Hollingday in the White Stuffs - SNOW - Pawt 4

OOOoooo the fun continues .... but be warned ... this will be my last post in the SNOWS ... maybe for FUREVER .... so drink it all in my furiends!!

This is me enjoying an "alpine breakfast" ...

And this is the peeps' "alpine breakfast". Lucky I got to do QA on their breakfasts .... coz my kibble looked a little PATHETIC in comparison!!

Mum says the breakfast sausages were "low-fat" ... so that means she can feel better about herself and how big her "rear end air bags" are gettin'.

Thankyou for askin' after my clumsy pawrents over their spills and thrills. Dad's injuries were much more dramatic that mum's - he HAD a big LUMP on his NOGGIN ... but they healed good. Mum says it's mainly their fault because she didn't insist upon really good snow footwear - thinking we would only be in the snows for such a short time ... but she NOW KNOWS it is vitally imPAWtant for peeps to fork out for appropriate footwear in icy conditions. 

This is another sight I saw out my chalet window ... the neighbour lying with his PEEP early in the morning. As you can SEE - I was NOT the ONLY nosey parker !!!

On one of my walks .... I came across HARRY and his nice MUM. Harry is a seasoned snow professional ... hence no boots and no coat. His mum and dad bought a chalet up here in the village many years ago - when it was brand new - and they holiday up here a lot. They were very impressed with me keeping on my boots!!

In fact - in a few short days I was FAMOUS in this TOWN. Everyone knew about the "dawg with the pink boots". There were peeps stopping their cars and taking a closer look at my boot encrusted paws ... the CELEBRITY was makin' my HEAD SWELL a little!! BOL!

Lots of peeps kept sayin' that their dawgs rip em' off FAST ... but sometimes I KNOW when to be GOOD. I knew my furiends ... that unless I kept my boots on ... I would not be able to hollingday in the snows. That's the sort of peep my mum is. Just sayin'.

Here I am in -7 celcius (19.4F) and in the big cold winds. This walk before dinner was FRESH. Mum's hands were frozen solid she says, she didn't wear her gloves so she could use her camera instead. This is what I got to deal with furiends!!

More shots around our village.

Look away FRANKIE - there is an abstract thingy in the background that COULD be a snowfreak!

This village of Dinner Plain is where peeps can go to learn how to ski because there is a little snow hill and a mini ski lift:

There were peeps bringing their little peeps here to learn tricky stuffs with long things strapped/locked on their feets.

Back in our chalet - Mum wanted to show you how she dried our boots/shoes in between going outside. It was warm under those tiles my furiends .... nice to stand on with bare paws.

And I wanted to show you how I relaxed in between gettin' those boots strapped on me - in my blue bed with a buffalo ear!! Yea!! 

This is the morning we left - just doin' our last walk round.

Mum and me both in RED with a last minute photo opportunity.

And this is just before we got in the car to leave. I met two RACING MALAMUTES ... they are competing in the Sled Dog races here too. Their nice peep told us that malamutes are bigger and heavier than huskies ... so they race against other malamutes only because they are slower (than huskies) in general. But from what I saw - these doggies really love what they do - all the peeps were sayin' that the dawgs get all fired up the closer they get to the race - they are so happy and excited!

We didn't get to see the actual racing though. We were hoping to see some practice runs ... but our timing was not great!

Before she forgets - mum wants to share with you her FAVOURITE photo of our trip. The photo is absolutely highlighted and saved by ME ... - don't ya reckon??? (**schnauzer winks**)

So back in the car we go (chains not required today) and we start our journey back to the top of Mount Hotham ...

Conditions very much PEA-SOUP up the top - not nice and sunny like where we were!! What a difference 10kms UP means!

At Hotham village, the peeps are still riding the chair lifts goin' to the tops to ski down!! Mum and dad dad were HAPPY they were in the CAR!!

The fogs were so thick ... we could not see the mountain view on the right hand side!! 

Down we go now ... off the mountains.

**SEE  YA  LATER  SNOWS !!!!**

Almost at our next stop for 5 nights:

Beautiful BRIGHT!!

