We decided to spend the Canberra March long weekend up in the Snowy Mountains so we could enjoy a bit of a break from work stress (me) and learn a new skill – mountain bike riding (B). We booked online and are staying in the Novotel section of the resort in a studio apartment with gorgeous mountain views.
Check in was easy and we had pre-booked dinner at Cuisine which was DELICIOUS! There are two food options here – Cuisine (fancy food) and Alpine Larder (pub food). We booked a week ahead for Cuisine although it wasn’t full and would still have been able to seat more couples, I had prosciutto chicken and B raved about his steak and Shiraz.
On the morning of day 2 we woke up early and enjoyed the free breakfast knowing we had a big day ahead planned! Mmmmm mushrooms are seriously my favourite food. 
We headed off through the national park entry point ($17 day pass) and up to the Thredbo village. Last time we were up here in March was 5 years ago and we had underestimated just how much their mountain biking courses had taken off! There were people EVERYWHERE and parking was a bitch. Eventually we parked in the furtherest car park and walked the 800m to the Kosciuszko Express chairlift which operates all year round for a fee ($39 each).
After a super exciting (not) 15min chairlift ride to the top we started out on our goal for the weekend – to climb to the top of Mt Kosciuszko! It’s a 13.8km walk return and the trip to the summit is about 90% uphill which is a big challenge for me. Last time I made it 2km in to the lookout point and had to turn back. But this time….I made it the whole way! It took us 4hrs and 4 mins, I burnt 2200 calories AND it was over 30000 steps counted for the day. I felt amazing afterward although that last 1.5kms directly uphill to the summit was really hard. You can see from the photos today we picked a beautiful blue bird day for it.
After the climb down and drive back to the resort, we relaxed with some ice cream before giving Alpine Larder a go for dinner. They were booked out but we were able to sit outside. The pizza was $30 and was very….average. So in future I would suggest either booking ahead and paying the $$ for Cuisine or considering a 15 min drive into JINDABYNE to one of their many pubs and restaurants.
As a special treat, on our walk back to the studio we spotted wild deer and some young kangaroos living up to their sign expectation!
We enjoyed about 4 hours of reading, napping, frozen iced drinks, getting a henna tattoo, swimming in the ocean and people watching before the sun came across overhead and I started getting sunburnt. We then moved back to the hotel and enjoyed 2 for 1 happy hour at the swim up bar.
Mel's Travel Blog 