A touch of snow

One of the main attractions of melbourne is that you can reach almost any of your heart's desires at a very short distance . If you are the lover of sea and sand , thats half an hour , if you like the mountains thats also near by. You can visit the rain forests , the gardens, you name it and melbourne has it just a short distance away!!If you are like me pining after a lost chance to visit the alps , there is something right now near melbourne that can please your heart and make you forget the alps.Just about 3 hours from melbourne there is a place called Mt. Buller where you can feel the magical touch of snow!!
Located 208 km (129 mi) NE of Melbourne Mt . Buller rises 1,707 m (5,600 ft) above the sea level. It is covered by Sub-alpine Woodland that occupies the high ridges and upper slopes at elevations from about 1400m to 1700m, treeless sub-alpine mosaic at the highest altitudes where other vegeation don't survive in the extreme temperatures, riparian forest, shrubby dry forest, damp forest, wet forest, herb-rich foothill forest, montane dry woodland, montane damp forest and montane riparian thicket, each found at specific elevations. Mt. Buller has been a popular ski resort for quite a long time now and is a major winter attraction for all australians. In fact it has fostered and nourished the aussies love for skiing . Before early 1980's there were two lift companies operating in the mountain to lift the skiiers to the summit which meant you had buy two separate tikcets.In the late 1990's the two companies merged and now you can access any of the 25 different lifts to the various summits , all with a single tiket!!
There are various options to reach Mt. Buller .If you have a valid license You can take you own car or hire a car and drive over .There are quite a few ways you can get to Mansfield, the closest major town to Mt Buller:


Via Whittlesea and Yea from Plenty Road; Along the Hume Hwy northbound to Tallarook and then to Yea;

• Along the Hume Hwy southbound to the Benalla/Mansfield turnoff;


• or along the Maroondah Hwy through Yarra Glen to Yea and then on to Mansfield.

Mansfield is the gateway town to Mt. Buller. In winter you need to pay a toll to enter the resort which helps in the upkeep of the place.You can hire snow chains and clothing here at a reasonable price .If you are not used to driving over snow its better to park your car here and take the free shuttle to the top. However if you are like me , on a budget trip then you can book one of the coaches.There are several daytour coaches operating out of melbourne . They provide a very comfortable journey and here is the scoop.If you are booking your tour just a day before the journey from a half tix(http://www.halftixmelbourne.com/) outlet in melbourne you can book a tour at only half the price!!The coaches usually give a 45 mins break in Mansfield allowing you to hire ski equipment , Tobaggans , snow cothes etc.and grab a breakfast and a hot cup of coffee. If you are like me , not willing to chance a broken leg and a hole in the pocket trying to ski and would rather enjoy the snowy vista and have some safe fun , then hire a tobaggan and buy the chair lift pass from this place. They are fairly cheap and you can have a whole lot of fun . If you are bent on that skii experience , then you can hire ski gear and purchase skii lessons here as well.Finally if you are a professional skiier , well you would hardly need my advice!
The 20 mins journey up from Mnsfield is really interesting. There is that heart stopping moment of seeing the first snow. Then as you go up the vista changes from green and brown to white all over.The frozen leaves and piles of snow at the road side are a delight to any snow lover.You can get the map of the various ski trails and tobaggan slopes at Mansfield or even at the top. It would be good to have one in hand before you start the fun .The tobaggan ride can actually turn back time and let you unleash the child within .The hilarious topples in the snow make lifetime memories. If you are the serious skiier , you can head straight to the chairlift and hit the ski slopes. Even if you are not the skiier , you should take all the chair lift rides . The experience of looking down at the acres and acres of snow covered hills with hoardes of skiiers in their bright outfits is exhilarating , and you feel like screaming YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!There is a tube ride also if you want to glide down the snow.Also there are shuttle buses that take you to the Bulla village near the summit. Its a charming little village with a population of 2933 has around 7000 beds available in accommodation facilities, the most of any Victorian ski resort.So if you have fallen in love with the snow and would like to stay a night or two , you can book in here. However it would be wise to book in advance as due to the rush of tourists in the snow season the hotels can be booked from months in advanced.La Trobe University had a minor campus at Mt Buller. The campus facilities included a public cinema, gym and indoor sporting facilities. It has since been closed.It is also the home of the National Alpine Museum.Have you ever looked at a christmas card with snow covered houses and trees and snow man and wished you were there? Then you are going to love it at bulla village. You can pile the snow to build your own snowman , and don't forget to throw snowballs at your friends. What's a snow trip without snow balls flying ? However beware , if you are not wearing the right clothes you can freeze.By this time you might be feeing a trifle hungry and cold but there is nothing to worry . There are many nice warm restaurants to pick from . My personal favourite is the small asian restaurant at Bulla village . There you get a lot of hot delicacies including a perfectly yummy steaming bowl of laksa soup which is guaranteed to revv you up in the cold.
If you are lucky enough you can have a light snow shower too to complete the experience.

Pictures courtesy Apratim Chandra