Saturday, 22 September 2012

Skiing @ Mount Ruapehu Day 1

 Mount Ruapehu*****
Peter's cousin, George had invited us to go skiing! We have never ski before and thought it would be a great one since later summer, there won't be snow in the south island. So off we go during the weekend. Still can't believe we can go skiing at NZ only after 3 days in NZ! We woke up at 3.30am on saturday and George's friend Rana drove all 4 of us towards Mount Ruapehu, the only place to ski on the northern island of NZ. It was a 4-5 hours drive, very beautiful drive. Although P&A slept through most the journey but when we are about to reach thr mountain area, the scenery is just beautiful.

 So excited!! Everyone is getting ready for the skiing at Turoa Ski Field...
By 8.30am we were already going up the mountain at Turoa ski area but the traffic is slowwWW.... We had to park at the lower carpark and take the shuttle bus up the entrance. George and Rana are into snow boarding. Well, we thought the snow board is quite difficult to learn and balance, so we decided to take the snow skiing.


We bought the Discovery package (NZ$108each) which includes the scenic chair lift, a beginner lesson for 2 hours, and rental of skis and boots. This package is actually cheaper than if you buy the full day mountain pass ($95), ski rental ($39) and lesson for $60. The only catch is this package do not allow you to get on the chair lift with your skis on, since you're a beginner. So we can only ski at the Meadow alpine.

Getting the Boots and ski equipment alone took us about half an hour. So we finally got ourselves booked in for the 12noon beginner lesson. So before the lesson, we practice at the Meadow Alpine area which is the beginners area. Phew... Now here goes the falling spree!!

It was not as scary and we still manage to learn how to stop after yesterday's youtube video on 'how to ski'.. Hehe... Gosh, the small toddlers (like 4yrs of age) can even ski better than US! Paiseh nyer...


After the two hours lesson, both of us learned more on the basic skills, like how to walk uphill, stop properly but still struggle to make turns smoothly. However, the group is quite big (10 of us), so the instructor don't pay much attention to all.


Taking the scenic chairlift up to Parklane.. 
It is very FUN, snow skiing... We had a great time, even though just skiing at the lower alpine area, which is overcrowded... Then we sat on the chairlift and have a look around the Parklane area. Getting on and off the chairlift for the first time is so nervous! We had to get on the chair quick and even quicker getting out. Such beautiful views!!

 We carried only Our small Canon camera so picture quality is limited :p

Before we know it, its 4pm. Closing time! Aaww....



Having a beer after skiing is a MUST for these GUYS! (Rana, Peter, George)

That night we checked in at the Top 10 holiday park cabin at Ohakune.

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Blog Reference

* Waste of Time
** Not Too Bad
*** Averagely OK
**** Interesting
***** MUST GO

$ Cheap
$$ A Bit Pricy
$$$ Expensive