Australia: Heavenly Hotham

A six-hour traffic jam is usually not the best way to start a holiday. When it's a skiing holiday, though, and 27cm of snow is being dumped on the mountain, it sets the scene for a perfect break.
Mt Hotham, courtesy of its position as Victoria's highest ski field, is perfectly positioned to take advantage of this year's heavy falls. Add to that the cold weather which much of South-East Australia has endured over the past month and it means perfect ski conditions should last right through to the end of the season late this month.

Whatever the reasons for the 2 1/2-hour trip from Albury airport to Hotham stretching out an extra four hours - and the proffered reasons included a wayward bus, diesel spill and simply an overabundance of enthusiastic but inexperienced snow drivers - little could dampen the enthusiasm. After all, surely the more snow the better?