Whakapapas and Whakamamas

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27th August - 31st August 2019



After a surprising comfortable first five days at Taupo we were ready to pack up the van and move on to our next destination at Whakapapa. This was the North facing ski field on the Ruepehu volcano. It is a pretty epic site with several volcanos around - Mt Ngauruhoe (Mt Doom from Lord of the rings) and Mt Tongariro. These make up the stunning Tongariro national park.



We had the added treat of being joined by our old colleague Tommy who was popping down from Auckland to join us on the slopes. And the jammy buggar brought the beautiful sunshine and perfect skiing conditions with him. In the evening over a few craft beers we also got to teach him our new favourtite card game (Thanks to Vicky and Martin), Kambio! His luck didn't seem to stop with the weather as he went on to get two red kings and two jokers winning him his first round!



The morning of skiing we jumped on the Dempsy shuttle bus with our skis, which left just outside Whakapapa holiday park and headed on up the mountain. There were some unfortunate souls who had tried to drive themselves up the mountain without snow chains. They left themselves open to ridicule from our eccentric bus driver "you bloody idiots you shoudn't be allowed on the mountain!". We then heard a group of guys behind us call their mate and ask how they were getting on driving up the mountain?... We then heard them laugh and say "we know you're stuck, we just drove past you!"



Once on the slopes The boys quickly overtook me and left me slowly gliding down happy valley with the kids, and i'm glad i didn't follow them as when we met up for lunch they giggled and explained they "accidently" went down a black run. I'm pretty sure they loved it!



After lunch i had been convinced to head up the chair lift and go down a proper run. It was still a green run, but looking at it from the bottom it looked like a huge jump up! I was ready to take on Rock Garden (or as i had previously dubbed it "death rock valley"). The boys successfully guided me down safely a couple of times which boosted my confidence and i tried to move further up the mountain, which did not quite go as smoothly... Half way down turtle run i froze and decided i couldn't go any further. With shaky legs i had to try and get my skis off and walk in the snow back up to the gondola - which was where the bar was!!



Skiing is sweaty work so as soon as we got back to the camp site i was eager to jump straight in the shower. Unfortunately maybe a little too eager as i forgot to take any footwear to put on after taking off my sweaty ski boots! Being unable to get back to the van with bare feet i got myself comfy on a bench outside the bathroom wearing my ridiculous bright orange lion onesie and wait for rescue. Charlie being the hero that he is, had noticed i had forgotten shoes and was soon there with my comfy shoes!

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