a hip trip and hip tips with the hips to Mount Buller

Well, the snow reports in Victoria, Australia, are currently the best in years (particulary for this weekend!), so it seems really fitting that we continue with a bit of chitter chatter about taking the hips to the snow. So lets get straight into it. Lets meet our brand new reviewers, Leslie and her family who popped up to the Mount Buller for a quick trip to experience the snow;

"My family and I moved over to Australia from the UK almost a year ago. We are staying for around 3 years and plan to make the most of this time and cram in as many adventures as we can. Our family consists of me, my husband Andy and our 2 boys, Jake aged 3 1/2 and Joshua aged 16 months.

My husband Andy is a keen snow boarder and he has wanted me to give skiing or snowboarding a go for years. Back in the UK a ski trip would have involved paying for flights and transfers and you would need to stay at least a week to make it worthwhile. Ironically, now we are in Australia, there are snow covered mountains just a 3 hour drive from Melbourne (and we thought Australia was all about sunshine?!). So, I agreed to go to the mountains for a long weekend just to get a taster and see if this skiing malarky was for me.

We got ourselves kitted out with all the gear and were very lucky that some fabulous friends leant us most of the clothing we needed which saved us a fair bit of cash. After getting the car loaded and the kids sorted it was about 10am before we set off. The drive was good and the boys fell asleep which worked out really well.

We were staying in a house in Mansfield (about 45 mins from Mount Buller). There was a ski hire place there (which we got a discount for through the accommodation) so we got kitted out with all our skies etc but by the time we had done all that we didn't really have time to go up the mountain so we pottered around Mansfield, had some lunch and got settled into our home for the weekend. We came armed with plenty of toys, books and DVDs to keep the boys amused in the house so everyone was happy.

We were up and out the door early on Saturday to make the most of our time. I had a ski lesson booked so Andy was left with the boys. I was about 25mins into the lesson when Andy appeared - childless!! He had booked Jake (3 1/2) into ski school and put Joshua in the creche and was off up the mountain to have a board!! I have to say - it did cost a small fortune but since we were only there for a couple of days it was worth it. Jake loved the ski school, Josh wasn't so keen on the creche but to be fair, we had never really left him before. It would have been difficult with him otherwise though as there wasn't a lot he could do. I had visions of sledging, building snow men and playing in the snow but I think he was maybe a bit too little for all of that so creche was the best place for him - nice and warm with lots of toys to play with!

We went with 2 other couples so in the afternoon (when creche and ski school were over) we took turns looking after the kids so it worked out pretty well and we ended up doing the same thing the next

day as well.

My tips for travelling with kids are...

1. Have plenty of snacks and drinks handy.2. Travel at nap time where possible.
3. Have lots of toys, books, colouring/sticker books and DVDs with you.

4. Kiddy cd's and DVD players are great for long car journeys.

All in all we had a great time. Next time we would definitely try to book into the hotel which is on the mountain. The cost per night was about the same as the house in Mansfield and it would be much easier having a base at the resort for the kids but I think you have to book well in advance of your trip. Going with another couple is also a good idea as you can take it in turns to look after the children (and avoid hefty childcare costs).

We loved Mount Buller and would definitely go back"

Thanks Leslie...it just makes me want to go NOW! Next time, we look at some top snow destinations to head to around the world, and we meet one last snow reviewer. I'm off to bed to dream of snow, snow, and more snow...