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| View of the ski fields from the carpark |
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Heading up the mountain along the
narrow dirt road |
After a huge breakfast we headed up to the ski fields in our little Nissan Tiida.
This was about the scariest drive of our lives. It consisted of 20 mins of uphill driving on a narrow dirt road with no signs, barriers or even guide posts. As the road rises the sheer drop increases and it is almost impossible to look anywhere else than the road to avoid feeling queasy.There are 180 degree switchbacks, and blind corners that seem to end in mid air.
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The beginning of the ski run with the
valley and lake in the background |
Eventually, and gratefully, we arrived at the carpark which is about a quarter of the way up the ski field. This arrangement is great as you can ski straight out of the ski hire station or cafe onto the snow. The snow was still a little icy as it was still morning, and there were so few skiers that it hadn't been broken up yet.
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| Heading up in the chair lift |
This is one of the best places that we've skiied. There was no waiting for the chair lift, very few people on the runs which were well groomed and had a good mix of slower and faster slopes. We spent the morning getting used to the runs before Frances had a group ski lesson - although it was one-on-one as no-one else was booked in - so it was very good.
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| Frances geared up and ready to go |
The rest of the day we spent re-learning how to ski and just having a good time. It was so warm and windless that we were stripping off our bulky ski gear and wearing only the necessaries. By about 3:30 we were tired and starting to fade, so called it a day and started back down the mountain. The trip down was only marginally less scary than the trip up, so I just left the car in first gear and slowly made our way back to the lodge.
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Soaking in the outdoor hot tub with
mountain backdrop |
Frances convinced me to have a soak in the hot tub for which I was quite grateful. Really hot and soothing for our aching muscles. Dinner was thankfully earlier this night (7 instead of 8:30) as there were fewer people and only 1 sitting.
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| The lounge and evening menu |
The soup tonight was a corn chowder (not bad) and a choice of Venison Fillet with Tomato Relish or Pork Belly with Pickled Crab Apples, each accompanied with Spiced Kumera Mash, Smoked Tomatoes (fine for some), Courgettes and Red Wine Jus.
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| Venison Fillet with Tomato Relish |
Everyone at our tabled ordered the venison, which although had a good flavour it was incredibly chewy. We chewed our way through for a while, then asked for sharper knives the help cut it! Dessert was a Banana, Coconut and Saffron Upside-down Cake, which everyone enjoyed.
