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We left the Princes Highway and headed toward Baw Baw National Forest,
where Mount Baw Baw Alpine Village and Ski Resort is located. We drove over
hilly farm roads, mocked cows, stopped frequently to admire scenic views,
and generally enjoyed ourselves.
The road got slightly narrower, and the hills more impressive. Eventually,
we had to stop and pick up chains for the car's tires, as it was apparently
legally required to have them in the car. We rented some and kept driving.
Christian assured me that he knew how to put them on anyway, and on we went.
Not long after that, we hit the forest. I've never seen a rainforest, except
for the pictures in my 5th grade science book (and the resulting diorama I
made from those pictures, which the evil Mrs. Wallace, who could barely read,
gave me an F on - noooo, I'm not still bitter, really!). The trees were
absolutely fantastic; they were huge and surrounded the road. Unfortunately
for me, the road THROUGH them was twisty (with some lovely hairpin turns)
and also used by log trucks. I was scared to death. I couldn't
imagine what it was going to be like with SNOW on them... Christian got
a few pictures on the way up, and then had to spend the rest of the drive
up looking out for cars for me, since it was so curvy and steep in places
that I couldn't see anything coming from the driver's side. The drive up
to the Alpine Village made anything we'd done so far look like a drive
through Kansas (well, ok, a lot prettier than a drive through
Kansas, but you get the picture). We stopped when we got to the snow
line at Tanjil Bren, and the camera went away.
By the time we got up to the actual snow, Christian was happily (but
quietly) bouncing in the seat next to me. I was still freaking out, but
I think it would have been hard to bother him at that point. I knew
he'd wanted to go skiing, but I'd had nooooo idea how much!
We found a hotel room, found out about skiing lessons for me (did I mention
I can't ski???), and managed to park the car after me burning the clutch for
fun. Christian even took a turn behind the wheel to try to get the
car up a hill into a parking lot. This turned out to be unnecessary, as there
was a parking lot right next to the one we were trying to get into, but
I suppose it was worth it as I've now seen Christian drive a car with my
own eyes and can taunt him about it :)
These (click here) are the pictures from the drive through the forest, up the mountains, and into the snow!
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