Swimming, Saturn and SKIING!

Thursday evening brainwave - let's go swimming! For only £3 the 33m (!) Freyberg pool hosted some olympic-inspired efforts by me and Dora. A soft shell-crab burger later, we wandered home only to be waylaid by some astronomers who showed us Saturn. Its rings could clearly be seen and looked amazing - the "glamour puss" of the planets said one astronomer.

Kapiti Island in the evening light on our drive north

Skis fit in the car!

The end of the week saw us head up the North Island to Mt. Ruapehu, home to some kiwi ski fields that we were desperate to try given the weather looked set to be fine. Dora's aunt Trish and uncle Andrew kindly hosted us for dinner on our way to an Airbnb near the mountain (note the singular - very different from the Alps). We crept in well after bedtime. 

Mt Ngauruhoe on the way to Whakapapa

Next morning we grabbed ski hire early and shot up the mountain in our golden bullet (car). We hit the slopes with gusto, having been denied the opportunity to ski several weekends ago because of bad weather. This weekend, however, more than made up for it - the sky was (mostly) blue, the slopes were well groomed (and not too busy outside the learner-thoroughfares) and the lunchtime nachos were cheaper than the usual cold french fries we'd come to expect when on the slopes.

Far West T-bar, Whakapapa

We skied Whakapapa ski field on the first day and Turoa on the second. The Saturday-night filling of our ski-weekend-sandwich was made up of a sunset dip in the jacuzzi at our Airbnb and an enormous meal in Ohakune, the main town in the area. 

The Pinnacles, Whakapapa - lunchtime view

Skiing itself brought no major dramas. We did a several jumps, some of them intentional. We traversed off piste, found it to be very icy, and traversed back on piste. I played around with my GoPro. Much time was spent enjoying the view, which on Saturday consisted of Mt Ngauruhoe (Mt Doom) and the Pinnacles of Ruapehu, and on Sunday Mt Taranaki and the distant snow-capped Ruahines. 

Spot Mt Taranaki poking above the clouds, Turoa

On Sunday we imposed ourselves on Dora's aunt and uncle again to tell them all about our adventures and help them eat some blue cod caught by a friend only the previous day! We arrived back in Wellington well fed, sunburnt and exhausted.

Next week: a walk with lots of steps (weather allowing). And the editors' cut of the ski video.

Mt Ngauruhoe disappearing into the clouds