Joel and I boarded a plane in Colorado Springs at around 6:30 pm on Monday, June 5, 2023 and landed in Sydney, Australia at around 7 am on Wednesday, June 7. It was very time consuming getting through customs at the Sydney Airport, but eventually, we were on a domestic plane headed to Canberra.
We experience a REALLY LONG FLIGHT…over 18 hours! Fortunately, United Airlines upgraded our seats at no charge, so we experienced extra special service, extra legroom, nicer pillows, better meals, better headphones, and a bigger TV!
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| Selfie on the plane to Australia! |
Once we arrived in Canberra, it was around 11:15 am. We were delighted to discover Canberra was a small airport and we were even more delighted to discover that the hotel I booked was walking distance from the airport! We didn’t have to take a shuttle or Uber which made us so happy.
Once we arrived at the hotel, at first we were told we couldn’t get an early check in, but because I was interested in booking tickets for Come From Away, a Broadway show that was showing in Canberra when we were scheduled to be there which took a while, the room was ready before we left the hotel’s front desk.
Once Joel and I finally entered our room and got settled, we were just so happy! We did scooter to a mall and left quickly when we realized that it was going to get dark at 5 pm. We didn’t do much else that evening except get dinner at the hotel restaurant. We shared some fish and chips which was kind of fun.
The next day, which was now, June 8 (we arrived in Australia on June 7) was a total project day since we had some jobs to do. We had three things to do: Get Joel a Children’s Check from a Service NSW Centre (like a driver’s license office in the USA), get Joel an Australian bank account, and get Joel an Australian SIM card since he needed to have a good phone that worked in Australia.
It was raining really hard that day, but Uber rides did get us to where we needed to go after we had a really nice Australian breakfast at a coffee house we found that was fairly close to our hotel.
It was complicated to get those “jobs” done, but wow, did we feel happy once we achieved the goal of getting all done.
Our last Uber dropped us off at the same mall where we’d been at the day before, so we again scootered and skate boarded back to our hotel. Jo Ann picked up som amazing giant sushi at the mall and we again enjoyed eating together at the hotel where Jo Ann bought a salad to add to the sushi and Joel had some fries.
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| Enjoying Sushi |
Soon it was time to get another Uber that took us tot he Canberra Theatre where we saw Come From Away! It was difficult to stay awake because our bodies were not synced to Canberra, Australia time, but the musical was so good, that somehow we did stay awake. It was an amazing experience too.
The next morning, Friday, June 9, we enjoyed the hotel breakfast buffet and then went to the bus station near the airport. We booked a Greyhound Australia bus that was scheduled to head to Jindabyne. The bus was scheduled for 10:45 am, but arrived a bit late. Once we got on the bus and had our luggage stowed, we were relieved.
We were uncertain what to do when we arrived in Jindabyne, but it turned out the Jindabyne part was rather easy. Jo Ann found the Jindabyne Ski Accomodations office and got the key and then we found our lodgings which turned out to be right across the street from the visitors’ center.
On Friday night we had a wonderful dinner at a Japanese restaurant in Jindabyne called Takayama. We had no idea how central we were located to everything. The restaurant was amazing and the owner and staff were so nice.
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| Joel loves Japanese Curry! |
On Saturday, June 10, we figured out how to take the bus to Perisher to not only check out the ski area but to make sure all Joel needed at the HR office was completed. Before heading to Perisher, we went to The Station where Joel’s employee lodgings were and got him settled.
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| Six to a room in my opinion is NOT Acceptable! |
It took a bit to figure out how to get there too. Sadly, we were disappointed to learn that the staff accomodations were not at the ski resort or in Jindabyne. It took us some time to figure out which bus would take us there which was a small yellow bus and that the bus only returned to Jindabyne once an hour.
When we finally arrived at Perisher we were happy to see snow, but….
We were quite shocked at the ski resort to discover that hundreds of people were climbing up the mountain since lifts were not open!
We did learned which bus to take back to Jindabyne though. When we returned we went to the teller machine and tested out how to withdraw money without a debit card. We wanted to try out the chinese restaurant, but it only took cash, we we stepped into what we thought was an inexpensive Mexican restaurant, and had a very fancy Mexican meal instead there. There were so many tourists that the place eventually was completely packed.
