First time Snow trip

G'day Rob, it might be stating the bleedin obvious but warm clothing is essential,
& water proof is important. All the clothes in the world wont help once wet &
snow is out to wet you. It may be worth hiring boots as they are essential for dry
feet. Cooma is about an hour from snow & you will be slugged by National Parks
to enter ,daily ,probably. Friday Flat at Thredbo is good for kids & the town offers other attractions when not on the snow. I think you may be required to carry chains as well, check out the National Park Website. You can hire toboggans, & fun can be had on a plastic sheet. Accomodation will be at a premium then, so book now...& enjoy. cheers....oldbaz.

If you have a compressor a couple of inner tubes are a lot of fun :-)

Carry snow chains better to be safe than sorry.

Take warm clothes, a change of warm clothes, pack some "Emergency only" food chocolate and high carbohydrate energy bar things just incase.

Sleeping bags or some good quality wool blankets as well.

When photographing in snow check your camera exposure to make sure it is not under exposing and making the white snow look grey. your camera sees the world as being an average grey colour. you may need to over expose by up to 2 f-stops to get nice white looking snow.

it is not as critical on digital as it was with film but still worth remembering.

Remember your batteries lose power as they cool down, keep them warm and take a spare if you can.

Photos of kids in snow are great fun !!!

rob
If you want to experience real snow not just play snow go up to one of the snowfields (Perisher or Thredbo where they have snowmaking ,you can hire toboggans, have a coffee watch the kids, make a snowman, catch a chairlift ride etc.
Looking at roughly 2 hours from Cooma.
If your not skiing avoid peak hour traffic to the slopes and if you have a diesel 4wd try to have empty fuel tanks when you arrive at Cooma so you can fill up with winter diesel, also make sure you have coolant in your cooling system.

Instead of staying at Cooma 2 hours from the snow think of Sawpit Creek (Caravans,tenting and Cabins) which is just inside the National Park and only 30 minutes from the snow and if the season is good you'll bein it !!!

regards........................jeff

Hi Rob,

Wear warm hats at all times in the snow. If you have a very young child who will not be running around (carried or in a stroller) be particularly careful that the child is warm enough.

Also, wear sunscreen on all exposed skin, even under the chin as serious burns can result from reflection from the snow.

If you don't want to drive to Perisher, which is above the snowline and a very different place from Threadbo, you can take the train from Bullocks Flat (on the way to Threadbo) which is outside the NP. However it is quite an expensive trip. Check prices on the net.

A short distance off the Snowy Mountains Hwy you will pass the turnoff to Mt Selwyn which is regarded as a family friendly resort.

Hope there is heaps of snow. If so it is a wonderland. If not you will still have fun and see a very special part of Australia.

Min

I took my 4 boys last year to the Zoo.

Dubbo Zoo, get there at opening time if possibly, you will get a map at the gate, use your car to drive around, getting out at each animal of interest. You will still have to walk to see some animals as they are on 'spokes' out from the road perhaps 200m or so. Also inside the road loop there are animals too. Half way round is a cafe & we found ourselves there around mid day.

By mid afternoon most animals are resting & can be hard to see.

Near the end you have a playground area if the adults need a coffee & a rest!

Lastly the souvenir shop is a good spot to have a look at.


In addition to the zoo, I would recommend the observatory. They have an excellent video & then they takes you outside to the telescopes & explain what you can see in the night sky. Kids are definitely welcome. Just rug up as you will be outside for a while. You they like you to book by phone in advance, you may get an answering machine, just leave your details, they will ring back if the show is cancelled.

Cheers

g'day Rob,
just a note on the zoo, we went to the zoo a couple of years ago, and if it hasn't changed you will get two days entry from the one payment .Also our kids enjoyed the old Dubbo jail, and there was a bloke with a lot of old war transport(tanks,jeeps and planes) he also had a shed full of novelty science demonstrations the kids got a kick out of.Don't forget Wellington caves is also not far away.hope this helps.
Cheers John.

Thanks everyone,
Heaps of good information :)