Nice to Ski You!!!

Hello there peeps - now i am ready to tell you all about my ski trip!!

Saturday 31st March I collected my Euro's from the post office (Q: Does anybody else think that our new £20 note looks similar to Euro notes?) and i retuned home to start packing, which was done within an hour, i was very impressed with myself!

Sunday i popped down to see my nan for abit with my brother, we got there for about 7.30pm and we stayed just over an hour as we all needed to be up REALLY early Monday! Aunty Jan & Mark came down aswell and it was nice to see them! We left before 9, Gareth dropped me off home and i sat and watched the replay of the new Dr Who episode (which was quite funny by the way!). I didn't really feel like going to sleep although i knew i needed to get some rest, so i decided to stay on couch and had a little doze. So 4am Monday morning 2nd April, Dad was picking me up at 4.45, so i didn't have long. I scampered round the flat (whilst trying not to wake Kieron up!) getting ready, having some breakfast and making sure i'd got everything. But not long after my dad was at the door, i said goodbye to Kieron (Yes i did wake him up for that!!!) and we set off. We got to Gaz at 5am and we were on our way.

We were flying from Coventry Airport, or as it's really known as The Shed. No really if you've never flown from Coventry it's a grey portacabin, with about 4 check-in desks, and just enough room to put two elephants in (aslong one of them doesn't mind his tail hanging out the front door!). The departure lounge has a self-service breakfast shelf (and i really mean just a shelf) a few magazines to buy and one arcade machine!!!! But anyway, there were two flights being checked-in that morning, ours (Austria) and France. The queues were terrible but we managed to meet up with Andy Lake and the crew. All in all in our group there were: Me, dad, Gareth, Andy and Lorraine Lake, the girls Sophie and Rosie who had brought their boyfriends Grant and Jon and finally (but no means least) a friend of Andy and Lorraine's - Lindsey who was also to be my roomie for the next week!

We soon checked in, and through to departures. We had to wait an hour but it only seemed like 20 minutes and our flight was called - Excellent. The flight was just under 2 hours and before we knew it we had landed in sunny Salzburg, Austria. We got through to collect our baggage and ours were one of the first to come out. So we made our way outside to meet our transfers to get us to the hotel. The transfer was 1 hour and a half and we had a lovely scenic route. We were going to Saalbach, and our hotel was The Saalbacher Hof. It was a 4* hotel and it was absolutley fantastic. It had sauna's, a swimming pool, steam rooms, beauty therapist rooms, everything!!

We arrived soon enough, had our rooms and started unpacking. However it was only just coming up to 2pm so Me, dad, Gaz, Andy and Jon decided to get an afternoon's skiing in. The weather was great and i was very excited about trying out my new blades!!!!

We had great fun, but we made ourway back to the hotel for 4pm to meet up with everyone else where we had our first Apres Ski drink, outside on the patio. Our evening meal was at 7pm so we all headed back to our rooms got showered and changed and met everyone in the bar.

We were shown into the restaurant by a lady who would be our waitress all week, Bianca - she was from Hungry and she was really funny! After our meal we were pretty much shattered so decided to get an early night ready for our first proper day skiing!!!

Tuesday morning we woke up nice and early, got some breakfast and then it was back to the rooms to get geared up! Lindsey had only been skiing a couple of times, so i was showing her the ropes again and giving her little hints and tips! We all met in the boot room, got our stuff together and headed up and out!!

We walked up the village a little to get on a chairlift to take us up on the otherside of the moutain as apparantly the snow was better up there, which it was a bit. Lindsey was feeling a bit nervous but so was Grant, i only found out on the chairlift by talking to Sophie that he'd only had an hours lesson at the Ackers - but he got the chairlift and Andy was teaching him the basics to get him confident to being on ski's. He picked it up really quickly and we all really happy for him!!

It was really warm and the snow was getting realy slushy which for me on blades was not good! Me and Rose were finding difficult as our blades as we kept getting stuck in the snow, but we carried on regardless. We skiied down more towards Hinterglemm and by about 3pm Lorraine, Lindsey, Sophie and Grant had had enough. So they got the Gondola back down and caught the bus back to our resort. We all carried on abit longer, our plan was to ski back over to Saalbach, but time was running out and lifts closed at 4.30. We got down to the end of the Gondola in Hinterglemm, and me, Rose and Jon decided to get the bus back home as we were tired. But Gaz, Dad and Andy decided to carry on over.

The bus came every 20 mins, so we hopped on (with lots of kids!!!) and made our way back home. We decided to have our Apres ski and wait for the guys to come back and it wasn't long before we could see them skiing down. We sat outisde a bit longer for a drink, but it slowly started to rain which meant it would be snowing at the top - good news!!!

Me and Rose decided to check out the saunas and swimming pool, it was a maze trying to get there - but we found it and it was great, we relaxed in the jacuzzie and then sat in the sauna to dry off!!

That evening it was Andy and Lorraine's 25th Wedding Anniversary and Sophie had organized a cake for dessert after our evening meal. Andy and Lorraine had no idea and they were really thrilled when Bianca brought it out (with a firework in it!!!). We stayed in the bar afterwards to celebrate and had a good night!!

