Clint, Michael, Hanya, and me at dinner on the way to Mt Hotham
Dena, Hanya, Hughie, Alex, Cassie
Friday afternoon around 3 PM I jumped in a Land Cruiser with Hanya (my coworker), her boyfriend Michael, and his cousin Clint. We headed off towards Mt Hotham, approximately a five hour drive from Melbourne and not far from the New South Wales (NSW) border (the state in which Sydney is located). The URS social club organizes a ski trip each year, and there were around 40 of us that made the trek this year. The car trip there was pretty exciting. To set the tone, we stopped five times on a five hour drive (you know I typically stop about once ever five hours on my journeys) - to get drinks, use the toilet (twice within an hour!), get directions, and eat dinner in Bright (the closest town to the mountain). Michael's determination to take the vehicle off-roading did not go unrewarded, we were twice tempted to exhibit road rage behind two different cars with the same license plate (CASPAK), we jammed to the iPod (read group sing-along), and we tore around the Great Alpine Road (a never ending curvy road wrapped around the mountain which takes around 45 minutes to ascend). Around every bend are red poles reminding drivers to "stay to the right of the poles". There are no guard rails to prevent your over the edge plummet to a gruesome death. And to top it off, we were lucky enough to have about 1 meter visibility in dense fog around 9 PM Friday night. We arrived at Kalyna Lodge, where we were booked in bunked rooms of six to eight. There were several lounge areas with a great round fireplace, a giant communal kitchen and eating area, spa, etc. Everyone arrived at various times, starting Friday morning with some not arriving until Saturday morning. It was a relatively tame first night, with everyone anxious to hit the slopes the next day.
Saturday and Sunday both brought PERFECT weather - sunny and warm, ideal for skiing. I grew up skiing in Norway, but my last ski trip was in college (9 years ago). I figured my skiing would be laughable, and I was anxious to try something new so I decided to test my luck with snowboarding. I was melting and stripping down the layers when I was working my tail off in my beginner's lesson! I had the cutest instructor - Ignasi from Barcelona, Spain. Happy, happy. I watched snowboarders injure themselves on the jump course and decided that though my skills were brilliant and up to the challenge, I'd save that for next year. Ya right. I'm glad I tried it but there is no question that I am terrible at it. There's also no question that my cheap $20 snowpants were in fact waterproof. I spent the majority of the time on my butt yet my jeans remained perfectly dry. Amazing! I constantly fell and struggled to get up. I'm feeling the pain. The slopes closed at 4:30 so the evening festivities began relatively early. Taboo, card games, a cozy fireplace, and a few bevvies kept us all toasty warm at the lodge, along with about 20 pizzas ordered from The General, a popular bar/pub just up the road from our lodge. The resort was about 3 km long with multiple buses that cycled the main road to transport skiiers to various slopes and to and from their lodging. The resort was set up so that the lodges and restaurants were mostly at the top of the mountain, so to start skiing, you just jumped on the slopes, rather than typically taking the chair lift to the top of the mountain first. The resort offered other various activities: spa/massages, a helicopter ride to a nearby ski resort (6 minute flight or 2 hour drive), snocce (bocce ball in the snow), cross country skiing, snowshoe walking, and more.
Our car was one of the last to leave Sunday afternoon. Conversation was continuous on the way home, from the most macho to the girliest of subjects. We laughed the whole way. I was also informed of the intricacies of gas vs. petrol (not the same!!) and the obligatory stop at Maccas (pronounced Mackers and an abbreviation for McDonalds). I arrived home around 9:30 PM, happily exhausted from a full weekend.
