Guest Seoul Sister Posted April 20, 2006 Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 Dear esteemed colleagues and other interesting people, You are probably not far off, if you think I am a bit of an idiot for asking this – but I’m asking it anyway. You know the Japanese have a very wise saying about only fools not asking questions, so let’s keep that in mind. I have a question on snow in Australia. Some research on the internet has given me loads and loads of averages of max .temp, min. temp., averages on rainfall, hours sunshine per month, snowfall, etc. Statistics have also proven in the past that London has more sunshine hours on average in a year than Jo’burg , and so I am doubting whether statistics alone can honestly answer my query. My question is the following :How far do you have to travel from Sydney during the winter months to be guaranteed of snow ? Proper snow - enough for recreational activities like snowboarding, skiing, etc. Does it snow in Victoria’s snow area, north-east (??) of Melbourne every year ? Or would your safest bet be somewhere on the South Island of New Zealand ?Looking forward to your answers. Please include links if you have bright ideas, hotels, lodges, or interesting tips for snow activities ! (NZHigh, we should probably limit your response to 10 links, as I can imagine all of the great stuff you will know of in NZ on this topic !! )Love from hereSeoul Sister Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riekie Posted April 20, 2006 Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 The closest snow (Snowy Mountains) to Sydney is about 6 hours drive away. There are 3 main ski resorts/areas: Perisher, Thredbo & Mt Selwyn (Mt Selwyn is more family type skiing and not much snow most of the time - I'd go for Perisher or Thredbo). Nothing like Canada, but we've been and it is great! (More info found @ www.snowymountains.com.au) Difficult to imagine snow in Australia, but yes, we have snow too!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Seoul Sister Posted April 20, 2006 Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 Hey Riekie,Thanks for the info and the fabulous pics ! WOWWWOOOOO. Oh wow, I am very excited now ! 6 hours drive ! Koek, that is like driving Jo'burg - Durbs... Can you also fly there ? And how long does it take ? Another questions (while I'm thinking about it). Where do you buy snow gear, boots, gloves, pants etc ? Can you buy it in Sydney in regular stores or do you need to go to specialized sport shops ? Thanks for the great response ! LoveSS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van Posted April 20, 2006 Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 (edited) Hey Riekie,Thanks for the info and the fabulous pics ! WOWWWOOOOO. Oh wow, I am very excited now ! 6 hours drive ! Koek, that is like driving Jo'burg - Durbs... Can you also fly there ? And how long does it take ? Another questions (while I'm thinking about it). Where do you buy snow gear, boots, gloves, pants etc ? Can you buy it in Sydney in regular stores or do you need to go to specialized sport shops ? Thanks for the great response ! LoveSS SS, It almost always snows in the Alps here near Melbourne and Mt Baw Baw and others are popular resorts for skiing. We prefer Mt Donna Buang (near Warburton) for snow fun since we enjoy tobogganing and they’ve got several trails there. It’s no good for skiing or snowboarding since it’s a forest and is covered in trees so whenever the boys want to go skiing or snowboarding they hit the Alps in Gippsland area around Mt Baw Baw(about 1hr from Melbourne) , they’ve also been to Mt Buller (http://www.mtbuller.com.au ). I also enjoy Marysville where there is skiing ( http://www.lakemountainresort.com.au/reports.html ,http://www.marysvilleski.com.au ). It’s about two hours’ drive from Melbourne and looks like a Swiss village – beautiful & charming. In Melbourne you can buy the ski-gear at most sport shops that I’ve seen.snowmaryville.bmpsnowaner_mt_bulle.bmp Edited April 20, 2006 by Van Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Seoul Sister Posted April 20, 2006 Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 Hey Van,Nice to see you again ! Thanks for the fabulous info ! So I could fly from Sydney to Melbourne, drive for an hour and be on the Alps (in Gippsland) all covered in snow... Now that sounds like a plan to me !! If you don't mind me asking such idiotic questions - how long is a flight from Syds to Melbourne (two and half hours) ? If the gear is available in sport stores in Melbourne it will probably be the same in Syds. Great deal ! Thanks for all the info mateys !!LoveSeoul Sister Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riekie Posted April 20, 2006 Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 SS, you can fly to Canberra and from there take one of the many buses to the Snowy mountains - also takes about an hour. You can buy snow gear in Cooma - also rent there whatever you need. Or you can buy it here in Sydney - they have a few specialist shops for snow gear and some sport shops stock some of the basic items such as gloves, snow pants, boots etc. You won't find anything in the "normal" shops such as KMart, BigW etc. I found everything very expensive, so if you do have some snow gear, bring it with you! (The flight between Sydney & Melbourne is about 1 hour 50 minutes and to Canberra about 50 minutes) From what I heard, NZ South Island is the best...