Canberra

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Canberra is the Capital of Australia and the "Gateway" to the NSW Snowfields when approaching from the North.

Geography

Canberra ranges from 550 to 700 m above sea level. The central area of Canberra is nestled on the banks of Lake Burley Griffin which was formed by building Scrivener Dam across the Molonglo River.

There are several large hills within the city including:

  • Mount Ainslie
  • Black Mountain
  • Mount Majura
  • Mount Mugga Mugga
  • Mount Taylor

Weather

Travel to the Snow

Travel Distances

  • Charlotte Pass - 215 km
  • Jindabyne - 167 km
  • Perisher Blue - 205 km
  • Selwyn Snowfields - 165 km
  • Thredbo - 210 km

Travel Times

Selwyn Snowfields and Jindabyne are approximately 2 hours from Canberra. Thredbo and Perisher Blue are about 2.5 hours. Allow an extra 30 minutes for traffic. The busiest times are Friday and Sunday evenings.

Be aware that in winter the roads are heavily patrolled by police and there are usually a couple of radar traps set up.

To get to Charlotte Pass in winter requires oversnow from Perisher via the Skitube and you must park your car at Bullocks Flat, so about 3 - 3.5 hours from Canberra. The last oversnow from Perisher departs at 6:15pm.

Travel Options

From Canberra the only two options are by car or by bus.

From Canberra head South on the Monaro Highway. Just after Cooma the road splits into the Snowy Mountains Highway and Kosciuszko Road, this is about 5 minutes out from Cooma. There are a number of current and ex service stations just before the turnoff.

For Selwyn turn right onto the Snowy Mountiains Highway. For Thredbo, Perisher and Charlotte Pass keep going straight ahead on the Kosciuszko Road towards Jindabyne.

After passing through Jindabyne the road splits just near the Snowline Caravan park. Turn Left for Thredbo and the Skitube (Bullocks flats), go straight ahead for Perisher Blue. In Summer you can drive to Charlotte Pass by taking the road to Perisher, in winter you must take the Skitube.

The day trip buses take the Thredbo road and stop at the Skitube.

Things to Do

Accommodation

Getting Around

Air

Canberra International Airport is located in the suburb of Pialligo. (35°18'23.83"S, 149°11'25.00"E)

Canberra airport is co-located with the new Brand Depot factory outlet centre and the Brindabella Business Park.

Flight Operators

Flights are operated by Qantas, Virgin Blue and Brindabella Airlines. Note that only Qantas services the Canberra - Sydney route.

The airport does experience heavy fog at times, particularly in the mornings.

Getting there

Public transport from the airport to Civic is mainly by Canberra cabs and the Deanes Buslines Airliner shuttle bus.

Hire cars are available at the airport.

Bike

Canberra has an excellent network of Bike Paths and a number of mountain bike tracks. A Canberra cycleways map is available from most bike shops and the ACT Government Shopfronts

Bus

The main bus station for interstate travel is the Jolimont Centre in Civic which is located at:

65-67 Northbourne Ave
Canberra City.

This building also houses Novotel Canberra.

It's longitude and Latitude are 35°16'40.20"S, 149° 7'44.38"E. WikiMapia link for the Jolimont Centre

The Jolimont Centre is a short walk to the Civic bus interchange where the ACTION buses run from. You can usually catch a Canberra cab at the front door of the centre.

Bus companies servicing Canberra

Rail

The Canberra Railway Station is located at

Wentworth Ave
Kingston ACT 2604

Trains are operated by Countrylink.

You can contact the Countrylink Travel Centre on Phone: (02) 6208 9700; +612 6208 9707 (international)

Public transport to and from the railway station is available by ACTION buses or Canberra cabs.

Taxi

There is currently only one taxi company in Canberra - Canberra cabs. They can be booked by phoning 132227 or at their website.

They have recently installed an Automated Speech Recognition System for taking bookings by phone. This has been reported in the newspapers as being a less than perfect solution with reportedly many people having their cabs turn up late or not at all. Hopefully the teething problems with this system will be ironed out soon. In the meantime it is prudent to make sure you book a time for a cab well before you need to be at your destination in case you need to ring and "encrouage" it along.

Media

Free Snow guides/newspapers

Free guides / newspapers eg: The Snowy Times, are available in most ski/snowboard and outdoors shops.

Newspapers

The major newspaper in Canberra is the Canberra Times. The Canberra Times publishes snow reports during winter.

Radio

  • ABC JJJ - 101.5 FM
  • ABC Local Radio - 2CN - 666 AM
  • ABC News Radio - 2PB - 103.9 FM
  • ABC Radio National - 2RN - 846 AM
  • Radio 2XX FM - Community Radio - 98.3 FM
  • FM 104.7 (co-owned by Austereo & the Australian Radio Network)
  • Mix 106.3 FM (co-owned by Austereo & the Australian Radio Network)

In the case of a bushfire emergency 2CN is your best bet for information.

Television

The local Free to Air channels are

Some Channels display Snow reports during the snow season.

Digital

  • ABC 2
  • SBS News

Pay TV

Buying Ski / Snowboard and Outdoor Gear

Renting Ski and Snowboard Gear

Resources

Emergency Contacts

  • Police, Fire, Ambulance: Phone 000
  • Police non emergency phone number: 131 444

Links

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