Cheap solution to miserable weather woes
WEATHER making you miserable? Us too. Can’t afford Thailand? Us neither. Here’s the cheap solution to avoiding the miserable weather.
FOR the past three weeks, the rain on Australia’s east coast has been unrelenting.
Sydney has been battered, Brisbane has been drenched, and huge hailstones have fallen in the middle. Only Melbourne has baked, but thunderstorms are bearing down there too.
Grey cities aren’t fun, especially when wet socks are involved.
The answer? Head inland, and climb above the clouds.
I recently spent a few nights at Thredbo — about six hours from Sydney or seven hours from Melbourne — in the heart of the Snowy Mountains.
As the name suggests, the climate is fickle. It can change from sunshine to heavy rain to gale-force winds within minutes. As a child, I remember once playing in smatterings of slushy snow that fell on the peaks during a storm in January.
This weekend, however, conditions were pristine: blue skies, temperatures hovering in the high teens, a gentle breeze of fresh mountain air.
It was so good it made me wonder why I don’t do things like this more often.
Yes, traffic escaping the city at peak hour is nightmarish, especially once you add in delays caused by breakdowns, accidents, and people who forget how to drive.
Once you’re out of town, however, the sense of freedom is palpable. Open road. Fresh air. Country-style bakeries. Cute local cafes. Spectacular scenery.
Thredbo itself is easy to navigate, and it’s refreshingly easy to find a park. It’s a small village in a valley, with mountains towering each side and a creek bubbling at the bottom.
The food is hearty, the accommodation is cozy, and everyone’s in a good mood.
Best of all, the elevation of 1365 metres means air is crisp enough that after months of breaking into a sweat the second you step out of the shower, you can actually sleep.
You know, without having to make the choice between covering yourself in a sheet and being sticky, or kicking it off and being ravaged by mosquitoes.
Undoubtedly, Thredbo’s biggest drawcard is its proximity to Mount Kosciuszko, which is the tallest mountain in Australia at 2228 metres.
The 21-kilometre walk from the village to the summit and back took my group six and a half hours, including leisurely morning tea and lunch breaks.
If you’re able bodied, it’s worth going with the tougher Merritts Nature Track option.
If you’re not so keen, the Kosciuszko Express chairlift will swoop you up and over what’s essentially four kilometres of stairs to where the trails merge.
Honestly, though, there’s nothing like wheezing your way uphill to forget how incredibly stressed and tired you are from your regular work/family/life routine.
In fact, the world pretty much ceases to exist all together, as you look ahead and see yet more steps looming over you at the next corner.
Once you’re past that, it’s easy going. Best of all, the track is set on a mesh grid slightly raised from the marsh, so there’s no chance your socks will get wet.
It doesn’t matter what city you live in, incredible attractions are only a day away.
Brisbane has the Sunshine Coast and Stradbroke Island. Sydney has the Blue Mountains, and the Hunter Valley. Melbourne has the Mornington Peninsula and the Great Ocean Road.
Adelaide has the Flinders Ranges, Perth has the Margaret River region, Darwin has Kakadu and Litchfield, and Hobart is surrounded by national parks.
A two-night mini-break is more than enough to feel refreshed, and best of all, it’s far cheaper than suffering through the wet and saving for a trip overseas.
Kirrily Schwarz paid for her own trip to Thredbo. Why wouldn’t you?