Posts Tagged With: snowy mountains

Day 3: Lake Crackenback Resort

Today’s breakfast was a bit more of a shambles than yesterday – it was full! We had to wait for a table and then queue up for hot food which was mostly empty. So that was a little disappointing.

After breakfast we discussed options for the day and eventually we drove 10 mins down the road to the Wild Brumby Distillery where B sampled all their delicious schnapps and we had a wander around the beautiful outside area and sculpture garden. We also had lunch here – goulash – which was yum.

After lunch we both had a relaxation massage at the Lake Crackenback Spa and Wellness Centre which was….well, relaxing! It was also well priced at $100 for 60 mins which is far more reasonable than what the Thredbo spa charges. They also have a really nice (and warm!) lounge area you can relax in while you wait.

I then had another issue with Alpine Larder – the only dinner option at the hotel open – when I went to book dinner as they were fully booked for the evening and the weather had turned so sitting outside was not really an option. They suggested ordering take away which I thought was great except I couldn’t phone it in. So I would have had to walk down, order, wait 30-40 mins outside, walk back. Ummmm no. I gave up in frustration and walked up to the tony supermarket to see what they had available. We ended up having a delicious cheese platter and wine for dinner instead while watching cheesy movies ❤️

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Day 1 and 2: Lake Crackenback Resort & Spa

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!

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