Happy Valley

It's been a few days since the last update... let me fill you in.

Jon has now attempted to fix the car's shifting thingy using super glue. We haven't checked the status of that procedure in a while. It's been a really busy week for both of us, what with the swarms of visitors coming to Ruapehu for skiing during the holidays. The holidays will be over after this week, so we will actually have some spare time in the near future. On the one day off that I was supposed to have, it turned out the mountain was closed due to high winds. That meant that everyone else was getting paid for 2 hours of work they were not doing (and I was not), AND I couldn't go skiing. So I ended up joining the many others in a Van to Taupo. Jon had to work so he couldn't come. Amy and I stuck together, though. We had a great time since Amy got excited over every little store we encountered. As it turns out, anything you could buy here (and by "here" I mean "anywhere in the middle of the North Island of NZ") is incredibly expensive. I thought I would buy a set of long underwear, since I am lacking in that department, but after I saw that the cheapest ones would cost me about $60 for a top, I figured I could probably make do with the clothes that I own. So that was a good day.

For the first time ever, Jon and I had a day off together yesterday. For some reason, there is never a dull moment when we go on adventures together. We figured, this would be a great opportunity to introduce Jon to the mountain, and get him started so that he would be able to go skiing on his own if I was not available to go with him. We got up at 8, took our time getting ready, and got on the 9:30 bus to the top of the mountain. The weather was pretty nice, not blue skies, but definitely a decent snow day. Of course, a day of good weather during the holidays means MASSIVE crowds on the mountain. I was glad I wasn't working.

We got Jon a season pass for $200!!!!!!!!!!! (mostly because I said he was my fiancee...) Julia, note the lack of accent on that e. Does it bug you?
Anyways, that price was about half as much as we were expecting. One day on the mountain costs $83, so this season pass will pay for itself by the third use. Pretty sweet, eh? We had previously bought Jon some snowboard boots for $30. Some guy who was only passing through town had put up an ad in the rockclimbing gym next door, selling his stuff. It was definitely good timing. So all we needed was a board. I am officially allowed to take out anything I want to use from rentals without charge and without question because I work there. So I got my skis and boots, and when I asked our supervisor, he turned a blind eye and let me get Jon a board for free as well. What a cool guy.

Ok, so far it looks like all is well. We happily take our gear to the slopes and start the first run. The beginner's area is called Happy Valley. This is the most deceptive euphemism. Happy Valley is crammed full of people who have never seen snow before, who came unprepared to the harsh winter conditions of a mountain, and who cannot control the movements they make with limbs that are attached to foreign objects. Crammed is an understatement. There is a person sitting standing or stumbling about every five feet. The line to get on the lift took so long it was actually more fun for us to walk back up the hill after we had finished going down it.

Jon and I were happily making our way through the crowds, when all of a sudden, visibility was massively reduced by fog. It all went downhill after that. The fog became wetter and wetter, and soon we were skiing in the rain, our goggles fogging up so badly we couldn't see through them anymore, not that we could see without them either. Despite bad weather, we were determined to have a good time, and after having some lunch, we went out again for some last runs. We then got on the 3:00pm bus that would take us back to National Park. It is there we got the bad news. The bus was delayed because of accidents that had been caused by customers. 3 accidents had to be cleared before the bus was going anywhere. We were told to seek shelter in one of the staff lounges (mind you, we are taking staff buses to and from the mountain). So, Jon and I head to the Rentals Building, where we loiter for a long long time. Had we been smarter, and stayed in the cafeteria, we might have made it down the mountain as customers, but we were lumped in with the rentals crew because that is where we were staying, and so when weather conditions caused cars to continually crash going down the mountain road, we were forced to wait. They wanted the customers to get off the mountain first, since they would be more likely to panic.

In the end, after numerous false alarms, we were finally allowed to get on a bus. Outside, it was beautiful. It was snowing in massive amounts, and 5 inches of powder were on the parking lot cement. Jon and I had to stand on the bus that inched its way through the treacherous conditions. Somewhere in the middle we switched buses because chains we no longer needed. We got home by 9:30 pm. What a day.

Today at work, I learned that all that beautiful snow had turned to slush. Ten cm of snow had vanished overnight due to warm conditions. After all that misery, there wasn't even any powder to enjoy. Worst storm ever.