We spontaneously decided before Madison's birthday we'd book a snow escape this year. Ever since 2012 we've been meaning to go to the snow. But as the story goes, life has other plans! But never the less we made it finally, half a decade later
Mount Buffalo is somewhere we visited earlier this year in Summer and always dreamed of coming back to see more in snow season, as something about snow lifts in dry dirt fields didn't seem right.
Friday night we piled the bunnies into the car all rugged up for the extreme colds before us.. that is of course after our 4 hour roadtrip during the night.
To think the kids would sleep all the way up was naive. They bickered, argued and cried most the way up and Mister M and I had basically our sanity when we arrived.
We were greeted by a beautiful holiday house that Mum had organised for us, which made the car trip of horror all the more worth it - Manna Gum Estate in Porepunkah, not far from Mount Buffalo. We arrived at around 9:30pm to we couldn't do too much sight seeing. https://www.mannagumescape.com
The bath at Manna Gum is to die for. I have never had bath envy before until I opened the blinds and just took in the bath with a view. It truly was an insta worthy bath and backdrop thats for sure. There is also a massive pool out the back where the serene backdrop shows up again. Honestly out here there is no way you can take a bad photo. Unfortunately it was ice cold and we will have to visit in the middle of Summer for a dip.
Mount Buffalo- Dingoes Dell http://www.visitmountbuffalo.com.au/
Mount Buffalo has got to be the most family friendly mountain of the Alpine region offering adventure seekers just enough snow to learn the slopes or just have fun tobogganing down the slippery snow.
And if you're not keen on riding anything there's a quiet cafe where you can order a nice hot meal and drink and watch over the slope. Next time we head back to the snow we're going to get some lessons for the whole family to swap toboggan for snowboard/ski's. I think next year the girls will be more age suited for this as well and more willing to learn and listen to instructors, this time it was all about the novelty of seeing the white frozen snow stuff for the first time!
The girls finally too the chance to get hands on with the snow and build their very first snowman, finished off with a carrot nose and all. They we're so proud of their little buddy and spent a good amount of time playing with him and sharing their hot chocs.
Mount Buffalo Chalet-
If you like spooky abandoned things it doesn't get much better then this! Found on the top of Bent's Lookout and built in 1910 by the Victorian Government, the chalet was Australia's first ski resort. Pretty cool huh, we just stumbled across this place by chance- but it's totally worth a gawk.
We explored and even got to jump into an old empty pool, which was built in the 1960s that was now lined with snow.
Falls Creek- http://fallscreek.com.au
We made a very late decision to check out Falls Creek as it's open until 12am. Leaving the estate at 5pm we arrived around 6:30pm and boy was it snowy up there.
Falls Creek feels like you are entering another world, one of which you see on movie screens. It's a massive snowfield filled with accomodation restaurant's and bars.
It was so cool to be able to toboggan down secluded slopes under streetlights, and occasionally seeing a group stumble or board through the snow as they head to the next bar.
A lot of our favorite memories from our snow trip were pull over on the side of the road and adventure in the snow. Not only does it cost nothing there we're endless memories and giggles to be had (mainly at Dad slipping in his non-appropriate snow shoes or a big pile of snow falling off the roof onto my head).
The whole family cannot wait to venture back to the snow in 2018, it's sad that snow season is now over. We might try a different snow-cation next time and welcome any suggestions :) we're totally snow rookies!
