Skiing.....in Australia!

Hi everyone from snowy Hotham, north east Victoria.....Australia!!! It seems so strange to be skiing in July and in Australia....but we are.

It is great to be able to drive to Hotham without having to worry about flights and transfers. Hotham is north east of Melbourne and about a 5 hour drive. We decided to stay overnight at Bright on Saturday night to break the journey a little bit - leaving about a 1.5 hour Sunday morning drive so we could then ski in the afternoon.

Setting out from Bright Sunday morning the weather was cold and cloudy....but no snow yet. After about an hour we started heading up steep and windy mountain roads, climbing higher and higher. Caroline had decided to sit in the back as she isn't too good with heights.....and roads that have a steep drop over the edge!

After 30 mins on the mountain roads we came to a checkpoint where you had to have chains fitted to the car wheels. We had borrowed some off our friends so we paid the chap a few dollars to fit them for us. Straight after this the snow got thicker and deeper and the roads more icy. Our fully laden car (5 people, 3 suitcases, food for a week and ski gear) was coping well so far....and then the blizzard hit. The car in front came to a stand still and the driver got out to tell me he was turning round....visibility was down to 10 metres and the snow was going sideways. I knew we weren't far away and felt I would rather carry on up hill than to turn around and head down hill....so we bravely carried on. 15 mins more careful driving later we arrived in the resort....phew.....now it was about 11:30am.

We headed straight for the ski hire shop (no messing), got our skis sorted and after a quick hot chocolate were heading for the slopes! We managed a couple of hours skiing which felt great to get back into it! After that we checked into our chalet which is lovely. It is 2 storey and very new....all close to the slopes and fully equipped...even wireless internet :-)

So the last couple of days we have got up fairly late and venture onto the slopes about 10ish. We head back to the chalet for some lunch and a break before hitting the slopes again in the afternoon.

The boys skiing has come along really well and they are all confident skiers now. Jack and Sam basically bomb it to the bottom as fast as possible whilst Will takes it more leisurely with Caroline and I. Chris holds the record for the most falls so far with Jack a close second (clearly the others aren't pushing to the limit like we are....). Chris is realising just how unfit he is now as his legs turn to tree trunks by about 3pm....and a beer beckons :-)

Tomorrow night there are fireworks so we will go and watch them I expect!

Below is a little video clip of Jack in action and if you want to see more photos then look at our usual Flickr site here.