Hello once again

After my great weekend last weekend I was in for a challenge of finding ways to beat it this weekend. I decided as it was getting to the end of winter here in Oz and that I will probably never live this close to the mountains again that I would spend the day at Mount Buller and give skiing a try for the very first time.

The only nightmare with this trip was the early morning. We had to meet at the coach stand at 6.45am however I was greeted by the same driver we had on the Great Ocean Road so I knew it was going to be a good day.

The drive to Mount Buller took 3 hours which was a blessing in disguise as it enabled me to catch up on some kip along the way. We drove through the Yarra Valley on the way to the mountains so there was some really nice scenic views to enjoy on the way between kips.

We arrived at Mount Buller around 10am and that gave us enough time to hire our jackets, poles, skis and pants and be on the beginner slope for our 2 hour lesson at 11am. I was starting to get really nervous at this point as I know how naff I am at ice skating.

Our teacher was a guy called Art from Canada, a definite lookalike to Hulk Hogan!!

We started off with some one leg drills learning basically to stand on a ski and move it.

We then practiced putting one of our feet into the skis and moving it. From there we learnt to walk with both skis on our feet and using the poles in our hands.

It was then onto learning the art of stopping and also moving to the left and right.

It was then off to our mini hill for practice. It was only a little hill but I freaked out every time I went more than 5mph.

After the two hour lesson I had mastered this little hill and had only fallen over once which I was chuffed about.

After the lesson I could barely feel my feet as the ski boots I wore were designed for men and apparently men have slimmer calfs than women so I decided to take a break and head to the pancake factory for some blueberry pancakes and ice cream!!! Yum Yum

It was then back to the slopes to try out the full beginner slopes!!! Oh my god I had no idea the chair lift would be so hard! Fell flat on my back side when getting off!! All adds to the experience I guess.

By the time I got back on the coach at 4.15pm I was knackered. I wanted to watch the in-travel entertainment ie a movie but was so tired I fell asleep all the way home!!!

All in all a great day and hope to do some more skiing in Europe on my return!!!