Lake Crackenback Resort…

‘Hey darlin’, have you unpacked the toiletries?’ Hubby’s voice came from the ensuite in our lakeview apartment.

‘Nope,’ I yelled back from my position on the balcony where I was enjoying a late afternoon wine and finishing the astrodiaries delivery I had due that evening.

‘Oh,’ he said. Followed by, ‘what time do you think the shops will shut in Jindy?’

‘Mmmmm it’s 5.30pm on Good Friday. If they were open at all, I’d say they’d be shut by now.’

‘I might just check, hey?’

Yes, he’d forgotten to pack the toiletries…and yes the shops were shut…but this was the only dampener on the weekend we had to have. And, given that we saw emus in a paddock the following morning when we did a mercy dash in to Jindabyne for deodorant and toothbrushes, it wasn’t that big a deal.

Things have been, quite frankly, crap of late. It’s coming from all directions and hitting the most basic of our structures. Trust me- you don’t want to know. Lets just say my blood pressure had quickly shot up to levels dangerous enough for a concerned look and immediate warning plus prescription from my doctor. More on that another time.

This weekend away was booked months ago to coincide with Miss T turning 18, and, as it has turned out, the timing could not have been better. There’s something about the country, the mountains, the air, the getting out of Sydney that somehow puts things that previously weren’t clear into perspective.

Where we stayed…

Lake Crackenback Resort. You can check it out here. Man, this place is great.

We first came here about 7 or 8 years ago. Miss T has been suggesting we come back ever since. If you have a family who is into outdoor anything, you should be here- I don’t think I’ve seen so many kids running, biking, walking, canoeing, looking for kangaroos, trampolining…nor have I seen so much lycra in one place- but that’s another story.

In the winter season, you have Thredbo just up the road, and the ski tube to Perisher even closer. In the summer season, it’s all about tramping and biking and mountain biking. Oh, and horse-riding just down the road.

The apartments and chalets are all self-contained- which can keep the cost down…especially if you have a heap of lift passes you need to be buying. They all have laundry rooms and places for boots and skis and bikes. The kitchen has everything you need too- although we took a bed and breakfast package, we cooked at home on two of the three nights.

They’re all also around the lake. In the pic below, we had the ground floor in the grey one.

All of them have balconies from the living area and main bedroom overlooking the lake. Here’s me meeting my deadline on Friday afternoon.

Speaking of living rooms and bedrooms, here’s what ours looked like.

Because the everything is on the lake, we woke up to views like this

and this.

Other eating options?

As I said, you can cook in your apartment, or on one of the many barbecues on site. Other than that, there are 2 restaurants on site:

The Alpine Larder which does wood-fired pizzas, pastas and casual dining options- and has a seriously good fire

Cuisine- a hatted restaurant with very good food. Sadly, on the night we went (Sunday on a very busy Easter Weekend) the service was off, and they’d run out of some menu items- including olives for the martinis. The food, after a false start or two, was seriously, and I mean seriously, good. Give me crumbed pork crackling and I can forgive most things.

Other than this, you can drive the 20 odd kilometres (although hubby swears it’s closer to 30) into Jindabyne where you have plenty of other options.

What else?

Aside from canoeing, there are plenty of tracks that wind around the resort to walk or ride- I found a different one each day.

There was the one that winds around the lake

and into the bush

with plenty of roos

and wombat holes along the way…

But you can also follow the Thredbo River track which follows, wait for it, the river.

Or, you can sit on one of the many chairs around the lake and just feel the serenity.