Snowy mountains or Snowies is a popular destination in Australia, as that is the only mountain range where Aussies can find snow enough for skiing in the entire country. We heard about it from multiple friends around and added to our winter bucket list. It is not a famous international tourist spot, but a local family destination. After visiting Himalayas multiple times, I didn’t have much excitement to visit this place. Our family from India visited us during winter and finally, we decided to take them there to show snow. That is how the trip planning started. There are multiple snow resorts which are famous in that region: Mount Selwyn, Mount Perisher and Thredbo. We chose Perisher, as we can reach to the top of the mountain and snow is guaranteed. We planned our trip after winter, and so we wanted to assure that we get to see some snow.

We started our journey from Sydney early in the morning, to reach Perisher by afternoon.

It was cloudy and there was a rain prediction in the afternoon by the time we reach Perisher. We were little worried on how the weather will be and if we will be able to take that cold or not. We stopped at Goulburn on the way for a coffee break at the Big Merino statue. The statue symbolizes the importance of sheep in their lives, wool manufacturing being their major occupation.

We continued our journey crossing Canberra and Cooma. We had been to Canberra earlier and the route after Canberra was a surprise drive for us. The land looked barren and it felt like a different country (like Iceland).

By the time we reached Jindabyne, it started raining heavily. We hired snow chains(required for 2WD), snow jackets and boots from a shop in Jindabyne and continued our journey. It felt costly to rent those, but we had to take them to have the maximum rain and cold protection and to save our jackets from getting dirty in snow.

We managed to reach the place where the ski tube to Perisher starts by 2pm. There are two ways to explore Perisher mountain. One way is to drive to the top, which has a risk of putting snow chains to vehicle and the second way is to take a train/tube to reach to the top. We preferred Ski tube which takes us directly to the top of Mount Perisher in ten minutes. I was very excited about train journey and expected something different.

The train looked pretty normal and just designed to serve the purpose, nothing closer to Switzerland kind of train. It is mainly used by skiiers to reach to the top of mountain and then come back skiing. We sat in the first compartment to have the front view of the train. After around 2mins of journey, we could see snow on the sides of the train route and we entered a tunnel, which felt like never ending.

I was more curious on the other side of the tunnel and I waited to see what appears out of it. We had no clue on how much snow is there in that region. The tunnel ended after 10mins and we realized that we reached the underground station with no view. We could feel the cold before we came out of the station. As soon as we stepped of the station, it was like Wow!

It was a big surprise for us, we expected a little snow as the season almost ended, but it was full of snow and it was snowing heavily too 🙂 Snow + Snowfall felt simply awesome!

We realized that the rain below the mountain converted into snow fall above. We hated the rain there, but enjoyed the snow fall 🙂 Surprisingly, we didn’t feel cold with all our snow jackets and boots on. The temperature is around -2 degrees and we could happily stand and play in snow, all thanks to our jackets, completely worth the amount.

It was a skiers paradise and there were many training centers available there to train kids.

It was a memorable experience in snowfall and I didn’t feel like leaving the place. The whole trip was a surprise for us and it felt like a dream.

We spent couple of hours in the snow, had some coffee in the perisher hotel and returned back to the station to catch our train back to the base.

We drove back to Jindabyne and got a glimpse of Jindabyne lake which reminded me of New Zealand lakes. It looked beautiful and we decided to check it out the next day.

We stayed overnight at Jindabyne in Discovery Parks, beside the lake.

Day 2

We woke up next day to witness the lake sunrise. It was a beautiful treat to watch 🙂

We started our journey to Canberra and we wanted to drive back few kms on the route to Perisher just to take a glimpse of the mountains covered in fog the other day.

We continued our journey from Jindabyne to Canberra stopping at Tidbinbilla Nature reserve on the way. We could spot a cute Koala with its baby on a tree and a herd of small Kangaroos in the reserve.

We were extremely hungry by then and reached Canberra CBD for lunch. After lunch, we went to Australia Parliament building. Though we had been to Canberra earlier, we missed going inside as there was huge queue during Easter weekend. It was relatively empty this time and we could happily get inside the building, with basic security checks. It felt fascinating to be inside a parliament house.

There are two houses in Australian parliament building and both looked similar in seating. They apparently allow visitors to attend live sessions too. I am not sure how many countries allow residents/visitors to get inside their parliament, but we felt privileged to be there.

We came out of the building at its the closing time and headed to the hill to see the view.

Canberra felt like an extremely well planned city. I always loved the city and its serenity. We reached our hotel in the middle of the city and rested for the day.

Day 3

We visited Lake Burley Griffin and Nara Gardens in the morning, to see many flower trees. We missed the Canberra Floriade by a week. Floriade displays variety of Tulips and other flowers and it is the famous garden in Australia.

After lunch, we continued our journey back to Sydney on a bright sunny day!

Overall, the trip was a surprise for me and I guess the happiest part for me was that I could happily enjoy and sustain -2 degrees cold for several hours with the right gear 🙂 This gave us confidence to explore mountains in winter!