In the High Country

We decided to drive up from Ebden towards Mount Beauty.  We weren't sure how far we'd have to go to see snow, any snow but we knew that to drive on from Mount Beauty up the mountain we had to, by law, have snow chains in our possession.  So we hired some, and left the boat at the hire place and up we went.  We were excited when we saw that bit of snow on the side of the road, the kids have no memory of ever seeing the snow, although they did when they were little on a trip through Orange one Winter on the way to Dubbo Zoo. 

The snow got deeper as we approached Falls Creek.

Well it was his very first attempt at a proper snowball.

We went on the chair lift, it was beautiful, just white everywhere and very little other visibility.

They made a snow fort.

That's them behind us on the chairlift on the way back.

My sneakers!  I arrived in boots but when I tried to walk on the snow nearly broke my neck so had to go back to the car and change into my sneakers, lucky I had brought them with me to go on the boat.

Apres Snow.  Hot chocolate in the cafe.

The kids just loved the snow and only agreed to come out of it because their woollen gloves and their shoes were getting soaked.  We are planning a return trip but with the right clothing next time and hopefully a couple of days stay.

So it was a really nice weekend away and we certainly packed a lot into two days, but all of us were glad to get home to our own house and our own beds last night.

Today was court.  We got up early and drove to Wagga where we had been told we had to go.  Only to be then told we needed to be in Cootamundra so it was a 180+km round trip for nothing.  Phill was livid but I have learned to relax and just lean into things I can't do anything about.  I watched tv on my phone and read a magazine on the return trip while he seethed.  Neither accomplished much but one of us had much lower blood pressure by the time we got back to Coota.

We dropped Josh off at home (he could have been at school) and went down to the courthouse.  What an eye opener, but not really, we know the plebs in this town and it seemed most of them were congregating around the courtyard and verandah of the courthouse.  I had been worried about what Emily wore, but she was positively overdressed, the only other juveniles there were wearing slippers.  They were attractive twin girls, perhaps 16 and both were in trouble, wearing jeans and tops and slippers! 

Some people brought their own picnic chairs and set themselves up on the lawn with their ciggies and their fast food.  I don't know if they were players or spectators, I didn't see any of them get called in.  The duty solicitors would go around to people and discuss their cases in front of everyone else which was interesting.  The Legal Aid guy was great, looked like David Wenham, really laconic and casual and was nice to us and made us feel optimistic about what was happening and what would happen.  He called the policeman in charge of our case by the nickname the lawyers have obviously given him "Sneaky".  I stopped him and said "What did you say?"  He grinned at me and repeated "Sneaky"  then "Just sayin'"  Funny bugger, but the nickname suits.

I won't go into the legalities here for my own reasons, but everything is okay and Emily got a very stern warning from everyone about what would happen to her if she re-offends or gets into any trouble at all.

It's late and I'm tired, glad it's over and looking forward to the future.   And my bed.