Joe and Lou's Travel Blog

Photos from this snow trip are now up.

Day 1

This time we were blessed by the weather gods having left behind our unlucky charm...you know who you are :)

We got to Ohakune at lunch time and, after a quick bite and Lou hiring some skis, we were up the mountain to enjoy 2 ½ hours of blue skies, empty runs and fresh pow at Turoa. After the chair lifts stopped we headed on down and drove round the other side of the mountain to the Chateau.

After dropping off our stuff in our room we headed down to the Pihanga Cafe, one of the eateries inside the hotel. The cafe was full of riff raff who were staying at other accommodation and was quite busy. We went to bed happy that we had had at least some fine weather as the forecast was not good for the rest of the weekend.

Day 2

We awoke early to thick fog outside. You could not see more than 50 metres out our window. The forecast was bad but we pulled our gear on and headed up. As we arrived at Whakapapa it was drizzling. Only the lower mountain was open so it was busy. Within half an hour we were soaked through. Our friends David and Stacy had come up for the weekend and texted to find out what it was like. Based on our reports they decided to give it a miss. Although the rain stopped the cloud never lifted and it got colder as the day went on. As we were leaving we bumped into Maggie, another friend who now lives in Hamilton. We agreed to meet the next day.

Returning to the Chateau we ventured out to the local pub for some lunch. In the afternoon we enjoyed the heated indoor pool and sauna. That night we dined at the main restaurant in the hotel. They have a dress policy of no jeans but I was the only not wearing them! Although the food was nice the service let us down. First they forgot our drinks order then our side dish and lastly mixed up our bill, twice!

Day 3

Perfect clear skies! We got up and headed out reasonably early but had to wait to get chains fitted. The fresh snow from over night was great and we had some good runs in the morning. We met up with David, Stacy and Maggie for lunch. Afterwards we went up and did a few runs with Maggie and her man Paul. It was great to catch up with Maggie and talk about previous ski trips.

Back at the hotel we recovered by having room service and relaxing in our room watching movies.

Day 4

No fresh snow today but clear skies again. Being a Monday there weren't so many people but it was still busy. After spending an hour on the lower slopes while the snow softened we headed over to the west side of Whakapapa where the runs are much wider, longer and less crowded. This was a first for Lou and she loved it. Lou even went down the steepest run a couple of times. Another first for Lou was going up the T-bar. After one false start she got it and was fine. By mid afternoon Lou was tired out and it was time to head back to Wellington.

And so ended our first successful ski trip of the year.

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Last weekend Lou, Megan and myself headed for the mountain again. This time we had a little more luck with the weather.

We headed up to Ohakune on Friday evening with glorious clear skies above. When we rose on Saturday morning all was cloud, but Turoa was open. After a good breakfast of eggs we were on our way up.

Suiting up in the freezing breeze and snow at the car park was not so nice but we were determined. Once up the chairlift the snow had stopped but the cloud was still thick. Lou and I left Megan on the learners slope to consolidate her lesson from the last trip while we took a few runs down to the bottom and back up. The weather was variable with cloud rolling in and out. Late in the morning the cloud lifted a bit and we even saw some blue sky!

I took a break to give Megan a few pointers on boarding. In no time she picking some gnarly lines down the mountain and really throwing it down (sorry I have been watching snowboard movies). At 12 the weather really closed in but I was determined to get one more run in from higher up, big mistake. Coming down I could hardly see the next marker showing where the trail went, I was falling all over the place. After that we called it a day and headed back to the motel for some apre ski wine and cheese.

That evening we went to "The Cyprus Tree", a lovely Italian restaurant in central Ohakune. Apparently their liquor licence had run out so they could not serve any alcohol, just our luck.

Sunday morning the weather was bad. The cloud was still there but with high winds and icy roads. Both ski fields were closed so went for a bush walk then headed home.

Trips like we have had make you appreciate the ones where you do have great weather. Hopefully our next trip will be one of those.

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I know it was a little while ago but here is my take on the 12 films I went to:

Iraq In Fragments - Doco following 3 peoples lives in Iraq
Harrowing but an interesting idea. It is scary but intoxicating to see the lives people live in a war zone and how it has affected different parts of the population in different ways.

This Film is not yet rated - Doco about the film rating system in the US
Damn funny and informative. Kirby Dick is a great story teller and really delves deeply into the secretive world full of hypocrisy.

A Scanner Darkly - Rotoscope sci-fi
Why does everyone cast Keanu Reeves in these sci-fi movies? It could have been so much better without him. Still an enjoyable watch and unusual visual style. Robert Downy Jr. is great.

An Incovenient Truth - Doco about climate change with Al Gore
It may not be the most slick movie but it doesn't have to be. It gets it's message across loud and clear. Reduce pollution or the consequences will be dire for everyone.

The Army of Shadows - Drama about the French resistance
Not particularly original but gritty and entertaining. Good attention to detail.

A Bittersweet Life - Korean gangster/film noir
A joy to watch and gleefully violent, not for the faint hearted but worth it for the true fan.

Mind Game - Crazy Japanese Animation
Again not for the faint hearted but very original and honest, a crazy animation style to match a crazy story that makes sense, in a weird way, in the end.

The Wild Blue Yonder - sic-Fe made from real dock footage
Didn't really work. Had some good ideas but it was incomplete and too slow to make a good film. Some scenes looked too forced into fitting the narrative.

loudQUITEloud - about the Pixies reunion tour
Not what I expected. I thought I would see archival footage of the legendary band that inspired Nirvana and their kind. Instead it is a bunch of middle aged guys getting back together to see if they still have it. They don't live the rock & roll lifestyle any more but on stage they definitely still have it.

The Aura - argentine Thriller / crime caper
Takes a while to get started but an interesting take on the heist movie with an epileptic lead character in with the Argentine hill billies. Could easily have been shot in the south of the US.

No More Heroes - NZ skateboarding in the 70's
Great old footage and great characters to interview. A great document of the first skateboard craze to hit NZ.

Maxed Out - Doco about consumer credit card debt in the US
Eye opening and depressing, credit card debt is something that is spreading through developed nations and hitting the low income earners hardest, just the way the banks like it.

All in all a great festival. It was great to see such variety, there were so many I had to miss. I hope they come back.

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