I have lived in Oz 9 years and I still get excited seeing kangaroos, especially so many :o)  To top it off we also saw 3 wombats cross the road in front of us.  They are pretty shy, so it is only the second time I have seen them in the wild.  It was pretty awesome!!!  (You can tell I have been around snow boarders :o))

Since it is end of season, the accommodation got upgraded to the River Inn.  An amazing location, the hotel is literally 5 minutes walk from the snow.  Perfect!!!  Due to doing the trip on the cheap, I squeeze into a room with 2 others – an Aussie/Philippine chick and a Brazilian guy.  It is very cosy, but luckily they are both pretty laid back.

Getting cosy at the River Inn

I sign up for snow boarding lessons and I discover I am not a natural, but a goofy snow boarder.  Not quite sure what that means, but it has something to do with riding the board with my right leg in front.

I think a “goofy snow boarder” sums up my skills and outfit on the snow. :oS

A Goofy Snowboarder!!!!!

I did snow board, very unsuccessfully, a few years ago.  However, surprisingly I remember a couple of things. Mainly, how to fall and how much your bum hurts after two days.  As the days went on the falls got more impressive.  I didn’t think it was possible, but I managed to end up on the floor, with my legs over the top of my head.  Yikes, you try getting out of that position when every part of your body hurts!!!

When I snow boarded last time, I was so bad, I was not allowed on the chair lifts.  However, this time I thought I had mastered them until I did a spectactular fall getting off them and cracked the back of my head, I was sooo glad to be wearing an helmet.

The Nursery Slope – the only run I managed :oS

In between all the falling I did manage to snowboard; did a few toe edges, heel edges, leafed, heal side turns down the mountain – ok I learned a few new terms and it is not as impressive as it sounds. However, I did manage to wobble down the mountain for minutes at a time, so I was happy with my progress.

My body disagrees and is aching all over.

Being the end of the snow season the last day the snow was turning into mush.  However, it was a great few days ‘attempting’ to snowboard,  Hopefully I will be back next year and I’ll become a pro!!!!

Info:I went with Oz Snow Adventures, which I highly recommend – but in season be prepared to do Jägerbombs on the bus down.  It cost $299 for the off-season mid week package, that included transport from Sydney, 3 nights accommodation, breakfast each morning and 1 dinner.  Lift pass, 3 beginner lessons, snowboard, boots and wrist guards hire (I did not hire clothes but it is possible) cost $330 and this was also organised by Oz Snow Adventures on route.