So new bub due mid June, I usually go Hotham and stay in lodge on mountain but this is shared accommodation like most lodges and with a newborn I'm thinking we probably need our own space because this is our first and we have no idea what we're doing! (it's easy though...right?) Just wondering who else has attempted this and if there are better places to stay than others with a bub. Want to stay on mountain if possible, the wife won't be skiing but I will be popping out for a ski and if on mountain will pop back in to check in etc. which would be ideal. Usually go Hotham and Dinner Plain sounds like a good ticket for a compromise that won't break the bank but really want to go Falls Creek but don't know where to stay as it all looks booked out or super expensive. Should we even attempt this? Recommendations? Experiences? Tips? Anything really haha is this idea madness or can it be done? Thinking mid August for a trip btw.
We started to take our eldest to Buller at 4 weeks - born early June. Didn’t get the chance with #2 thanks to Covid. We have our own apartment though which helps. Do it. I think my wife got back on skis around the 6-7 week mark. We would tag team and a couple of times her mum came up with us.
See that's exactly what we want...only thing is we don't have an apartment/base of our own which would make it much MUCH easier...hmm, maybe we just need to buy something then I'm sure property prices are nice and low at the moment
The only 2 bedroom apartments for sale at Buller right now are a couple of poky hotel room conversions, and a brand new pad for $1.2m.
lol DP is likely to have the best setup for mum and bub but doesn’t give you the ability to pop in from skiing for a check. Ski in ski out apartments at Hotham or Falls are going to be pretty $$$$ but they’re pretty much the main other option, I wouldn’t bring a newborn into a lodge. Also don’t do it until kid has had their 6 week first vaccinations. The 4 week trip wasn’t planned but I had to go up to co-ordinate some work being done on the apartment and CG + bub came along but they didn’t leave the apartment and I had a quick ski because the snow was good.
Apartment is the way to go for sure. The only way you could do a lodge is if you booked out the entire room, say an 8 bunk room but you'd be up for paying for all those beds (if they let you do that). Remember a crying newborn is not a bother for others just the parents, at that age it's low on the annoyance meter for others so don't let that stop you. I agree with wait till all vaccines are done though.
Massive effort quite frankly. Depend a great deal on nature and health of bub (and mum). consider late season with time to cancel in advance if you realize you’re biting off more than you can chew.
I would have thought sticking to midweek and probably waiting till early Sept would being the price down a lot compared to competing for August weekends
Its definitely going to be midweek, not interested on battling crowds more than we need to. Maybe if a lodge is quiet enough mid week we’d have a chance of having the place to ourselves, depends on the season though I guess. Where we stay has small rooms so that wouldn’t be an issue but we would feel so bad about having a crying newborn annoying others. Surely that’s not ideal
With our first, we went when he was 16 months, and it was *not* great. We go unlucky in that he got conjunctivitis in both eyes so was not having a good time. Mum also wasn't doing too well with the environment, so it was decided that they would both go back down the mountain, and I would head back with the other friends who had joined us, at the end of our booked week trip. After having gone to Perisher in 2019 with the then 3 year old, we have much more success with him - but mum managed to dislocate her elbow after catching a toeside edge in powder. She has since decided that she has no interest in this sliding on snow stuff, so this year it will just be me and Mstr 5 going to the snow, with mum and Ms 15 months staying home. We stayed in Chorki lodge at Falls Creek, and it worked quite well in terms of the location and the room. Granted, he wasn't a newborn, but he was more likely to be a nuisance as a toddler. If you are a lodge member, speak to your bookings officer to see what options there are - they might be able to work something out for you. If you do go Hotham, it might be worth trying to find a catered lodge? Maybe somewhere like Gravbrot would be an option? (If Hotham were doing snowboarding lessons for 5 year olds I'd offer to share a place, but unfortunately I have one more year to wait, so NSW it is).
A quick check at Alpine Apartments (FC) shows a number of apartment vacancies (mon-Fri) in August in the Snowland complex. Some are studio type rooms but well located near lift and shops, pizza restaurant below, not far from car park. Chorki hard to get into at this time of year. Don't know what you consider affordable, but worth a look (for under $2000).
With a newborn ski in/out apartment is the only option. If you don't drop in regularly, unless your wife is a saint, you should hide the kitchen knives. I would suggest at least an hour, and ideally more, at lunchtime and you prepare the lunch and wrangle the child in that time. Cabin fever is bad enough. It goes up multiple orders of magnitude with a child.
All very good points, still no idea if it can work but we will try...she did like the sound of the day spas at some resorts so suggested I ski for a day then she gets the whole day off to go to day spa while I stay with bub...it's all about compromise folks!
Also remember you haven’t had the child yet. As the great intellectual Mike Tyson once said: everyone’s got a plan until they get punched in the mouth. Every child is different and the pre/post birth journey is wonderfully unpredictable. You’ll know pretty soon whether this idea will be a cakewalk or totally unfeasible, kid might be a complete dream or a non-sleeper or have colic or one of many other deal breaking things that is normal amongst newborns. Enjoy the ride!
