This July, we decided to create a winter escapade for the family by joining Calvin in Victoria, Australia for very good reasons. Firstly, we wished to celebrate the successful completion of his year 5, final semester in Architecture at Melbourne's prestigious RMIT University. Secondly, we liked the idea of snowplay while the rest of Singapore sweltered in our typical steamy tropical summer. Finally it is a rare treat for Daryl, our younger son to join us and take a brief break from his full-time job as an insurance and financial consultant, while studying part-time at our local university.
Knowing how unpredictable the Aussie winter weather system can be, we chose to stay 6 nights, up on Mt Buller. The plus factor for this alpine ski resort is that it's conveniently close by to Melbourne by car and even day-trippers frequent the ski slopes on weekends when the snow is fabulous. This time though, we signed up for a special "below snow" transport service. This removes the hassle of putting on tyre chains when the winding mountain roads get dangerously iced over or covered with snow.
We chose to stay at the Breathtaker All Suites Hotel and Spa Retreat, which happens to be the only property on Mt Buller to provide this below snow service. My initial thought that this extra service at an already high-end accommodation was an extravagance but with 20-20 hindsight, it made all the difference in enjoying a fuss-free and relaxing vacation.
With our friendly and experienced chauffeurs Steward (going up) and Tony (coming down), I was able to take beautiful landscape pictures along the way. A special mention must be made for Tony's warm hospitality as he showed us a breathtaking scenic lookout as well as pointed out secret waterfalls and roadsigns along the way, which would have normally gone unnoticed.We were heartened to see the 2 boys, now 2 grown men, sharing much brotherly time together. Right from their early childhood, we sought to practise the time-tested adage, "The family that plays together, stays together." Thus we took them both to Boston in 1991 on a year-long work stint and stopped over in Hawaii for a little holiday in 1992 on our way back. Though each son has his own likes, quirky ways and personality, they were each sporting in their own way. Needless to say, we all had enormous fun playing together as a family.
