6 REASONS YOU NEED TO GET TO THE SNOW THIS WINTER

By Unsealed 4X4 7 Min Read

Serious adventure… in a grown-up kind of way.

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Winter is right around the corner. Fireplaces are firing up and 4X4s are getting parked up until the weather improves. It’s a scene we all see year in and year out, and it just makes no sense at all. The snow (and cold) is just as much a part of life in Australia as heading to the beach when it’s warm and kicking back around a campfire with a cold beer or two. But sure enough, every autumn the camp chairs go back in the shed and we all head inside to huddle around the TV.

 

This year, buck the trend. Strap the swag to the roof and set off for an adventure most people can only dream of. Here are six reasons you’d be mental not to camp in the snow this year.

For images and to read this in the Unsealed 4X4 magazine, CLICK HERE.

 

1 ANYWHERE IT SNOWS IS SOMEWHERE AWESOME ANYWAY

Let’s rattle off a few of the most common places to lock the hubs in the snow. Victorian High Country, Barrington Tops, Snowy Mountain National Park, basically all of Tasmania… If there’s a reason these places all sound so familiar, it’s because they are all amazing places in their own right. People flock to them rain hail or shine; they travel from all across the world to come and see them. It’s safe to assume they’re on your ‘must-do’ list anyway – so why not see them in a way few people ever do. You get the snow driving experience, and you get to see an amazing part of Australia in the process.

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2 IT SHOULD BE ON YOUR BUCKET LIST

For lucky people living in the lower third of the east coast, this doesn’t apply to you. For everyone else this is a stand-out trip – not the kind of thing you punch out over a weekend because there’s nothing on the boob tube. You wouldn’t hesitate to travel for weeks to see the tropical parts of Australia, or the huge expanses of the Outback, or the crystal-clear white sand beaches of the west coast – so why the hell are you not planning a snow trip right now? It’s a part of the Australian landscape and any adventurer should be itching to see it.

 

3 ESCAPE the CROWDS

Getting away from the crowds is one of the best things about camping. Camper trailers, 12V fridges and roll-out awnings all shelter us from the elements and make the trip that little bit more comfortable. So it stands to reason the big attraction is the isolation, falling asleep to the sounds of nature all around as you stare up at the stars. The best part about camping in the snow is the isolation. While all the weekend warriors are tanning themselves indoors in front of their microwaves, you’ll have the campgrounds all to yourself. Unadulterated isolation, without the people two sites over blasting Alanis Morrissett at 2am.

 

4 YOU GET TO BUY NEW GEAR

There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad gear. The lowest Australian temperature ever, in all of recorded history, was –23ºC near Mt Kosciuszko over 20 years ago. To put that in comparison, the average low in Greenland is just three degrees warmer. Greenlanders eat, sleep, and work in that sort of weather for half the year. They’re able to do it by donning the right gear. A properly-rated sleeping bag, a solid pair of boots, thick pants, a down jacket with a beanie and a set of thermals can have you handling extreme weather like an Eskimo. Duck down to the local outdoor outfitters and chuck it on a layby… after all, who doesn’t love stocking the shed with new camping gear?

 

5 KILL TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE

Every man, woman, child, wife, girlfriend or emotional boyfriend loves the snow. For us Australian’s it’s a bit like a Canadian heading to the beach. We don’t really get the road closures or rust issues from it – so it’s always seen as an adventure. Even heading down for a day in a snow park with a rented Toyota Corolla is enough to create memories for a lifetime. So why not push it to the next level? Bring the family along and you can tick all the boxes like building snowmen, tobogganing, snowball fights and building an igloo… all while having a seriously great time. It’s the ultimate family-friendly sleeves-rolled-up adventure. Just remember to pack the snow gear!

 

6 GO BEFORE YOU CAN’T

Let’s not sugar-coat it, Australian pollies get overwhelmingly tight in the pants at the thought of more regulations. For a country that’s essentially the longest-running and most confusing episode of Prison Break ever, we sure do love throwing up gates and imposing restrictions. The harsh reality is sooner or later seasonal closures, and people whose opinions count for a lot more than they should, may mean heading off into the snowy wilderness is something we can only experience on TV. Get out there and make the most of the snow while you can. The more of us using these places responsibly, the harder it will be to lock them up.


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