The Cross to The Cape Carnival of the Carve will take you from snowboarding in the morning at Mount Hotham, to surfing the same afternoon at Cape Conran.
The route travels through south-eastern Victoria, through the lands of the Waveroo, Gunaikurnai, Jaitmatang and Bidwell peoples. The highlights are:
- Approach day to Mount Hotham and camp at JB Plain
- Carnival of the Carve day
- Snowboard/splitboard/ski around Mount Hotham
- Ride the mountain bike trails at Omeo
- Continue to Cape Conran and surf at the cape
- Camp at Banksia Bluff before returning home the following day
You can also check out a different route and reverse direction in 2004’s Bitchin Barrels to Baw Baw Board Bonanza.
Schedule
We did this in early October 2025 thanks to an awesome late-season dump.
The schedule plans out the day in 30 min blocks from sunrise to sunset, with some contingency.
We went a week earlier than initially planned, and forgot that my scheduled times were daylight saving time (AEDT). I did think the sun was up early, but didn’t realise our mistake till it set! We were as result 1 hour behind the sun all day, but the contingency was more than sufficient.
Charging
Being 2025, the plan also includes Electric Vehicle charging stops optimised to get you to the surf before sunset. We were lucky to plug straight in at Omeo, while we rode the MTB trails and lunched, and could forget about charging after that.
Detailed plan
It really was an awesome carnival of carving, and a great way to farewell winter and welcome summer. Check out the full plan for all the details, including side quests on the approach and return days. Next up: taking it to NSW with the Dead Horse to Dolphins Descent.
