We left at 1pm with eleven
students and four staff. As usual there was a lot of excited signing and some laid-back students relaxing with their music. Te Kuiti was the first stop
for hamburgers and drinks before going on to Mt Ruapehu. By 8.15pm we had arrived at Skotel
Alpine Lodge. Two student leaders, Miriam and Tuhoi, organised the group to go downstairs to get rental skis and clothing.
When we woke up at 7am to heavy rain pouring down, the staff were surprised to see all the students already up and dressed. Everyone was so enthusiastic to go skiing, by 8.30am we all left to go up the mountain.
Due to the clouds visibility was quite limited, so most of us stayed down in Happy
Valley (the bottom ski field) where the students took ski and snowboard lessons. Susan helped the ski instructors and Nicki helped with snowboarding. It was amazing
to see how much the students improved in just a morning.
Unfortunately Ngawaiata
sprained her ankle during lessons so she was taken to the First Aid clinic to get
it checked out with an x ray. Fortunately it wasn’t broken. She had a ride on a
snowmobile to the clinic!
In early afternoon the
weather turned for the worse. By 3pm the students were wet and tired, but happy. Back at Skotel most of the students indulged in a spa to relieve the cold and stiff muscles. Everyone was in bed by 10pm and slept soundly!
On Sunday morning, even though the weather was still as bad as the
previous afternoon, the ski field was still open! Poor Ngawaiata stayed with one of the staff, but the rest of us
went up the mountain again. We found that there was more room to ski as there weren’t as many people around. Regardless of the rain and the freezing cold, the students kept whizzing up and down the slopes. Some of us tried to go further up in
the mountain but had to turn back. It was just too cold to go on the
chairlift with that freezing air blasting faces and hands.
For our last evening at the
Lodge, we dined on gorgeous homemade pizzas that the students made - a very colourful meal. We had a drama evening, where all of us had a chance to perform for our friends, and ended up
laughing with each other.
We got an early start in the morning for our long ride home. The trip north came through Otorohanga for lunch at Subway. A weary group arrived back at Totara Village
by 4pm. Worn out from a fantastic weekend skiing and snowboarding, laughing and sharing with friends, and already looking forward to going again next year!
