Royaled in snowy Ruapehu
Trip Start
Dec 29, 2007
1
30
42
Trip End
Ongoing
Ohakune,
North Island,
New Zealand
Sunday, August 31, 2008
There are 2 sides to the mountain, Turoa & Whakapapa & with Turoa being much closer, our mind was made up for us day 1. The whole country decided to take advantage of blue skies with 9km tailbacks up the mountain that morning so by the time we reached our hostel they had started closing car parks to anymore traffic ergo we were forced to get a shuttle up ($20 return pp). It's a twisting road & many hairpins nearer the top lay unguarded which raised an eyebrow as our driver recounted recent accidents. In peak ski season you don't quite expect kamikaze missions. Our flatmates had gone a month ago & were forced to put chains on their wheels @ $30 a pop but we were saved that. Once there, all I needed was a lift pass ($83), boots/board ($45) & fresh powder.
Ascending mountain
Boarding was definitely the more popular option. After skiing last year I needed a while to find my feet on a board although admittedly I found my arse on the powder more often than desired at first, partly due to my 'wizardry' but mainly due to the numbers on the mountain; it was choc-a-block. Turoa has wide runs & extensive learner areas which made me wonder why there were so many wallies higher up who could barely stand on skis/boards. The biggest drawback was the non-existance of lift pass scanners forcing you to dig out the paper-pass to show operators each time even though it underwent a $19M expansion 2 years ago. Conversely I can honestly say I didn't miss the obnoxious Europeans shoving people out of the way at chairlifts.
Apres ski was what I really missed, mainly due to the fact that most folk ski a day or 2 before heading back home & secondly you need to drive to a pub. In Europe we wobbled down the runs straight into a bar once the last lift closed. It is however the advantage of having a ski resort in a central & accessible area. Ana, one of Vane's friends from work, & her crew were also in the area so we joined forces the 1st night. Accomodation can be a problem with Ruapehu, all backpackers are booked out well in advance & generally won't accept single weekend night bookings. Our lodge (Matai) was central just off the main street. It was clean with large kitchen & living rooms, rakes of bathrooms & definitely good budget value.
Day 2 followed suit with sunshine & crowds.
V bottom lift
We stuck again to Turoa which was as busy as ever in the morning but emptied in the afternoon as people flooded home after the weekend...happy days. Food up the mountain was quality kiwi cuisine; chips, nuggets, wedges & pies. Like Europe because of location the margin is expectedly healthy on everything. They also had good ski shops on top. After the last lift closed we took a wander around Ohakune. It's quite small & lacks the character of a typical ski village like Soll or Chapelco with their old cottages, churches & cozy restaurants/bars. You don't get the feeling you are in a ski area. Options for eating are quite limited. We ended up stopping at 'The Mountain Rocks' bar which incidentally rocked as much as a vasectomy. Service in Nz mirrors the kiwi attitude; just so chilled out they don't care.The 3rd day brought me the Peter Schmeichel look & lured us to Whakapapa for a change of scenery 45 mins away. After a literal grilling in BA you would have thought that I had learned my lesson but my mug must have mooned the sun & I ended up on burn cream for the past week. We were able to park almost by the bottom lift station as numbers dropped drastically. The runs were a little narrower & conditions were less icy but it arguably offered the best ski conditions thus far. The snowpark was sweet & could have entertained me all day! My feeble jumps generally ended in me landing face flat not that it didn't deter me trying. All went well until the afternoon when a heavy fog fell on us destroying visibility.
Turoa Ski area
The upper half was ok but they started closing areas of the mountain for safety which signalled the bleak end of the day. The 4th & final day was the icing on the cake. It was by far the quietest day, which we spent in Turoa. Conditions were excellent & the sun seared down for the day. I felt as comfy on a board as in Livigno last time out which was encouraging even managing to film a little while in motion, kudos to me! While Vane was borrowing Anas skis, I had to return my rentals at the end of our day before we made our way back to Auckland.
Then in a mysterious minute, on par with the Bermuda Triangle, the car keys managed to disappear from my hand & F$%Ked if I know where they went to. 2 hours of fruitless expletive inducing searching resulted in us calling a towing company. Over a space of 10-15 mins the temperatures must have dropped about 10C, the wind picked up & it started to freeze heavily adding to my anger. Eventually our saviour arrived, a dead ringer for Mr Evil from the movie 'Wolf Creek'. The ease at which he broke into the car & immobilised the alarm was in a word alarming but our faces were so frozen literally it didn't show.
We were forced to get the car towed to Raetihi, a neighbouring village, where we were put up in a monstrous sized luxury B&B full of antiques at the haulage owners place. The deal was he would bring the car to his yard in Horapito, a vintage car 'museum' (i.e. field of car wrecks made famous in a movie apparently called 'Smash Palace'), bypass the alarm & get us Auckland bound asap next day. Amazingly he achieved it by changing out the ignition for a replacement he found in the yard so now I have 1 key for starting Betsy & another for unlocking her doors...genius. To say we were deeply indebted to Colin & Barbara would be an understatement. We made it home only a day later, poorer than expected but in one piece.
To show my appreciation I'm leaving their contact details:
Colin & Barbara Fredricksen
Country Classic Lodge B&B
14 Ameku Rd
Raetihi
06-3854511
06-3854151