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Seoul Sister Posted April 20, 2006 Report Share Posted April 20, 2006 Hi again Riekie,Thanks for all of the excellent advice and tips. I do have some snow supplies like boots, jackets, gloves, pants, ear muffs (you should see me in them !! ) etc, will bring all of these along - thanks for the tip - but will have to rent equipment.. Lemme see : Fly for an hour to Canberra, hop a bus and be in the snowy mountains within another hour... THIS JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER !! I can imagine it hard for any country to compete with New Zealand and their South Island winter wonderland ! But if I have to be honest, what could be cooler than telling my friends I went snowboarding in OZ !! Now that is something else !!Thanks for all the info.LoveSS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NZHigh Posted April 22, 2006 Report Share Posted April 22, 2006 Hi SS and everyone else,The cheapest option is always to ski in the area closest to where you live. That's why I tend to visit Mt Ruapehu which is in the centre of the North Island. That's why if the finances are limited and one is a novice it might be prudent to start off at one of the Australian facilities initially.But I would prefer to ski on the South Island slopes because the scenery in way more impressive and the powder is much better (than the NI).The South Island and in particular the Queenstown area seems to be extremely popular with Australians, with direct flights to and from Queenstown increasing in frequency and capacity annually. I think there is a daily (or maybe only 6 days a week) flight Sydney to Queenstown between Air New Zealand and QANTAS, as well as a few less frequent direct flights between both Melbourne and Brisbane to Queenstown. Christchurch is connected to various Aus cities several times a day with 4 or 5 different airlines.SS is limiting th 'foreign' correspondent to only 10 links so here goes. These are similar to the ones I posted a month or so ago elsewhere for Riekie's benefit, with some links now excluded and one new one added:North Island:http://www.mtruapehu.com/http://www.tukino.co.nz/General:Indoor snow facility north of Auckland. It is the 5th biggest in the world and apparently the only one in the southern hemisphere. http://www.snowplanet.co.nz/http://www.snow.co.nz/Complete guide to NZ skiing (Very Good): http://www.fourcorners.co.nz/new-zealand/skiing/Weather reports/ photos etc: http://www.snowreports.co.nz/Ski holiday service, includes extreme skiing: http://www.snowbound.co.nz/http://www.heliski.co.nz/http://www.mtcookskiplanes.com/South Island:http://www.nzski.com/http://www.treblecone.co.nz/http://www.craigieburn.co.nz/home.htmhttp://www.cardrona.co.nz/what could be cooler than telling my friends I went snowboarding in OZ !! Snowboarding in New Zealand. (either on snow or on the sand dunes)And by the way, if you are a novice, don't buy. Rent what you need, check it out, and if you decide it is going to be a regular thing only then think about buying the (expensive) equipment and clothing. Having said that, consider that one's young kids tend to grow out of their clothes fairly quickly, and that many/ most ski facilities do not rent goggles, gloves and mybe a few other items. That you will have to buy. Phone them first or check out the info on the various websites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Seoul Sister Posted April 23, 2006 Report Share Posted April 23, 2006 OH WOW !!Thanks so much NZHigh ! You never disappoint. I think I will probably start off in Australia, it's always nicer to lie in hospital closer to home... Until I am confident enough to play with the BIG dogs in NZ !!Thanks so much for all the fabulous info. I will go through it all carefully.Love from here - still waiting for summer to arrive.. SS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NZHigh Posted April 24, 2006 Report Share Posted April 24, 2006 it's always nicer to lie in hospital closer to home...It's great to have the indoor facility just north of Auckland, for those (over here) who don't wish to spend to much on petrol to get to the slopes just to be couriered back by ambulance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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