Early alarm, that’s going to happen a few times on this trip. We hit the road right on 7am. Given it’s the beginning of the school holidays it seemed prudent. Yesterday’s holiday traffic was bad.
Traffic was much better than I feared, and we stop for Breakie at Sutton Forrest then take the Canberra exit off the Hume.
Just before 12 we pull into Cooma. I’ve arranged to pick up Ski hire gear for the kids from here.
When I first planned this holiday 3 odd months ago, I thought we’d be staying at Jindabyne and going to either Thredbo or Perisher. One of the van parks seemed to have free spots, so after a family meeting I go to book, only to find they aren’t able to be booked, as apparently they are flood affected… Why the hell show them as available??
After building up everyone’s expectations for a ski holiday, I was thinking we’d need to arrange something completely different, or give the July holidays a miss. Then I found a caravan park at Buckenderra on Lake Eucumbene that had really cheap sites. An extra 30-40min drive north of Jindabyne, but better than nothing. Looking at this closer, I realised while it’s about 1 hr north of Thredbo, it’s also just over an hour south of Mt Selwyn. I figured Selwyn might be an easier introduction for the kids. So they’re booked in for a 2hr first timer’s lesson tomorrow at Selwyn and then a full day beginner’s lesson on Monday at Thredbo so they’ll get to sample both location. It was all booked a few months ago, but as recently as only two or three weeks ago I though they might be grass skiing as while there had been an early flurry, it all melted and it seemed it would be a very late start to the season.
Anyway, gear collected and lunch at a café in Cooma, we drive the 30odd min to Buckenderra. We check-in and drive down to where the powered sites are.
It’s an odd place, a bit like Lake Burrendong, with a few powered sites and lots of unpowered camping along the dam foreshore. In addition to this there seems to be heaps of weekender style cabin and caravans.
While the facilities are basic, the view is fantastic.
We setup and while the kids chillout, Justine and I take a walk down by the lake shore.
I think very hard about a fire, but it’s going to be a freezing night, and it might just be better to have the heater on and stay indoors tonight.
An early night all-round as it will be an early start tomorrow.