Thredbo

Woke to a storm outside, surprisingly however, little snow. Just very windy and foggy.

Last day so we had a breakfast (really good fully cooked breakfast at the Eiger Chalet), packed our bags and got a lift back to the ski tube. Around 200m, but, over snow, so a tad tricky to drag your bags!

Quite a surreal experience. Exit the snow storm in the Skitube terminal, on the train, descending back thru the hill (3.3km) and then arriving in the valley below, virtually no snow in sight. It's actually a very cool experience and they built it 15 or so years ago to alleviate parking problems in Perisher Valley.

In the car and about 15km up the valley to Therdbo, how different could it be. A more "vertical" mountain than Perisher, somewhat like NZ, with no on-snow accommodation and a town nestled in the valley. But, it's quite low, around 1350, compared to Perisher at 1600ish, so it would appear that even mid-season, in a good year, they still have to reply very heavily on snow making.

Didn't ski as a little short on time, enthusiasm, and the weather wasn't that flash, so we explored for an hour, had coffee and then started winding our way back to Sydney.

Stopped in Jindabyne en-route, sort of the "Wanaka" of the Snowy Mountains. Not a bad little town, on the lake, but a little soulless. However, with around 20 000 beds it's an important service centre for Theredbo and Persiher.

Finally, in the car at 12ish, arrived back in Sydney just after 5, a good 5 hour drive on very easy, but quite boring roads. 2 lanes much of the way.

Staying with Mikes sister in Erskinville in Sydney. Great little area, quite old and very dense housing (and small houses). Headed out to the local pub for a beer and watching the very colourful locals, and dinner at a great little Thai restaurant. Home for an early night. Big, but very interesting day.