Here is a MAP for you furiends. It shows the route we took to get to Dinner Plain. (I agree it's a great NAME!) It was approximately 1000km (one way) to drive. That's about 621 miles. 

Hope you JOIN me for PAWT 5 !!!

Hollingday in the White Stuffs - SNOW - Pawt 3

Hiya all,

IT'S ON WITH THE SNOW ..... WHOOPSY ..... SHOW!!!

You see the most unusual things out the window of your Snow Chalet!!

I was so engrossed ..... that mum had to "re-FUR-bish" my viewing chair so I could watch in COMFORT.

What was I lookin' at????

Somethin' I had NEVER seen befores:

There were some young men outside who were diggin' and stuffs, they even kinda buried a big white pipe thingy in the snows .... then they jumped on these long bits of wood and slid down the snow hill, and along the pipe thingy, and sometimes FELL OVER!! It was a blast my furiends!

Oh the stuffs you see!!

Oh and TALKING of FALLING OVER ... my silly pawrents BOTH slipped and fell outside our Chalet. Mum was OK because she slipped on our driveway hill and landed on her ... errmmm ... well padded butt. She was not happy. Not long after that ... dad dad skidded and FELL OVER and he hit his HEAD on the Chalet BEAM, as well as his shoulder too!

Well ... mum rang the peeps that we hired the Chalet from - and demanded something be done about the icy slippery condition of our DRIVEWAY. She called it a BOOBY-TRAP. She wished that the Chalet came with a shovel so she could have taken her rage out on that driveway hill!!

Instead the peeps sent this:

A nice man came in a machine that clears snow and ice from the roads .... and he took away the slippery ice hill that we had to clamber over. Thank goodness!! That's my dad dad watchin'.

Anyway - we were happy that it got fixed before we had to go to the medical centre with my clumsy pawrents!!

The day before we left ... the Chalet across the road from us got NEW TENANTS!! Can you see my new neighbours. I got to bark at them from the side balcony. I was just sayin' "hello"!!

It was one of the HUSKY TEAMS here to compete in the "Dinner Plain Sled Dog Races" to be held here in a few days. They were with very nice peeps and mum asked where the doggies sleep?? They go back to their little low caravans at night - it's nice in there with beds and stuffs. I wanted to know why THEY didn't have to WEAR coats and boots like I do!!??

Mum said they are "arctic doggies" and much better used to the cold/wet/snows than me. **Humph**

This is another dog team a couple Chalets back from us. They barked at me - and the nice man who they own talked to my pawrents. Dad dad offered me to "lead the pack" in the races - and the man said I could **IF** I was FAST ENOUGH!! 

I'm like lightening my furiends ... of course I'd be FAST ENOUGH!!

Mum was skeered I'd pull a muscle or have some other injury. She is such a worry wort!!

So we went to check out the Dog-Sled course.

It was nice to walk on.

The edges smelt good.

Then mum wanted a PHOTO SHOOT. So some-pup had to get a COLD BUTT!! Come on ma .... speed it up!!

This snow moss smelt good too!

Look how far my paws sink down!!!

And a little photo with my mum!!

Yep - I reckon this race track will be good funs for the doggies! Unfortunately I will not be able to lead that Husky team because we have to book out and get back to Bright before the weekend!! THEIR LOSS!!! (BOL!)

Now a real treat for you my furiends.!! My uncie made a little VIDEO of ME in the SNOWS for you ... coz mum is not clever enough to do that. Watch it - it is funny - especially me runnin' and kickin' off those boots!! BOL!!!

Wasn't that a BLAST!!! I'm faster than lightening aren't I???!! Those stoopids boots slowed me down too!


Stay Tuned for PAWT 4!!!!

Hollingday in the White Stuffs - SNOW - Pawt 2

Hiya all - I'm so excited to show you the next Pawt of my Hollingday! I'm also very grateful to you who are enjoying the pictures and are leaving me lovely comments. You really are good furiends!!

