Categories: uncategorized
Date: 20 May 2004 00:30:20
We went to Mt Hotham for one night, the night before last. It's a big journey, about 7.5 hours each way if you stop for enough time to have a nice lunch. On Tuesday it took us about 12 hours to go up though, mostly due to several hours spent shopping. First we bought non-perishable groceries - they'll be expensive to buy up there, then manchester - because the unit comes with furniture and even doonas but no doona covers or pillowcases, then snowboarding gear - because we don't have anything at all, but we want to. Hats off to the Melbourne Snowboarding Centre, they were very friendly and helpful to complete newbies like ourselves.
It was pouring rain all day, then for the last leg of the journey, the part where we actually drive up the side of the mountain, there was fog so thick that it was impossible to see the sides of the road, I was driving by following the white lines in the middle and sometimes I couldn't even see one ahead. That part usually takes 50 minutes, this time it took 1.5 hours.
Anyway, we got there okay, unpacked all our stuff in the dark and freezing cold. There was some snow lying around but not much, and it didn't fall while we were there. Our unit was very warm though, the building boilers have been on for a while and even on the lowest setting the big heater keeps the room toasty. We moved our stuff in, shifted some furniture around, gagged at the outrageously horrible pictures hanging on the walls, tried every switch and button on everything we could find, then had a very late tea and fell into bed - way too much excitement for one day!
The next morning was crystal clear, we watched the sun rise over the mountains from our window and thanked the Lord that we own the best place in the whole world! We looked through everything that came with the unit, there was some stuff that was worth keeping but some stuff will go. We're taking up our own dinner set, we've still got one from our wedding that is unopened. The futon mattress up there is too soft and spongy, but I'm not sure how we could get a another mattress up there anyway, it certainly wouldn't fit in our car? The doonas were in desperate need of a wash, and Elicia wants to paint the walls - the paint is good in every respect except its colour - mustard yellow. Otherwise everything is cool, it needs a bit of a clean but otherwise it's in very good nick.
We went for a walk to the General Pub, it's part owned by the same person Elicia is friends with/working for up there. On the walk we showed our total noobness, being delighted in the frost growing on cars and breaking the ice over puddles and sliding on the icy bits of path and generally being amazed at how cold it was - 1 deg celcius at 10 in the morning!
The trip down the mountain was much less stressful than the way up, with no fog at all. A beautiful clear day, we stopped in Milawa to visit the Brown Brothers winery and then had lunch at the Milawa pub. They mixed up our order - we got fetticcine instead of foccaccia, but it was fantastic.
We got home about 6pm, went for a walk along the beach, watched a Welsh movie and then sank into bed again. Fantastic couple of days, and such a contrast, walking at 1700+ metres with snow lying next to the road, to walking the same evening along the beach with our toes in the water - we are sooo blessed, Australia must be the best place on earth, and Elicia and I now live in the two best parts of the whole country! Very, very blessed.
I'll post some photos later when I've had a chance to sort through the 100+ that we took!