First Ski of the season

Sunday was a very happy day for us here at Hello New Zealand, we had our first ski trip of the current season up to Mt Hutt. It was an early start for us all as we left Christchurch just a little after seven o'clock. We had twelve students from Seafield School of English, and another five students from CPIT. It was a varied mixture of students, we had Koreans, Taiwanese, Japanese, Thai and Saudi students. What an exciting bunch they were, and even early in the morning they were very chatty and enthusiastic.

First we drove south to a small town called Rakaia. Here we were able to stop for a break, and to change into our skiing clothes. Rakaia is also the name of the very big river that flows next to the town, in fact it is so wide that the bridge across it is two kilometers long!! It is also well known for Salmon fishig and we all had a lot of fun taking photos next to the big fish that is in the town.

It was a lot of fun, but the real excitement was about the day skiing ahead of us.

We drove up the access road to the ski field and there was a mixture of excitement and nervousness on the bus. Some people ahd never been skiing or snow boarding before, and some people had never seen snow. Everybody was very happy and smiling when we got off the bus at the skifield, and while the guides Brett and Hamish went to get the lift tickets and organize the lessons most people ran straight to the snow to see what it was like.

Soon we changed into out ski/snowboard boots and got our skis and snowboards. There was a lot of laughter and we all took many photos as we got ready.

Some people could already ski or snowboard well, and they went straight up the mountain while the rest of us went for our first lesson.

Now the real fun started, and we all were laughing very hard as we learned to ski. Some people fell over alot, but it was good fun, especially that great feeling you get the first time you ski down the slope without falling over. Unforgettable, it was a special experience. The lesson lasted two hours, then we went tot he cafe for a lunch and to swap stories about the morning. After lunch all of us went up the chairlift to the top of the mountain. The view was cloudly, but good. Then we all skied down, some were better than others. It was a little bit scary, but the most exciting part of the day. Some of us went really fast, and some of us took our time, we came down the hill safely and at the bottom there was a lot of high fives and stories to tell.

We all very tired and some of us had sore muscles as we got back on the bus. It was nice and warm on the bus and most of us fell sleep as we drove home. We got back to the bus exchange at 6.30pm and said good bye to Brett and Hamish. We all had a wonderful day and made many new friends. I cant wait until next weeknd so we can do it again. :)