The icy powder capital of the world

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After the muggy, swelting days in Thailand, Niseko's sub zero temperatures shocked all our immune systems. On top of this, my sister's suitcase was lost somewhere between Hong Kong and Hokkaido. But it's so great that families can share everything - clothes, toiletries, food and ..... colds! In our tiny Japanese style accommodation, there was sore throats, runny noses, cramps, stomach aches...etc. It was only a matter of time! But, we survived by assigning people to corners and attics.

Despite our freezing complaints, it was actually a really warm year for the snowfields. Niseko is famous for powder snow but it only snowed twice! When my sister and I got sick of ‘ice skating’ on the more popular front slopes, we took a walk on the wild side through the rocks, trees and bamboo in the perilous unpatrolled areas. But the fresh powder was worth it and it made falling over fun! Although, my best fall was not on the slopes, but in the middle of a restaurant on the slopes. I walked through a pool of water, slipped and my ski boots made a loud crash against a pillar as I fell straight on my back. Laughing, my sister stubbles over to help me and falls in exactly the same place. The whole restaurant was quite then suddenly exploded into laughter. Way to make and impression!

We were so surprised to see so many Australian accents and people from Hong Kong migrating to Niseko for the season. I even saw Prue Mackenzie from high school working up there. Small world, right.

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