Niseko Trip
Matt, Me, Chrissy and Andrea (clockwise)
March 17th - March 21st
Andrea, Matt, Chrissy and I flew to Sapporo from Fukuoka. At the airport, Andrea and I took the train into Sapporo to meet up with Pete while Chrissy and Matt took the bus onto Niseko. Andrea and I looked at a few of the sights that are famous in Sapporo and because she was equally unimpressed with the "magnificent" clock tower (house) and TV Tower (mini Eiffel), I took her to the Sapporo Beer Factory. These are all the same places I have visited last year. By the time we taste tested three different Sapporo beers, Pete had finished work and we went to meet him. We went up the (little) TV tower and the view was quite nice. For dinner we had Jingisukan, a famous food in the area. It is mutton cooked on a mini BBQ. I think it is only the second time I have lamb/mutton in Japan. It was good!! It happened to be St Patrick's Day so we headed off to a Gaijin (foreigner) Bar to celebrate. And being St Patrick's Day we did some Scottish dances. EH?!?! They were fun anyway. At midnight we headed back to Pete's house and I met Clare, Pete's girlfriend. I had missed meeting her when she had come to visit when Pete lived in Buzen. We went to bed at 2 and got up at 6 to catch the train to Niseko. Unfortunately I woke at 5, so was really tired. Because the peak season had finished so had the express trains to Niseko. We took a local train, then a one man train (one carriage train) to get there. There weren't enough seats so I had to balance on my pack. No sleep for me! Once at the station we met two Canadian guys whose hotel courtesy bus driver took us to our hotel. We stayed at the North Field Hotel, and it was really nice. The owner was very friendly and helpful in getting us hire gear and me a lesson.
After much debate of whether to have a fun time skiing or a painful time trying to learn how to snowboard, I kept my promise to myself and learned how to snowboard. I had said to myself that next time I went to the snow for an extended time, then I would learn snowboarding.
I booked a lesson for 1:30 and before that time Andrea came with me to the top of the mountain. I then said, she was free to leave, as knew it would take me a long time to get to the bottom. It did! The lesson was great and I had some spectacular falls. I successfully gave myself whiplash and by the end of the day, my body was punished. It actually rivals what I go through sometimes at karate, which is saying a lot. That night due to the lack of sleep Andrea and I crashed and opted not to go out. Chrissy and Matt went out for drinks.
The following morning I went out by myself again as I didn't want to slow down the others. I just tried to practice all the things that my instructor had said. I met Matt, Andrea and Chrissy for lunch, and then skied with Andrea in the afternoon. She is very good on the skies, so still had to wait a fair while for me. She entertained herself by trying to follow some people training to be snow paramedics down a black run (I think). That day we returned early and rested so we could go night skiing. Night skiing is a lot of fun as is more relaxed as there aren't as many people. That night we were all tired and didn't go out. On the last day we did some skiing together and Chrissy and I did some easier slopes while Andrea and Matt did some harder ones. After lunch we all skied together and went back to the hotel for a short rest before night skiing again. By this last day I had got roughly the hang of snowboarding. I still stacked it every now and then when trying to turn on the steep slopes but nothing like the first day or two. That night we went to the bar Chrissy and Matt had found the previous night. Unfortunately, we happened to meet the Canadian guys from the station, who were extremely drunk. They had met an Aussie who was even more drunk. Then they tried to debate politics and country supremacy which was shambles. Too drunk to listen to anyone else's opinion and in the Aussie guys case, too drunk to even make a solid point. The guy even told me how much better WA is from the rest of Australia and they contribute the most the countries economy with little return, so should be financially separate. I chose not to listen when he said he was born and raised in Wagga Wagga. It was his girlfriend who was from WA and obviously her or her family's opinion. Nor did he want to listen to what the Eastern States contribute to Australia's economy. ANYWAY!!! So the night ended in a bit of a shambles. But aside from the amusing but frustrating last night Niseko was amazing. We were lucky to get such great snow after a warm season. I recommend it for everyone who likes the snow, and will be going again next year. The only question is whether I will be snowboarding or skiing??!!
P.S. I will add more photos later.
