The mountain, looming white and brilliant, the excitement of heading up in the chairlift for your first run, romping around throwing snowballs, making snowmen – we just get foolishly excited by snow. You know you want to get to the snow this winter – but where to stay? Here’s why we’d pick a bach. Is there anything more romantic than a log cabin blanketed in snow? The hush and whisper of snow falling on trees outside your window? Stay in a log cabin and you’ll feel you could be in the Swiss Alps, or a Russian fairy tale. Stoke the fire, light the candles and decide between mulled wine or hot chocolate. One of the great things about staying in a bach is not having to fight for space by the fire, as you would in a lodge or hotel perhaps. Feel free to hog the best spot in front of the flickering flames. Build that fire, sprawl in front of it, toast marshmallows, tell stories, have the children toasty in pyjamas imagining the baying wolves outside… Bookabach.co.nz/11757 Triple Peaks Eco Lodge, National Park

Get a group of friends together or rally your favourite rellies - when there’s lots of you, you can afford somewhere larger and more luxurious. The children can entertain each other, people can spread out, and it’s all rather festive and social. Live it up, without breaking the bank. Anyone for a pony-ride in the arena? Bookabach.co.nz/24209 Blue Mountain accommodation, Ohakune Over 100 baches in the Central Plateau have drying rooms. It’s no fun struggling into wet gear so a drying room makes a big difference if you’re skiing for more than one day. Some hostels and lodges have drying rooms too but you’ll need to share. At a bach, it’s good to know your things will be dry, safe and just as you left them. Bookabach.co.nz/26092 Drying room, Swiss Chalet, Ohakune Every snowflake’s different – so is every bach. Rather than a bland, sterile room off a corridor, you can pick a place that’s unique, and that feels like a home for your holiday. Fancy a 60s decorating theme, to match your taste in music, or to go with someone’s birthday?

Want a slice of history - an old railway cottage, or a stone miner’s house? Need an off-grid eco-lodge with stags’ heads? Bookabach.co.nz/10364 Fireplace, Wildside Getaway, Owhango Sink into hot water, look up at the stars. A bach gives you the privacy to lie back, raise your glass to your beloved, and admire the moon, starkers… Cook up a feast after a day on the snow. You don’t have to queue for a stove, or share a kitchen with strangers, or explain your dietary requirements and children’s awkward preferences, before settling for nachos, again. You can eat whatever you choose! Take as long as you want, make a mess, gossip, sip and sample, enjoy the warmth and creativity of it all. Share with your friends and take turns on the cooking – play Masterchef, if you’re the competitive type. Bookabach.co.nz/11757 Kitchen, Triple Peaks Eco Lodge, National Park Not everyone loves chatting to strangers first thing in the morning. There’s a fair bit of clomping about in queues and squashing together with people you don’t know up in the cafes and rental shops on the slopes.

So it’s nice to just hang with your friends or your beloved or your family, and completely relax at the end of the day. You’ve got the time and space to catch up properly, have a laugh and laze around with the people you love most. When the weather packs in and the skifields are shut you’ve got your own space to spread out it in. You can pick a bach that has stacks of board games, or chess, a pool table, a library to explore, films to watch and toys to play with.k2 jefferson backpack Bookabach.co.nz/13580 Beech Tree Lodge, Ohakunebackpack leihen Babies and toddlers are adorable! klattermusen backpack reviewYou might feel a little anxious about your baby’s tendency to wake up in the middle of the night and exercise those powerful lungs. cs go backpack trackid=sp-006

You don’t want to be worrying about the other guests and flimsy walls. Or you might want to avoid a toddler tantrum in a shared dining room. Search for a bach that’s toddler safe and has a cot or highchair or whatever you need. That way when your little darlings are merrily tipping their spaghetti on the floor or singing loudly at 3 a.m. you can smile indulgently and whisper “precious times…” Bookabach.co.nz/6299 Patting the pony, The Villa at Snowy Waters, Raetihilaurex laptop backpackState Highway 38 Wairoa. f stop millar backpack 5 Te Koha Road, East Tamaki, Auckland 2013Kauaeranga Visitor Centre (07) 867 9080 Gisborne iSite information centre.  PH: (06) 868 6139 Far North I-Site Visitor information centre Corner of Matthews Avenue & South Road. Phone: 09 408 9450 Swazi Apparel Ltd. 94 Oxford St, Levin.

KSN Visual solutions  5 Jackson street Masterton Ph: 021 252 1000.     Hunting & Fishing Ph: (06) 757 2255 Ocean View Parade., Moturoa Pahia - Bay of Islands:The Wharf, Marsden Road. Hunting & Fishing  (06) 355 3101 200 John F Kennedy Drive, Palmerston North 4414 iSite  (06) 385 8427 54 Clyde Street Ohakune 462570 Bridge Street, Opotiki  07 315 30316 Tarawera Rd, Lynmore, Rotorua. iSite / Visitors Centre (07) 895 7494 116 Hakiaha Street Taumarunui 3920 Tauranga: Bay of Plenty Hunting & Fishing Ph (07) 928 4308 65 Chapel Street Tauranga Salt Water Sports Fishing products  (07) 871 3474 166 Cambridge Road, Ta Awamutu 3800 HireMaster 26 Churton Street. State Highway 48, Mt Ruapehu 4691. New Zealand Deer Stalkers Association 3 Collina  Street, Thorndon. 6011. PH:  (04) 499 6163 RESPONSIBLE USE OF LOCATOR BEACONS These Personal Locator Beacons are a distress signaling device of last

resort, for use when all other means of self-rescue have been exhausted; where the situation is grave and imminent and the loss of life, limb, eyesight or valuable property will occur without assistance. Deliberate misuse will incur a severe penalty. DOC Visitor Centre, Village,State Highway 73, (03) 318 9211.75 Clarence St. Tower Junction. Otago Hunting & Fishing. 7 lles St. Cromwell. 50 Filleul St. (03) 477 6644. Mobil Queenstown, 1 Mcbride St, Frankton. DOC Visitor Centre, 69 Cron Street  (03) 752 0360. Christies Garage Mobil, Main St South End, (03) 208 7268. Visitor Information Centre (Museum), Gala St, (03) 214 6243.115 yarrow St invercargill (also availabe: mountain saftey radios) (03) 218 8772 Cell: 027 241 2477 Adventure Kayak & Cruise,33 Waiau St, (03) 249 6626. Milford Sound Lodge, (03) 249 8071. DOC Visitor Centre, Mt Cook Village, (03) 435 1186.3 Main road Owaka. DOC Visitors Centre, 50 Stanley Street Beside Speights Ale House, (03) 442 7935.