Hehe exactly, this is just fun speculation at this point...but good thing is my wife is on board and trying to suss accommodation too...will have to see how she feels about it all when bub comes along, pretty sure that might change things a lot!
just keep options open and book refundable if possible....that way you can cancel guilt free rather than feel like you have to suck it up and go.
This Except a new one is mostly a piece of cake. Toddlers are a right pain in the ass until skiing age
With our first we took grandparents with us and stayed on snow in a self-contained apartment. Baby was a few months old. I was beast-feeding and skiied in two hour intervals ducking back to the apartment for feeds. It was great for me as a new mum to be able to get away and do something I loved just for me. We took a pouch and were able to head out and about with the baby a fair bit too. Was loads of fun.
Maybe go on your own...you might want the little getaway . Only joking. We took our kids at a very young age. Apartment is the only way to go. Something central so you have flexibility etc.
Have a look at Snowski at Falls Creek, at the lower end rental wise. Ski in ski out, in the bowl, so 2 mins. onto Eagle Chair. Both my kids went to the snow as small babies, much easier than toddlers!! You'll have to do more than 'pop back' your wife will be crawling up the walls otherwise!
Good point - Covid denied us taking our eldest to the snow as a 2yo, though the ‘terrible twos’ didn’t really kick in until about October last year.
Being locked in a box with one is a nightmare. Sorry! Unless you like pulling them off everything 3x a minute. Bloody monkeys. Our latest is starting to calm down a tad and is developing an attention span which is something. He started early and seems to be easing early too TF
No.2 sent No.1 to emergency tonight, thanks to a body slam in the bath, totally innocent and accidental. Had to get her chin stitched back together. Just wait until she works out she has the strength to beat her older sister up.
We have taken a 6month and 8month old to the snow. I was OVER it by the end. Defintely only do an apartment. Don't expect to really get on snow much and you'll probably not end up disappointed.
It's a moment where you can finally say 'you asked for that' and then go 'shite, this is not going to end well' about two seconds apart.
Some magical stories, some truly scary stories haha I'm terrified but also I can't wait to see how life is going to change with this little one I'm sure taking the little ones to the snow will be a big task for all but it also sounds like there are some pretty magic moments in there, code browns aside, snow holidays are definitely something special we want to bring up our family doing.
Haha sure...then I'll definitely be hiding the knives! Going on my own definitely not an option especially with two high maintenance older pugs we already have our hands full, let alone with a baby, but I suspect we have no idea what "having our hands full" really means until this bub comes along hey (he types as he waits for a morning phone call from the overnight animal hospital telling us if we can come pick up our pug that had to go in there because she couldn't breathe properly yesterday...she's okay apparently, but jeez!)
When my first kid swallowed a 5c piece, we rushed to the hospital for an anxious and sleepless night. When the 3rd did it, I just told them that it was coming out of their allowance.
#1 is fine, a second is where things get interesting and I can’t imagine a third, happy to stick to playing a man-on-man defence, don’t want to be out numbered and have to go to a zone defence.
Falls works really well with kid duties but you do need your own space / apartment. In general, it's easier to navigate visits than both Hotham and Buller. It'll work if you make it work and you have a routine down with bubs. Provided both parents contribute equally or as equal as your situation allows. Have fun.
With a baby or toddler.....there is a ton of just "mooching about"....for at least one parent to do. I hate the idea of being stuck in a hotel room with baby. No matter where. I like the idea of being stuck in an apartment/house at Dinner Plain.....with an Aga! Even when a toddler is on skis.....I find they are cooked after 90 mins. And you'd better hit eject and head for home or risk a proper bushfire. There is no negotiating with a tired toddler As many a family has learnt after 3pm thredbo on the town buses!!!! Posh dinner plans suddenly take a turn for the worse
Ha! Try travelling with 4. Our first ever overseas trip was Bali with 2 toddlers and a 6 month old that got pinched out of the pram I was holding... Disneyland and Sea World adventure when the youngest of the 4 turned 5 was probably the worst trip - dining out on “kid friendly” holiday food in the US when I kept the little ADHD/spectrum monsters on a preservative and colour free (fail safe) diet at home to reduce school complaints was nothing short of HELL. Took two weeks back home to rid the devil from their systems. @Young Angus if your wife isn’t into skiing/snow holidays and this is her first baby I have a much better suggestion for you. Go do a boys trip. A short one. 3-5 days of full on skiing and blokey mayhem. Have her organise a girlfriend or her Mum or someone to stay over while you’re gone. And in exchange for your trip book her into a local Day Spa for the full treatment the weekend before and after your trip, with you looking after baby while she is pampered. If she doesn’t want to separate from Bub for such a long time period then eek her pampering out over weeks and weeks - foot massage this week, back massage next week, facial the week after - all brief enough for you to wander around with the bubs and get the groceries while she relaxes. Then everyone gets the best outcome. The money you’ll save on accomodation etc for them will cover the day spa. Take wifey and baby to the snow when baby will get joy out of snow.
This was pretty much our plan for last year with a bub born in May (derailed by covid, unfortunately) - except that the "boy's trip" was going to be more of a "me and my boy" trip. Hopefully we manage to get that this year.
Think of the gene pool. You'd be doing the world a favour by having more. That's the line I tried when I pushed for more. We are still stuck at three, I'm not sure what my good wife was trying to tell me...
