Well, that was winter 2012

So basically I have had a very quiet winter, for me... only once at Turoa (Ruapehu), no extended South Island holiday, and the few times I have been have been were mostly beautiful blue sky days at Whakapapa (Ruapehu). For the first winter ever since I started snowboarding, Ohakune was not my weekend base, and I miss that town and all my friends there. My last day on the slopes was end of September at Whakapapa. With the madness at work that we fondly called "Octoberfest" I have been exhausted at the weekends, and combined with dodgy weather forecasts and the need to save for Japan my usual mantra "just go" got up and went. There is one weekend left of the season at Ruapehu with Turoa closing on the 4th Nov. But I am done.

I have ticked the important boxes, like...

• July day at Turoa with my friend for her birthday
• got paid for work to be on snow at SnowPark for an event we were involved in
• In Sep near my birthday I did a spring summit hike to the crater lake (Whakapapa side)

I've also continued to purchase kit for Japan. Latest item is Sorel Boots (Helen of Tundra) to keep my tootsies warm and dry wandering through the village. I've also kept trying Japanese foods at various restaurants and events and started to learn a bit of Japanese (but I confess haven't looked at this for a few months!)

So it's been a quiet winter in NZ for me. It's a shame to miss out on the snow brought in by the spring storms. I hear it has been awesome this month! But soon I will be back into it, a whole other land, a whole other culture, in the middle of our summer to boot. Not long now to wait.

the road to Japan

We decided, we're aiming to go to Japan for a few weeks in (south.hemi) summer 2013. It's all a big dream at the moment, we don't even know how much it will all cost. But the prep has started... saving $$... and spending $$ on all important purchases of course, like a new gore-tex jacket and a powder board!

my new jacket - Scott "annita" - goretex baby!

new second hand board - Ride "vista" 155 (2008)

here comes the snow

More snow on the ground at Ruapehu and this lot should stick around.

Drove up towards Turoa yesterday and got as far as 13km, where the gate was closed and it was snowing! Ventured out of the car for a little walk up to the hairpin and on the way back our tracks were filling in, and there was snow even futher down the mountain road. It's been cold enough for snowmaking, and here's hoping for even more natural stuff over this week. (better a bit late than never)