On Sunday, June 11, we decided to go the Perisher and try to ski. Jo Ann picked up her ski rental package and got a locker. It was so, so hard to climb the mountain though, but we were determined to get some skiing in.
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| Victory after climbing up the mountain! 6/11/23 |
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| Well deserved coffee break! |
We were so tired after climbing the mountain, but afterwards, we headed to the lake and had a wonderful time scootering and skate boarding around the lake and then had a nice dinner at Jindabyne Emporium. Joel had chicken wings and fries and I had a wonderful vegan burger!
On Monday, June 12, we decided not to bother going all the way to Perisher to climb up since the lifts were still closed. We first had a nice breakfast at the Market, a really nice coffee house which was right across the street from our vacation rental and then we decided to try to scooter and skate board to The Station.
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Joel in his dorm room at The Station (note: read bottom of this post, since he ended up leaving those accomodations) |
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| Kangaroos at The Station! |
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| Joel in front of the staff building that included laundry at The Station |
Well…we learned that was not the best idea, since after leaving town, the road became an isolated highway which was quite scary for people on foot. Eventually we did get there though. It may have taken us over an hour.
Once at The Station, we put some of Joel’s things away in his dorm room that we purchased since Saturday and then we scootered to the employee center and located the free laundry area for employees which included a lounge with internet and a kitchen. It was actually quite fun to scooter around The Station and we even saw Kangaroos!
Then we head back on the yellow bus and had the bus to ourselves and had an enjoyable time talking to the bus driver. She suggested Joel consider hitch hiking and suggested making a sign saying where he needed to go!
That evening we got take away Thai curry and took it back to our lodgings. We noticed Jindabyne was no longer so busy with tourists.
Monday had been “King’s Day” in Australia, so we actually had arrived on a three day weekend. So…on Tuesday, June 13, we knew the Commonwealth Bank would finally be open, so before doing anything Tuesday morning, we headed to the bank. It was so busy, but after waiting in the line for just a bit, we were able to update Joel’s Australian phone number to our joint account and also his mailing address so that our debit cards would arrive eventually.
After having a nice breakfast at the Parc Cafe at the Visitors Centre, we spent the day riding our scooters on Jindabyne Lake. We even enjoyed the Skate Park!
After our lake adventure, we went to The Market cafe again and had some treats. I’d had my eye on their wonderful carrot cake and had worked up enough of an appetite to enjoy that. We also enjoyed talking to the people in the cafe again and got to know Gianni, who had rented me the ski locker. He had a broken ankle, so I shared with him some photos of my broken ankle journey.
We then went to the Woolworth’s Market and bought groceries to cook for dinner later since we were getting a bit tired of having to eat meals out. Then, after dinner we went to the Jindabyne Theatre and saw the latest Warren Miller movie. This time, Jo Ann, could not stay awake…I seemed to sleep during most of the movie….
Joel had a welcome meet and greet for ski and snowboard instructors at The Station on Tuesday evening.
I sure enjoyed cooking again that evening and when Joel returned we also watched the “Almost Australian” documentary.
We woke up really early on Wednesday, June 14 and boarded the bus to Perisher at 6:45 am. Our driver was Brenten, who was so friendly. We spent most of the ride enjoying chatting with him.
When we arrived at the SnowTube station, the food places there were not open, but the places at the main area of the resort were, so we had coffee and then prepared to ski.
We were so excited to see the lift open and heard the people in line cheering at 8:30 am. The lift was not that crowded yet either so Joel and I really enjoyed skiing (and snow boarding) down the mountain even though the runs were short.
After we took a break, things changed though…the place became so crowded and the lines became too long.
The skiing was similar to the day before but there was more snow which was nice. I skied a bit more after Joel went to his training, but the lines just became too long and the the runs became so crowded that it wasn’t all that fun, so I decided to head back to Jindabyne on my own and try to make the 2:30 bus. I think Joel called me just as I boarded the bus. He was done with the training and introductions, but I was already on the bus, so he stayed around to snowboard more. Shortly after he returned to Jindabyne, we went to the lake and enjoyed scootering and skate boarding around the beautiful lake again.
