Snow Trip of Doom

Well they managed to do it! Up by 4, we were on the road a while later heading south to the Mountain. The drive was uneventful, except for Chloe being Chloe and leaving her wallet on the roof of the car after a grovery stop. Being crammed in the back I tried to sleep as much as possible.

The mountain is surreal because we are used to driving through snowy country to get to the mountains. At Mt. Ruapehu the snow only starts 1000m up so the entire drive was green and wet. Up the mountain it was like a completely different world, with lots of snow (wet and perfect for snowballs) and not a single tree. We rented gear and headed to the Happy Valley for a couple green runs to get me comfortable. Next it was up to the Rockgarden so Derek and Jamie didn't get bored. Being the first time I have skied in ages it was a little shakey to start but managed not to injure/make-a-fool-of-myself/fall all day. The only major collision of the day was with Jamie standing up after we took the photo above a skier came flying past and took them both out. No one was hurt, and it gave the rest of us a good laugh.

The hill closed at 1pm due to 100km winds however and our skiing was cut short. We were all ok with it though as we were getting a little sore already and everyone welcomed a nap at the Uni Ski Club Lodge where we stayed. Waking up at 5 we had a few drinks around the fireplace while we waited for dinner and then trudged through the sleet and snow up to Lorenzo's Bar to watch the first test of the Tri-nations Cup. Luckily the All Blacks won maintaining their 24 year unbeaten streak at Mt Eden Park.

After a late start to Sunday morning, with the hill again closed due to the wind, we set about getting the car unstuck. We struggled in the freezing rain to uncover the car from the 3+ cm of ice it was coated with overnight. Luckily there were some Canadian's on hand with first hand unsticking knowledge. Instead of skiing Sunday we ended up doing some sight seeing instead. We drove around Lake Taupo to McDonald's and to the Huka Falls. They were impressive to say the least. After a quick soak in a Hot Spring we were on our way home to Auckland.
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