Hi,
What an amazing holiday we had down at Mt Hutt. The outcome is that Mike and I are
considering why we bother with Whakapapa at all compared to the pleasure of skiing at
Mt Hutt.
But before that - happy birthday to Jamie (yesterday) and Cameron (today) and wee Abby for Saturday.
Let's see. This is how it unfolded. Thursday evening we shot home from work and waited for Wally to drive us to the airport. Mike's mother had cooked up the leftovers from Wednesday's stew and we were very pleased to eat dinner before we left. Wally got us to the airport in the nick of time - some might say perfect timing. Mike would likely agree with that.
The flight down was easy. It was Jessica's first flight in her living memory. Coming over to Australia when she was 3 months old for our wedding doesn't count. :-) She enjoyed it. Toby's eyes lit up when he saw the lolly basket at the end of the flight and he asked the hostie how many he could have. She (foolishly - obviously doesn't have kids) said as many as you like. Toby stuck two hands in and grabbed heaps of lollies. Yikes. He did say thank you though!
We picked up the rental car and headed off to Pudding Hill Lodge. The Lodge is on SH72 just after a single lane bridge after the Mt Hutt turnoff near Methven. Our accommodation was superb although the two showers were clogged up and spraying water everywhere but on your body. The floor got a good clean each time. We had 2 rooms and they both had bathrooms. They both had a queen sized bed and a single with a balcony. The living area had a kitchen and table and a couch. The views were great - we could see Mt Hutt skifield easily. Very reasonable for $120 a night. We will stay there again.
We fell into bed but it was a late night. The weather was rubbish and the prospect of skiing was not likely. So we intended to sleep in so the kids could rest up. They were, however, up at 7am. I think that was about 8 hours sleep for them. Lucky the mountain was closed. So we had a relaxing day exploring the Lodge (they have a hot tub that was out of action, table tennis, tennis, pool and a TV room), visiting Methven for lunch and skimming stones at Rakaia Gorge. The table tennis was very funny. The table is home-made from planks of wood that have started to separate. The bats had hardly any rubber left on them. So it was a random game we had - the ball was prone to bounce anywhere. Hardly good preparation for the championship this Thursday night here in Ngaio!
Around 5pm Christine, John and Tom arrived and immediately started cooking dinner. It was great! They took complete control and we were powerless in their wake. We had a great evening meal of tacos and the kids watched a movie on the laptop while we chatted.
Next morning (Saturday) dawned and Christine burst into our room saying Mt Hutt was open. Hooray! John cooked up breakfast (scrambled eggs - yummo) and we hit the ski road. Oh yeah. Now I remember that drive up from the last time about 14 years ago. What a road! Potholes, corrugations, huge rocks, wind, steep - and busy to boot. Mike drove admirably. We got up and parked right outside the ticket office.
We eventually got the kids rental gear and lessons and found a spot for John to sit and admire the views in the cafe. Then it was time to ski! Toby was tentative down the cat track on his first run but he did well. Mike inadvertently paid for a whole day lesson (incl lunch) for Jessica. So she was a superb wee skier by the end of the day. She has snowploughs sorted. I was very proud of her. Toby had a lesson after lunch and by the time we all skied together at the end of the day, he was racing down the cat track. It made a huge difference in him.
I spent the afternoon skiing with Christine for the most part and I enjoyed myself. Christine and I were doing the easy blue run until Mike turned up. Then he said Christine could ski down the cat track from the main 6 seater lift. So we went up there and Mike and I skied down the steep blue runs and Christine met up with us halfway down and we went down together. We did that a few times. Mike worked on my technique and I started to get the rhythm of it all.
We drove back to Pudding Hill Lodge at the end of the day and found that John had already cooked up the spag bol dinner and all we had to do was sit down and get stuck in. Can I ski with a non-skier every time? How nice was that?
The next morning the mountain was shut again due to high winds. Apparently the Australians call it "Mt Shut". But spring has come early to NZ this year and with it the spring winds. So, shut it was. We decided to drive with Christine, John and Tom in convoy to their accommodation at Hanmer Springs and relax in the hot pools. What a pleasant day. We popped in for morning tea at Jo Seagers cafe in oxford where Mike choked on his food because it wasn't Alison Holst's food. But he said Alison wouldn't mind too much so he gobbled it down. You know him! Food is food.
Mike and I have never been anywhere near Hanmer and now that will have to change. The area was absolutely lovely. Soaring snowy peaks, thermal pools, great rivers. You can do a loop through to the West Coast back up to Nelson. I sense a 4 day weekend loop drive coming up in summer! We relaxed for a few hours in the thermal pools. Toby was torn between the cooler 29 degree pool with treated water where he could put his head under, and the 37 degree pool where he was very warm but couldn't put his head under. He made me run between the two pools on several occasions. Eventually we hauled the kids out and ate an early dinner at the army motels where Christine and John were staying. We said our goodbyes after John fed us once more and drove back to Pudding Hill Lodge.
We drove back through wind and rain and wondered about our chances of skiing the next day. However, Monday morning arrived and the mountain was open! We were on! We drove up and had to put chains on because of the 10 centimetres of new snow. We got the kids morning lessons and there were just the two of them in the class together. Mike and I had two hours of skiing together and I had the best skiing day I have ever had. The powder was beautiful, the sky was blue, the wind was only occasionally fierce and anyway, what else is that useless scarf for if not keeping out those gusty conditions? I finally skied the proper ski tracks I have always
dreamed about. Perfect carved turns in the powder. I have photographic evidence. I was in heaven.
We collected the kids and had lunch and due to the late night the night before, we had to bribe and cajole Toby into skiing again in the afternoon. But we got a few runs out of him and the last two of the day were great fun! We were some of the last off the mountain again. Woo hoo!
The next day was dodgy weather with a delayed start at the ski field. So we decided to drive to Christchurch, visit the Cookie Time factory and see a movie. We now know Hornby shopping centre better than I ever want to and we saw Coraline. It was... odd!
Before we left Pudding Hill Lodge Mike chatted to the manager for quite a while. Mike has now got a lot of imparted knowledge about the area and we have already got ideas for next season. Maybe early August down to Mt Hutt once more. Then the odd weekend up at Ruapehu to round out the season. Sounds good to me.
Then off to the airport for an easy trip back. No more lollies for Toby but Jessica enjoyed the flight once more. She is now a level 3A skier and is very good. Wally picked us up and we were back home by 8pm. What an awesome 5 days. We can't wait to do it again next year. Everything was so easy. The ski field is run very well. The accommodation was excellent and so convenient. The company was great. We just need to get Toby more sleep each night and we'll be sorted!
I hope we can post some photos of the fun very soon. And Mike may have more to add.
Have a great week - short though it is for me at any rate!
Love,
Angela
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