When we returned to Perisher on Friday, 6/16, Joel was really stressed out since after the training he’d locked his skis at the Blue Cow mountain and he wasn’t sure he could get them, so right after we had some coffee, he headed to Blue Cow on the Ski Tube to get his skis back.
I began skiing right when the lift opened at 8:30 am and was relieved to get a text from Joel that he’d been able to get his skis. We skied together for the morning and in the afternoon Joel took part in a skills workshop.
It became really crowded in the afternoon, so I boarded the 1:30 pm bus back to Jindabyne. I was delighted when our bus drive Brenten said hello to me in the Tube station and introduced me to his wife Kristi. It turned out we sat quite close to one another on the bus back and got to visit. I’m so glad I got their contact information since the next day, Saturday, it turned out we needed them.
When Joel got back, we scootered around the lake of course! And..after that, we returned to the Japanese restaurant had both of us had their amazing curry!
Saturday 6/17 was the usual routine…we took the 6:45 am bus as usual and got our early morning coffee and ate some breakfast, but wow…the entire place at 7:45 am was so crowded! We wondered what skiing and lift lines would be like…
Well…it WAS REALLY CROWDED! Even though another lift was open, the lines were so long and it seemed people were pushing. And..the terrain was awful. And..the snowboarders were running into people. But…even in the crowded conditions, we were determined to have fun, so we skied. It was very cold too.
Finally, when we got to the top of the lift, we decided to take a break at the Mid Perisher Centre Restaurant. The restaurant was incredible for a mountain restaurant and not that crowded. There we met a nice lady who ran the gift shop named Rosemary Worthington who even offered to give Joel rides to and from The Station to the mountain!
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| It was too cold for me to take off my face covering and goggles when I posed for this photo |
We enjoyed skiing down the mountain on really hard terrain at about 12 noon. When we finally got to the bottom we decided it was so crowded that we would head back to Jindabyne. We hoped to make the 12:30 pm bus, but that was not realistic since I had to return my rental equipment and Joel needed to lock up all of his ski and snowboard gear in what had been my ski locker.
By the time we did all that it was about 1 pm, and then we headed to the Ski Tube station. After checking out the market at the Tube Station, we headed towards the bus and were so relieved it wasn’t crowded and also relieve to leave the crowds and head home to Jindabyne.
Once we got back and settled, we went to Jindabyne Lake and scootered the entire lake’s bike path. It was so fun!
While we were scootering, we discussed Joel’s accommodations. We had an opportunity to move him out of The Station dorms and into a much more private accommodation in Jindabyne. The question was: if Joel moved, would he be giving up the chance to make friends? We finally decided we must check out the accommodation and I sent the lady who offered the accommodation a message we definitely wanted to rent the room. Just as we were leaving the lake, Jo called and we scootered to her home.
Well…doing this was the best decision ever! We decided for sure to move Joel there and had planned to move him the next day, but when we got back to our vacation rental, we found out he had suddenly been scheduled for work! Normally, that would have not been an issue, but I was leaving on Sunday, so Joel had to get his things out of the vacation rental and to where he was going to live, but also…oh no…his uniform was at The Station and there were no more buses going there that night! What were we going to do?
First we called Jo and she said, yes, he could move in tonight. Then, we began trying to get an Uber, but the app wasn’t working right. Then, I called Kristi and Brenten, and yes…they could help! Wow…we were so relieved!
Joel walked to Jo’s place and paid her and got the keys and then Brenten and Kristi picked Joel up there and took him to The Station and he removed all of his belongings from there and took his things to Jo’s house. Then, Brenten and Kristi helped him move the heavy things that were at our vacation rental to Jo’s place and Joel’s new home. By the time all that was done it was around 9 pm. Joel then packed up the last of his stuff except what he needed for the night and the two of us, around 10 pm, walked to Jo’s (I scootered) in the dark and brought the last of the stuff over. We chatted with Jo for a bit and then went back to the vacation rental and went to bed.
