BABY AND TODDLER TRAVEL
TRIP TO THE SNOW WITH A TODDLER IN TOW
On a trip to Perisher with her two-year-old, ANGELA SAURINE finds she needs to put aside her expectations and go with the flow I’d had such high hopes for our snow holiday. The snow has been a big part of my life since I was a tiny tot, and I wanted my two-year-old son to be exposed to the same experiences. But, as many of us know, travelling with a toddler isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Take building a snowman for example. It was one of the things I was looking forward to the most. But Oliver refuses to put on his gloves. As does our friends’ 18-month-old, Bella. It’s hard to build a snowman without touching the snow, so the kids basically just stand there and cry while the adults build it.
Angela and Oliver with Rosie and Bella outside Yalara Alpine Ski Lodge
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We wonder aloud, not for the first time, why we thought taking toddlers to the snow was a good idea. Knowing Oliver loves sticks, we go in search of some arms instead. Bella’s mum Rosie, who is from England, has the most experience when it comes to building snowmen anyway, and it soon starts to take shape. Whilst our creation won’t be winning any beauty pageants anytime soon, we are still pretty proud of our effort. As with many things with toddlers, it ends up being a slow burn. By the time we are back at the door of the lodge, Oliver’s pointing excitedly at the snowman. Next, we decide to go for a walk. We’d tested out our new child carrier at home, and I’d tried to get Oliver psyched about this piggyback ride. But by the time we got organised it was almost time for his nap, and he falls asleep in the carrier before we make it out the door. We try to find a flat rock near the lodge to have a picnic, but there are none around, so we end up turning around and eating our ham and cheese sandwiches at the dining table inside the lodge instead. We find ourselves contemplating the concept of adventure with toddlers, recognising that we can’t do everything we used to. Later that afternoon we head out again, this time to an early dinner at Perisher’s iconic The Man From Snowy River Hotel. While staying at a self-catering lodge was an easier option than dining out with kids, we wanted at least one night out during our week-long stay. Walking a longer distance in the snow with the carrier is tougher than I had expected. I sink up to my thighs a few times, and fall
on my butt a couple more. It’s a bumpy ride for Oliver, but he seems to enjoy it more as time goes on. There are special moments, like when we stop at one point to admire the cloud formation in the sky, and I remark that one resembles a cotton ball. Oliver has a different interpretation. “Snowman!” he cries, pointing. The restaurant is opposite the Skitube Terminal, with snowcats lined up outside. It’s like a little boy’s heaven. He sits mesmerised, watching the machines’ flashing lights through the soaring floorto-ceiling windows. On the way home in the snowcat later that night, I cuddle
IT’S HARD TO BUILD A SNOWMAN WITHOUT TOUCHING THE SNOW Oliver as he sits on my lap with my arms wrapped around him, in his Michelin Manlike snowsuit. In the lead-up to the trip, I’d felt equal parts nervous and excited. The moment I’d most been dreading was loading our bags from the car onto the luggage trolley at the Bullocks Flat Skitube Terminal, and catching it to the valley. Of course that’s the time I receive a phone call from a neighbour letting me know the smoke alarm in my unit back in Sydney was going off. Fortunately, I was able to point him in the direction of another neighbour with a spare key. I successfully manage to fit everything on the trolley and board the train while simultaneously fielding return calls from babysitters, and am feeling