OK - on with the SHOW! After leaving Mount Hotham we drove another 10kms and turned into "our" village of Dinner Plain. Mum had to check into our Chalet from the village office and get me registered into the "Alpine Shire" so I was allowed out the car! BOL! Big rules around here my furiends. My registration included me wearing a little long green tag on my collar at all times. You'll see it later.

All the buildings and chalets here in Dinner Plain are built in strict accordance with council requirements, including the materials used, colour, style etc. We think they did a great job.

Here is our Chalet. See the little number 4 at the door upstairs? That's our door. The staircase that runs down to the left of the number 4 is ours .... and that was a non-negotiable for me. I refused to go up or down those skeery stairs. They were peep/snow/ice friendly - but not little paw friendly - my paws would have slipped through the grate holes - so I got carried like a princess in and out.

 You step into a little tiled "drying room" first(under floor heating)  - where you can take off your boots/jackets/scarves/hats .... then you step into our lounge/dining/kitchen. 

Here I am scoping out the lounge.

Straight line kitchen and a staircase to the second bedroom upstairs.  We didn't need to use that bedroom. Plus the steps were very steep and skeery - so I was relieved I didn't have to use them!!

Leading off the entry/drying room was the Baffroom...

And the third door off the drying room was our Bedroom.

This is the view from the lounge window.

This is the view from our side balcony.

And this we see from the kitchen window. See the little mini chalet in the middle of the photo?? I was worried that the dawgs get put in there!! Especially the naughty ones!!  But - PHEW - they are actually the chalet BINS ... another good idea by the Alpine Council - they look HEAPS nicer than those big ol' plastic wheelie bins ... don't ya reckon??

Don't I look unhappy????!! I was TORN between having to look at those SKEERY stairs, wearing BOOTS and COAT and FINALLY being ALLOWED to go out into the WHITE stuffs!!! HERE WE GO!!!!

This is my first CLOSE UP sniffs of the Snows. Interesting!

After a little walk around the place we found the edge of the village and found the walking track. There were other peeps with their dawgs here!

Here I am meeting fellow snow dawgs and getting used to the feeling/sights/smells of this place.

Here's my first real run-about - getting my snow paws worked out!!

Woooo - Hooooo - when you don't get your paws sinking too deep - you can still runs on this stuff!

Here I am JUMPING for joy. This is  G-R-E-A-T  FUNS !!!!

Mum taking a scenery shot for you .... but my snow prints are dotted all over the white stuffs in the foreground!

Mum also found a ROBIN to photograph.

And took a photo of a SNOWMAN ..... (look away Frankie) but notice that half the head had melted.... he he 

And me goin' off for more explorations. See that balcony??? There was a nice family up there drinking coffee. They were SO IMPRESSED at me in my boots they almost fell off their CHAIRS.

OOooooo this is the YELLOW SNOW than my good furiend in OHIO said that I SHOULD NOT EAT!! Thanks for the tip Frankie, but it did smell more that the white stuffs!

See that yellow PATCH behind me???? I MADE that ...... he he !!

If you look closely you will see the name of this Chalet above the door. "BUCKLEYS" ... mum thought that was cool. She said "OR NONE" should be the Chalet next door ... but she was wrong.

I gotta say my furiends, I am rocking my boots and I loves sniffing this white stuffs!

A few of you have mentioned the "snow chains" issue. All cars in the alpine region during certain months MUST carry them in all cars. If the mountain road is icy - the road signs will direct where you turn off and fit chains to continue. They must be diamond pattern like these. These were on our neighbours car because they came up a couple days before us when the conditions were much worse than we had. Dad dad was very much happy that we had clear roads when we came up.

Mum LOVES this photo. See my Alpine Registration Tag??? The little green long one. Along with my special number - It's even got a little snowflake design on it!

This is me going over our driveway hill (you will hear more about this hill later) to get back home to our Chalet after my first run-about. 

Hot drinks all round - and a drink and snack for me. Counting the hours before dinner and waiting to see what happens next.

Isn't it WILD seeing a little AUSSIE DAWG like ME in the SNOWS???!! 

I am so happy!

Join me in PAWT 3 !

See ya!