Hotham 09 – Day 1 – To the snowfields!

Day 1 of the 2009 OnSno.com Australian Ski Adventure started as early as normal; 4:30am was the prescribed meeting time, at the usual (but very secret) starting location. While for once, Ed, Pip, John and I were on time, the remainder of the crew was not. Kim and Max arrived at 4:39am, literally seconds before Ed’s finger was to dial their number to question their whereabouts. At this point, we hadn’t seen or heard anything from Nick – but did blame his lateness on Astrid’s ability to never be early.

A quick phone call later, and we soon discovered that both Nick and his volunteer driver Jock had taken Ed’s advice a little too literally about the location of the meeting point, and had actually driven to another car park only 50m beyond where everyone else was waiting. As it turns out, Nick had actually arrived at 4:25am, and so had beaten everyone to the meeting point – even if he had never actually arrived where we had expected him.

Miscommunications aside, we farewelled Jock and set off on the journey which we had travelled many times before – the 909km drive (give or take a few kilometres here or there) that would take us across a varied landscape to the alpine village of Bright, Victoria (OK; so we didn’t actually get to the snowfields today, but it’s close enough). Having completed this trip regularly, Ed gave navigational directions to both cars, although Max and Kim’s new 4WD relied on a rather humorous GPS unless no other option was available – or until the battery ran completely flat, as happened a few hours later.

The first stop of the day was Lameroo – our usual toilet break, in the bustling (…yeah sure) town centre. Upon arriving, we soon noticed that the public facilities used on previous occasions had been surrounded in red and white warning tape, and large signs indicated that these facilities were closed. Directions indicated that the nearest facilities were located around the corner, at the local caravan park. Without much hesitation, we bundled back into the cars and headed off to the revised stop – and here started what soon became termed as the “Day of Alternates”.

Lameroo was particularly windy when we were there just before sunrise, and the wild weather continued for much of the drive bringing rain and wind a plenty. After everyone was satisfied they could handle another bout of sitting still for hours on end, we pushed on to Ouyen – our regular stop for breakfast. At this stage, Kim was driving lead with Ed following close behind – not brilliant for handing out directions – but when Ed suggested we “see if they know where the bakery is”, and they continued to cruise on past the main street of Ouyen, we all chuckled as we cruised on past as well. Apparently it doesn’t matter where you are in the convey if you don’t know where you’re going. We attempted to turn around and pretend we had never missed the street, but unfortunately this was not to be.

Upon arriving at the Mallee Bakery – our usual outlet for breakfast – we quickly noticed the large “for sale” signs, and that it was very much closed. Unfortunately for us, the bakery was not set to open again until Monday 13th July. We set off to find another establishment to eat at, now that we had all been awake for 5 or so hours. The Fairy Dell Cafe was the next available choice, and a warm breakfast was enjoyed by all – except for Kim, whose pancakes left much to be desired (especially for $7).

After a change of drivers, we pushed on through Swan Hill to Lake Boga, where we met with Nick’s dad to collect a set of skis for the week ahead. Lake Boga was, as it was last year, devoid of moisture due largely to the irrigation uptake surrounding the inlet areas. Here we were supplied with morning tea – pies, sausage rolls, and coffee – which was much appreciated by all 7 travellers. While this was not a usual stop on the Adelaide to Bright journey, it did not slow down our progress much, and the change of scenery was well received everyone.

From Lake Boga, it was to lunch at Echuca. Lunch, as per usual, was had at the Beechworth Bakery – purportedly “Australia’s Best Bakery”. I guess you’d have to be Australia’s best bakery if you were selling DVDs about bread for $200 each. The Bakery was busy as always (as was the rest of the Echuca main street), but lunch was enjoyed by all. While lunch naturally feels like the middle of the day, in this case, it was well over half-way through the travel and so we attempted to get as far as possible on the near-final leg of the journey.

We got as far as Glenrowan, when the dual-McDonalds sucked us in – although nobody actually purchased anything from McDonalds. A quick refresher later, and we were back on the road – now heading for the hills that do emerge very quickly in contrast to the very flat land seen for the majority of the journey so far. While only 80km to Bright, we enjoyed the nice scenery (but sadly did not see any snow-capped peaks as is sometimes possible from locations around this area) while there was enough light, and arrived as the sun disappeared completely.

We pulled into the motel and organised our rooms, quickly unloaded the gear we needed for the one-night stay here, then headed back to the main street to organise snow chains, ski services and waxes, and to buy some groceries for the week. This whole process took a surprisingly small period of time, and we were at the Alpine Hotel for dinner not too long after 6pm. Dinner was well received by all (who had done nothing but sit, eat, sit, eat all day), but tiredness had taken its toll on most and everyone crashed very quickly after returning to the motel rooms.

Tomorrow we have a more reasonable start planned, and will head up the mountain following breakfast. The remaining crew should beat us to the top on the bus, while Michelle, Dave, Emma and Bronte will already have had a week’s skiing when we meet up with them tomorrow. Provided the temperature stays cold enough, all of this rain should fall as snow – here’s to hoping.

Photos will be uploaded in coming days (although admittedly we didn’t take many today), so take a look at the gallery page every now and then to make sure you don’t miss them!

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