Mt. Ruapehu
So this past weekend was my first opportunity to take advantage of the University Ski Lodge at Mt. Ruapehu. Becca and I drove down early Saturday morning. The drive was gorgeous and thanks to a shortcut from the ski club website, less than four hours long. The strange part about the drive was that it seemed that we didn't find the mountain until we were driving up the access road. As you can see, it is quite a large mountain to not see! That having been said, it's actually a volcano which makes the landscape all around very strange from the skier's perspective. There are dark volcanic rocks everywhere and more tropical greenery in the surrounding valleys than you would typically see at a ski hill!

Becca and I arrived with enough time for me to ski the afternoon. It took the combination of 2 chairlifts and a rope tow to reach the top of the mountain. The skiing was alright. The sun was shining and there was actually snow (unlike the south island!) so I couldn't complain. The only downfall was that we managed to go during school vacation week. I should've known that I was breaking my own cardinal rule of skiing--never ski during crowded weeks! Just the excitement of playing human slalom combined with my gorgeous surroundings contended me with the experience. While I skied (Becca's a non-skier), she went off and hiked around the volcanic rocks and found a nice place to sit and do some pleasure reading.

When I finished that afternoon (went 'til the lifts closed, as per usual) Becca and I returned to the University Lodge and met a whole group of people spending the weekend (about 20 of us). We met a lot of interesting Kiwi folks and an alarming number of Americans (some of which we knew already). We spent the night playing cards, reading, playing board games, and watching TV in front of the fire. When it was dark, we walked the 300 feet or so to the base of the mountain where there was a fireworks display. It reminded me of being at Loon for independence weekend with the fireworks, torch parade, and cat rides. I think it's pretty awesome that the lifestyle and culture of skiers is the same worldwide. It really is a fun-loving, wonderful community of people! Becca had a blast just hanging out and I think I will turn her into a ski-groupie yet!

The next day, I got up bright and early to get first runs. Unfortunately the day was really foggy and rainy so the visibility was poor. The one upside to this was that all the vacationers chose to sleep in which left the mountain open to me and a few other insane people. The snow was really soft and slushy and it felt like typical Spring snow. After become sufficiently wet from the constant drizzle, I turned in my ticket to save some money and met Becca for coffee in the lodge. The skiing was altogether enjoyable and the volcano itself was spectacular. I love this picture of the waterfall cascading down the mountain with all the skiers going by paying little attention to it.

We then went back to the Uni-Lodge and showered and relaxed a bit before packing up and heading out. On the way out, we stopped in a number of little ski shops. We found a number of REAL treasures here. I can't refer to them, unfortunately, as they may appear as Christmas presents for some of you later this year! All you need to know is: flourescent! Then the last super cool thing before we hit the road was a single chair hanging outside of the ski shop. For those of you unaware, the single chair is something of a skier's anomaly. From what I know, they don't really exist in the States anymore, but are still being used in parts of Eastern Europe. Single Chair is also a fantastic microbrew made by Magic Hat which can typically be found in the winter time at your local packy. (It's also on tap at the BU PUB! That's only one of 3 bars in Boston who have it!)

Well, there won't be too many posts in the coming weeks because it's getting to be the end of the semester and exams are looming. The last day of class is Oct 21. My internship ends the 28th, and exams are done Nov. 2! I will return back to Boston on November 16. I know the time is going to fly by so I am trying to make the most of the time I have left with what little time I have!