Well when we arrived into Australia nearly 5 months ago, We didn't think Snowboarding would be one of the things we would be doing.... but we were up at 3.30am (!!!!) to get on the road by 4.20am so we could get a full day up at Mt. Buller which is 3 1/2 hrs north of Melbourne.
All this came about from Charlies work, She has a season pass and free lessons and obviously free rental equipment, but her boss also sorted me out with free equipment and a super cheap day pass and lesson ($73) for the day!!! Bargain!
This is Dane, He works with Charlie and drove us up there!! I don't know how he was so cheerful at that time in the morning, and yes mum, he is a very safe driver and his car was safe.
One major disadvantage of being tall and generally large is its almost impossible to get comfortable in the back of cars, even when your very tired and want to sleep, not her though she was out cold for most of the journey, Aaaaaaawwwwwww look at her!
This was my chariot for the day, Its brown, long and has sharp edges....... Yup, you guessed it, I know nothing about snowboards.
Dane was tweaking my bindings for my stance.
SNOW!!! Obviously you need all the right clothes for snowboarding and we were given free rental gear so we cant complain, (Although I could have done with a slightly bigger jacket!)
Charlie has been up here the week before and had already done her first lesson so was a pro compared to me!!
The mountain was truly stunning, we were blessed as the weather was perfect, only a few clouds in a brilliant blue sky. Also we had timed it perfect as the school holidays were over so it was really really quite, only the week before when Charlie was up here it was horrible weather and was packed full of kids!
This is near the summit of Mt. Buller. Towards the end of the day we both went up and found a different run from the learner run and it was totally different, much better snow and less people out of control.
How cool is that! Totally empty.
"Well I'm not gonna get down this mountain with out your help, so hop to it!"
My lesson started at 11am for 2hrs, the lesson was great and really helped with a few little things that made the world of difference, it came pretty easy and my confidence grew, right up until the front edge of my board caught and I went FLYING........... I got my first proper spill over with and it wasn't so bad, so I just got back up and kept trying.
Getting to the top of mountain was really cool, its pretty physical stuff so before heading down together we would have a sit down a take it all in and get our energy levels up. Its an amazing feeling when you are getting it right and you're literally flying down the side of a mountain, its even better to look across and see your girlfriend rip by you and give you a wave!! The little legend!
I'm standing like that partly 'cus my shoulder hurts and also because my left foot is still attached to the board. Towards the end our energy levels were pretty low, but its the most fun I've had in a while.
This is the flat area above the learners area and below a few other runs, now I've never been to the Alps or anywhere else skiing/snowboarding but for Australia I was seriously impressed.
Looking up at the summit....... pretty cool.
The little town at the bottom was really nice, few small shops and a couple of places to get fed. There is also a smaller branch of Charlies store so we could leave our bags and stuff in while we were up the mountain. Handy.
It was coming towards the end of the day and we were both bloody wrecked, so it was time for:
Some amazing Hot Chocolate!!
It really was a brilliant day and we are both hooked, we are gonna try and get a few days together so we can spend the day or 2 up there and not have to worry about driving home after which is pretty tough going, Wish us luck!!
Sean & Charlie
Oh and best wishes to my daddy from both myself and Charlie (He had a bit of an accident while fishing on his birthday!)
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