No job, no plan.

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It's been well over three weeks since I have arrived in the beautiful town of Terrigal, in the New South Wales territory of Australia. Since my last entry, I still have no job, no income, no plan at all. But I have food, a roof over my head, and love all around me. In a situation where you have no job or no plan on where to live, or in which town to find accommodation, everything is in up the air. Do you find a job first? Or do you find a place to live first? If you find a job too far away from where you live, then what's comes next? For many days it sounded like nothing was going to happen. Something needed to change.

Being open to pretty much any option, spontaneity was my solution. I was discussing the subject one night, and Jindabyne is a word that popped up in our conversation. It immediately sounded good in my ears. One phone call later, we had jobs, a place to live, and a free seasons pass at Perisher Valley. Perisher Valley is a valley below Mount Perisher in the Snowy Mountains of the New South Wales province. It is at about 2 hours of Sydney and for us, it is a 7 hour road trip. I liked the plan. "At the 2011 census, Perisher Village had a population of 149 people. In winter, the population is approximately 2,500 due to guests"¹ The village at the bottom of Perisher mountain is actually quite small. It is part of a national park, therefore, you need to pay 27$ a day just to get in the park. Snow chains are required to get into the Kosciuscko National Park, it's the law. So from what I have understood, it is not required to have winter tires when you are driving to the ski hill, but it is required to have snow chains in your car. I'm still having trouble understanding how anyone's summer tires can drive through any snow, or black ice. Sounds, not too good. Perisher Valley incorporates four mountains (they look more like hills): there is Perisher, Blue Cow, Smiggin Holes and Guthega. I can't wait to discover them all. Perisher village is at about 1600 meters about sea level, and the highest point skiable on Perisher mountain stands at 2200 meters. That means there is only 600 meters of vertical surface to ski. Quite the difference when you just finished a winter season in Whistler, British Columbia!

Then it hit me. I am going to spend the next 3 months in the snow.

More to come...



Source¹ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perisher_Valley,_New_South_Wales

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Photos

Jindabyne
On the road, approaching Jindabyne, NSW.

Jindabyne lake
View of Jindabyne lake :)

Giant sheep
Australia is know for having giant versions of everything.

Terrigal Sunset
Terrigal sunset at the haven.

Sydney
Day trip to Sydney, discovered Hyde park !

Perisher
Front valley view of Perisher.

Perisher Sunrise
Absolutely crazy colours.