Ski time

I've already mentioned the ski trip but didn't go into detail really so here goes!

We travelled up towards Mount Ruapehu (the town we stayed in was Ohakune - which sounds hilariously like "oh I couldnae" in a West coast-ish accent. Ok, so you had to be there) to meet Iain and Lorna, Clare, Barry and Kaz - it was a long blinking drive but when we arrived we were really impressed by our accommodation and the sight of the fellow Scots. Twas a 5 bedroom villa with all mod cons - another good choice from Katie.

The ski hire shop was open until midnight so after a few drinks and a bit to eat we walked 5 minutes round the corner and got all of our gear for the next day. I was amazed at how cheap it was - we had borrowed gear from colleagues and friends but the shop would have hired us all the warm clothing for $25 for a day. (£10) The board itself (or skis) came with all the boots and bindings and that was only $25 too. Really cheap and really easy to organise.

It was off to the slopes the next day and again, it was all surprisingly easy - it was busy but really simple. We turned up, parked the car and headed to buy our passes - $90 (£36).

Katie tried boarding on the first day but didn't really love it ( fallin on yer backside and taking the board off every 5 minutes does get old fast) so opted for skis on day 2. I was boarding all the way, bruised bahookie and all - and, as I have always said, I feel a lot safer when my legs can't go on either side of a comedy tree on the slopes (I didn't see any of those by the way.) I once saw a video of a skiier falling down and his left foot hit him on the back of the head and his right leg hit him in the face, both legs snapped to pieces - can't really do that on a board.

Anyway, back to the action - my highlight of the weekend (although there were many) was when Lorna and I decided to throw caution to the wind and go all the way to the top. There we were at the top of the mountain at the start of a run called Vertigo - I was of course not frightened at all (aye right) but we both made it down and looked super cool in the process if I must say so.

In the next episode of "My 3 week winter holiday from school" - I will be giving you an hilarious report on our South Island visit with Clarey Doll. I will also be trying to seek out some ski video footage from Lorna - and some footage of me doing the best ever tennis smash.

Steph