We were so relieved that Joel had better accomodations! What a long night it had been!
On Sunday morning 6/18, I walked Joel to his new home for him to drop off the last of his things and and then I walked him (I scootered!) to the bus. It was very hard to say good bye and so I hugged Joel several times before he boarded the bus.
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| Our wonderful vacation rental at Razorback Apartments in the very center of Jindabyne! |
I then went back to our vacation rental and finished getting dressed and did some packing. I’ve realized when I travel that packing takes me way longer than I expect it to, and this time it even took longer since my Greyhound Australia bus didn’t leave until 3:35 pm, so I had my scooter out ready to go around the lake before it got packed in my duffle. Also, I needed to pack up any extra food and miscellaneous items and make sure all the dishes were washed and put away and that the bedding was removed from the sleeper sofa Joel slept on. It just took awhile.
At 10:30 am I had a get together planned at The Market Cafe across the street from my vacation rental with Brenten and Kristi. I wanted to treat them to coffee to thank them for their help. It was so fun to spend time with them too! We must have talked for almost two hours!
After we left the coffee house, I took them over to my vacation rental to see it and then we hugged and said our goodbyes.
I then got on my scooter and had absolutely the best time scootering as fast as I could around the lake. I was on a time schedule since I wanted to be back at the vacation rental by 1:30 or 1:45 so that I could leave the accommodation around 2:30 in order to get my luggage down the stairs and over to the visitors center and also return the key.
I had time stop at the Woolworth’s market and purchase something before my trip and then I returned to the vacation rental and packed up everything. I successfully got my luggage down the stairs myself. Just as I was exiting, Brenten and Kristi arrived and helped me get my luggage across the street and watched my things while I went to the Jindabyne Ski Accomodations office to return my key.
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| Kristi and Brenten Head - Our “Angels” and Now Friends! |
They walked me to the bus stop and we said our final good byes.
While I was waiting for the Greyhound Australia bus I met two girls who were ski instructors who were so nice. One was American and one was British. We discussed the quality of the staff housing and exchanged contact info. The girls even helped me get my luggage into the Greyhound Australia bus when it arrived at 3:30 pm.
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| The girl in the white pants is from the USA, her name is Claire McGiver and she’s from Pennsylvania and teaches snowboarding…I forgot the other girl’s name, she is from the UK…both are staying on the mountain and told me the staff accomodations there are much nicer than The Station |
The bus promptly left at 3:35 pm as scheduled and I had a nice two hour bus ride to the Canberra Airport where I booked a room again at the Vibe Hotel that was walking distance from the airport.
I was very happy when I finally entered the nice hotel room at the Vibe hotel. After settling in, I decided to treat myself to a nice dinner at the hotel restaurant. I had some very delicious Japanese eggplant dish.
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| My Eggplant Dinner |
The next day, June 19, I booked a late check out since my plane didn’t leave until the afternoon and treated myself to the delicious hotel breakfast. I have learned that the breakfast buffets in Australia and UK at hotels are really good. I ate so many mushrooms! Yes..they eat mushrooms for breakfast!
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| My delicious hotel buffet breakfast |
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| I worked out at the hotel gym before checking out of the Vibe hotel |
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| My very nice hotel room at the Vibe Hotel |
All went smooth for check out and checking in at the Canberra Airport for my flight to Adelaide. The flight was delightful too because I had a whole row to myself. I arrived in Adelaide before dark and took an Uber to the Ibis Adelaide hotel where my daughter Rebekah and the cast of Disney On Ice Mickey’s Search Party were staying.
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| When I arrived at the Ibis Adelaide hotel where the Disney On Ice Cast was staying, the first person I saw was Antoine, who is a good friend of my son Joel’s…it was so nice to see him! |
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| Rebekah and I enjoying vegan food in Adelaide the night we both arrived there 6/18/23 |
Rebekah and the cast arrived just about the time I arrived. Once we all settled in, Rebekah and I walked (I scootered of course) to a vegan Asian restaurant called Vegan Sizzle that was about 18 minutes away and had a wonderful meal together.
After dinner, we said our good nites and got excited about the time I’d have visiting her in Adelaide!
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