On July 27, 2008, we travelled up to the Cresta Valley snow resort in the Mt Buffalo National Park, about 320 km NE of Melbourne.
We started at the town of Bright, from Mick's new country house, after having driven from Melbourne in the morning.
We arrived at the Cresta Valley car park at about 2.15 pm, after paying our $10 car entry fee.
The road is kept clear by snow ploughs.
We were amazed at the massive snow cover in the Valley - the cross country ski trails were under about 50 cm of beautiful soft powdery snow, blue sky with some clouds, temperature on the ground about minus 2. No wind!
This is the starting point for the South Buffalo Walk which we had completed earlier this year in the autumn, no snow then of course!
There are several XC ski loop trails in the Valley - 500 m, 1 km, 4 km, and 6 km. These are marked with colored poles - the tracks are groomed daily, but fresh snow soon fills them in!
Nearby is the toboggan run and heated shelter sheds.
Mick disappeared over the hills on the 4 km trail - I was content to do the 500 m circuit!
After all this, it was about 4 pm, getting colder, and it had started to snow. The blue skies had vanished!
Mick reappeared out of the gloom, like a Yeti, so we headed back to Bright, past the Dingo Dell car park and Crystal Brook Plains. By this time, it was snowing steadily and quite dark - a large wombat was crossing the road in front of us and settled down in the snow field nearby!
These Plains were like the South Pole, covered in deep snow, with only the tops of the bushes visible!
The views from Cresta Valley were spectacular, with The Horn peak a few km away, resembling a miniature Matterhorn!
Snow, snow, everywhere!
There were superb views across the Ovens and Buffalo River Valleys from Mackey's Lookout further down the mountain.
See the full set of Photos
We started at the town of Bright, from Mick's new country house, after having driven from Melbourne in the morning.
We arrived at the Cresta Valley car park at about 2.15 pm, after paying our $10 car entry fee.
The road is kept clear by snow ploughs.
We were amazed at the massive snow cover in the Valley - the cross country ski trails were under about 50 cm of beautiful soft powdery snow, blue sky with some clouds, temperature on the ground about minus 2. No wind!
This is the starting point for the South Buffalo Walk which we had completed earlier this year in the autumn, no snow then of course!
There are several XC ski loop trails in the Valley - 500 m, 1 km, 4 km, and 6 km. These are marked with colored poles - the tracks are groomed daily, but fresh snow soon fills them in!
Nearby is the toboggan run and heated shelter sheds.
Mick disappeared over the hills on the 4 km trail - I was content to do the 500 m circuit!
After all this, it was about 4 pm, getting colder, and it had started to snow. The blue skies had vanished!
Mick reappeared out of the gloom, like a Yeti, so we headed back to Bright, past the Dingo Dell car park and Crystal Brook Plains. By this time, it was snowing steadily and quite dark - a large wombat was crossing the road in front of us and settled down in the snow field nearby!
These Plains were like the South Pole, covered in deep snow, with only the tops of the bushes visible!
The views from Cresta Valley were spectacular, with The Horn peak a few km away, resembling a miniature Matterhorn!
Snow, snow, everywhere!
There were superb views across the Ovens and Buffalo River Valleys from Mackey's Lookout further down the mountain.
See the full set of Photos
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