S	M	T	W	T	F	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30

The first snow of the season at Mount Hotham - day five of our road trip

2008.04.27

Rain on the car window at 7am... I was sitting inside after showering, waiting for the heavy rain to pass

The cloud hangs low over Bright as we walked to the town centre for some breakfast

The rain drips off a Japanese maple

First snow of the season powdering up the gullys of Mount Hotham... this is on the drive to the peak

Taken through the windscreen... water was steadily rolling down the road from all the snow

At the top, next to the chalets...

The snow next to the tyre of the car

All snowed up!

The lifts at Mount Hotham

Fresh, flaky snow

I love footprint shots in sand... so I figured in snow might be fun too :)

Better enlarged... I love the little bug in view clasping on for dear life...

Snowball fight, anyone? hehehehe

The gums of Hotham closer to the ground... no snow, but the texture and colour was astonishing

The kookaburra next to our camp site... sorry for the poor quality...

Overnight was below zero, and as we woke to our fifth day, teeth chattering and rain pouring, we weren't too sure what our plans would be, past getting a steaming hot coffee to warm ourselves up with.

But, we got wind of snow on the grapevine in Bright, and headed straight for Harrietville, via a pretty drive through Wandiligong.

Once we passed through Harrietville (not really time to stop, nor the motive with so much rain), we headed straight up to Mount Hotham full of excitement and anticipation...

I hadn't seen snow since I was 16 and on exchange in Freiburg, Germany... and surely enough, as we neared the peak of Hotham, snow began to fall very lightly, and was already covering everything...

At the top, it was fresh and light, and made for perfect snowballs... it would have been almost 10 inches tall... and it was about two degrees below as well - gosh I love the crisp cold air - I love the way it makes my face cool and pink-cheeked :D Makes you feel so alive!

By the time we got back down from the mountain, it was near sunset, and I spied a kookaburra perched in the tree just next to our campsite - it was a quick snap so quality is lacking, but I couldn't believe I was lucky enough to snap it!

No campfires that night... rain was pouring, cloud rolled in, and it was below zero temps again.... brrrrrr!

26 Comments

pic 14 is beautiful! it's curious for me to see snow as we are going to summer time!

tomie · 2008-04-28: 08:53

That day looks extra cold. I hope you have very warm sleeping bags. #4 is a cool shot. I like the color in the bottom of #14 too. kookaburras are good looking little birds. I still remember that song we used to sing about them in elementary school. Do they teach kids that song over there too?

etodd80 · 2008-04-28: 09:31

Fantásticas... #4 y #14 mis favoritas

AnadaAki · 2008-04-28: 09:38

yeah baby!!!!..bring it on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*composes herself*
sorry I just get VERY excited at even the smallest bit of snow...lol...It did this last year though. Psyched me up for a good season and then it all just melted away...*sigh*
Anywho...glad to finally be able to get to look at these! #5 instantly jumped out at me....the high contrast of the road against the stark white and of course all off it fading into the fog...veeeeery nice. Next to stand out would be nima's snowball hand.....Is he secretly a hand model? ;)
The kooka is a little cutie!...If you had a bit of mince im sure your could have easily coaxed him down for a closer shot.

focussed · 2008-04-28: 10:10

SNOW! Wooooohoooo!! I just love it...

I really love #3, 4 and 5.

You are still mad for sleeping in a tent in such cold weather!

Emma · 2008-04-28: 12:16

Wow haven't seen snow since you were 16 !!! Must have been a fantastic feeling for you :) I'm in for the snow ball fight :0) Lovely pictures even though I am ready for summer time here :) hee hee hee

shortyg · 2008-04-28: 12:16

Interesting shots I loved this whole series so far, thanks for sharing

mystic1 · 2008-04-28: 14:26

I always wanted to see a kookaburra was ..we always sang a song about laugh kookaburra ,don't you laugh at me..

wow .. this whole set is so diverse , love the snow and trees .. and the beautiful leaves.. amazing!!

Lindyart · 2008-04-28: 14:27

This set is amazing...

I've never seen snow before. Well, I have seen the dirty slushy kind of snow, but that doesn't really count. These shots are beautiful, especially the macros of all the little frost flakes clinging to leaves.

The snowball looks like it's made of an entirely different substance, LOL.

I love numbers 4, 9, and 11... but I'm madly in love with the third shot, of the water droplet on the deep red colored Japanese maple!!! The depth of field, color, everything about it is just brilliant.

#5 is gorgeous... the contrast, especially.

Amethyst · 2008-04-28: 18:29

obviously, 14 went into my favorites straight away. what a beautiful capture. it must have been exciting to see snow after so long! i hope that when i next see snow i will be able appreciate it without disdain. it really can go gorgeous, i just can't deal with it all the time in my old age ~_^

i'm loving the black and whites here. totally suiting for the snowy mood.

you've secretly tapped into my desire to have a kookaburra...ever since i was little and i learned the kookaburra song. i still get it stuck in my head hehe.

BreezyOnTheEyes · 2008-04-28: 19:17

Love this - SNOW! We only had a few flakes here this year, so I'll live vicariously through yours. The third shot here is so beautiful - love the saturated colors after a rain. The snowball is great as well!

ncshutterbug · 2008-04-28: 20:28

Magnificent set! 14 is stunning! Don't you just love first snow? Did you actually camp out in that cold? :)

mclps · 2008-04-28: 21:32

Snow too! My gosh, that was some trip! #4 and #5 are gorgeous! I love how the snow looks like against the deep black of the branches and the road. And #14 is a lovely mood!

vollenda · 2008-04-28: 23:34

love #4 and 14

Zdenula · 2008-04-29: 05:13

I love #2. The rest are nice...but I've been trying to leave snow behind. I'm tired of it...we had a few sprinkles of it yesterday even...and it's supposed to be spring. It's been a long winter.

The kookaburra left me with that old song in my head...kookaburra sits in the old oak tree (was it oak?)...

oldbabe · 2008-04-29: 06:33