March 17th - March 21st
Andrea, Matt, Chrissy and I flew to Sapporo from Fukuoka. At the airport, Andrea and I took the train into Sapporo to meet up with Pete while Chrissy and Matt took the bus onto Niseko. Andrea and I looked at a few of the sights that are famous in Sapporo and because she was equally unimpressed with the "magnificent" clock tower (house) and TV Tower (mini Eiffel), I took her to the Sapporo Beer Factory. These are all the same places I have visited last year. By the time we taste tested three different Sapporo beers, Pete had finished work and we went to meet him. We went up the (little) TV tower and the view was quite nice. For dinner we had Jingisukan, a famous food in the area. It is mutton cooked on a mini BBQ. I think it is only the second time I have lamb/mutton in Japan. It was good!! It happened to be St Patrick's Day so we headed off to a Gaijin (foreigner) Bar to celebrate. And being St Patrick's Day we did some Scottish dances. EH?!?! They were fun anyway. At midnight we headed back to Pete's house and I met Clare, Pete's girlfriend. I had missed meeting her when she had come to visit when Pete lived in Buzen. We went to bed at 2 and got up at 6 to catch the train to Niseko. Unfortunately I woke at 5, so was really tired. Because the peak season had finished so had the express trains to Niseko. We took a local train, then a one man train (one carriage train) to get there. There weren't enough seats so I had to balance on my pack. No sleep for me! Once at the station we met two Canadian guys whose hotel courtesy bus driver took us to our hotel. We stayed at the North Field Hotel, and it was really nice. The owner was very friendly and helpful in getting us hire gear and me a lesson.
After much debate of whether to have a fun time skiing or a painful time trying to learn how to snowboard, I kept my promise to myself and learned how to snowboard. I had said to myself that next time I went to the snow for an extended time, then I would learn snowboarding.
I booked a lesson for 1:30 and before that time Andrea came with me to the top of the mountain. I then said, she was free to leave, as knew it would take me a long time to get to the bottom. It did! The lesson was great and I had some spectacular falls. I successfully gave myself whiplash and by the end of the day, my body was punished. It actually rivals what I go through sometimes at karate, which is saying a lot. That night due to the lack of sleep Andrea and I crashed and opted not to go out. Chrissy and Matt went out for drinks.
The following morning I went out by myself again as I didn't want to slow down the others. I just tried to practice all the things that my instructor had said. I met Matt, Andrea and Chrissy for lunch, and then skied with Andrea in the afternoon. She is very good on the skies, so still had to wait a fair while for me. She entertained herself by trying to follow some people training to be snow paramedics down a black run (I think). That day we returned early and rested so we could go night skiing. Night skiing is a lot of fun as is more relaxed as there aren't as many people. That night we were all tired and didn't go out. On the last day we did some skiing together and Chrissy and I did some easier slopes while Andrea and Matt did some harder ones. After lunch we all skied together and went back to the hotel for a short rest before night skiing again. By this last day I had got roughly the hang of snowboarding. I still stacked it every now and then when trying to turn on the steep slopes but nothing like the first day or two. That night we went to the bar Chrissy and Matt had found the previous night. Unfortunately, we happened to meet the Canadian guys from the station, who were extremely drunk. They had met an Aussie who was even more drunk. Then they tried to debate politics and country supremacy which was shambles. Too drunk to listen to anyone else's opinion and in the Aussie guys case, too drunk to even make a solid point. The guy even told me how much better WA is from the rest of Australia and they contribute the most the countries economy with little return, so should be financially separate. I chose not to listen when he said he was born and raised in Wagga Wagga. It was his girlfriend who was from WA and obviously her or her family's opinion. Nor did he want to listen to what the Eastern States contribute to Australia's economy. ANYWAY!!! So the night ended in a bit of a shambles. But aside from the amusing but frustrating last night Niseko was amazing. We were lucky to get such great snow after a warm season. I recommend it for everyone who likes the snow, and will be going again next year. The only question is whether I will be snowboarding or skiing??!!
P.S. I will add more photos later.
Labels: Niseko, snowboarding
posted by Margie Speirs @ 9:37 AM
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