Wednesday morning, because of the rain Tuesday night we did have some cloud although it was quickly clearing up. Lorraine and Grant decided to have a ski lesson as they wanted to learn a bit more so they went over to the ski school over the road from the hotel and they were soon off. We decided to go even further over the mountain so we had to take a short walk across the square to the other lift.

The snow was much nicer and crisper than before, and this time the blades were really going for it, they bit quicker into the snow and they didn't rattle so much! I was having a great time. Rose and Sophie who were also on blades found that the snow made a difference. Lorraine was very tired and her boots were becoming uncomfortable. So she decided to stop for a bit and rested, while we all carried on. We decided to stick to the same route for a bit becasue a) it was really nice and we could let our skis just run along nicely and b) because everyone knew where we were going so you could travel at your own speed without waiting for everyone and we were all meeting at where Lorraine was sitting. Me and Rose were messign around abit, trying to overtake one another on the little roads although she's a better skier than me so she always beat me!!!

We soon stopped for something to eat, me, Sophie and Lorraine were all feeling tired. After lunch we had another couple of runs and some of us decided to call it a day. It was 3pm anyway so Sophie, Lorraine and me skied off to get back to Saalbach, while everyone else decided to carry on a bit longer.

That evening we decided to have a little gathering in mine and Lindsey's room as it was the biggest (and the nicest!). We went over to the Spar shop over the road and bought some wine and some beer. After our evening meal everyone piled into our room. We had a great laugh. We were playing silly name games, but it was nearly 1am before we called it a night.

Thursday morning was also a lovely day, we went back over to where some of use went on Monday afternoon. They were some great little blue and red runs that linked together so again we could pretty much meet up with everyone if we wanted to do something a bit different!

Grant and Lindsey had really improved since being in their lesson on Thursday. So they kept trying out what they had learned. Rose, me, Gaz, Jon and Grant decided to go down a red while everyone else went down a blue trail (which to me was getting too bumpy!).

The day just flew by, Lorraine, Lindsey, Grant and Sophie headed back down about 4, me and Rose did one more run together before we came down but the Lads decided they were skiing back down (again!!).

That evening Chelsea were playing Valencia in the UEFA cup and Jon (who is a Chelsea supporter) wanted to watch it somewhere. Before dinner Me, Gaz and Jon headed out into the village to find a bar with the match on, and surprisingly we did.

So after dinner we all hurried out to watch the match. It was ok, it wasn't the most entertaining match i've ever watched but we had a laugh!!!

Friday morning, the week was flying by. We headed back over the opposite side, so through the villlage again and up the gondola. The snow was really melting away now, and the snw was getting even more slushy. We all had a good day, Grant was getting a little bit more ambitious with his skiing, and he was loosing control a little. We did alot of skiing, we went top to bottom a dozen times and we all really enjoyed it. That evening we stayed in the bar again after dinner, we all enjoyed a nice hot chocolate and we did some story telling (always a favourite).

Saturday morning and we went back over to the same spot, mainly because the runs were nicer, but they were getting slushier. It was another hard struggle with the snow. Everyone was finding it difficult, but we carried on regardless. We stopped off at a restaurant, and it was really weird. It had stuffed animals everwhere, and rivers running through it, someone obviously hadn't thought the decor out properly.

Anyway, we carried on abit longer but we were running out of time. Sophie decided to take charge of the map so we all follwed Sophie. I skied along with to make sure we knew where we were going and we also decided it would be fun to sing songs from the Musicals (much to Gareth's and Grant's disapproval!). We had so much fun, but a little tip: if you're skiing down a mountain and you think it's a little too steep and your a little bit worried just sing a song (a good song, with lots of beat to it, something like Michael Jackson's Blame it on the Boogie, or Robbie Williams Rock DJ, not Moby or coldplay!!) because for some strange reason it helps you get down!!!

We finally got to the bottom and had our usual Apres Ski drinks. That evening we sat in the bar again, having a few drinks and a good old natter!!

So Sunday morning, and for some people this was their last day. Our pick up on the Monday would be 2pm so a small group of us decided we do another half day ski, but for other's it was enough. We decided to make the most of it. We all really went for it today, we blasted down all of the runs, Grant was really going for it, he kept going straight!!! But soon the day was at an end. People took their hired stuff back to the ski shop.

During our evening meal, Dad, Andy and Lorraine had a little surprise for us. They decided to do a little ceremonial for the newcomers to the ski group. Lindsey, Grant and Jon got a little cowbell on a ribbon, and then they had re-written the words to 'The Sound of Music' to 'The Sound of Lindsey' It was so funny, it was all about how Lindsey had struggled at frist but then pulled through the ski week. She was a little embarrased, but it was funny!

After our dinner everyone came round our room again to finish off what was left of the booze. We didn't stay up too late as the people who were skiing Monday needed to do their packing. We still had a laugh though, and we managed to fit in some more games!!!

So Monday morning, our last day - Me, Gaz, Dad, Andy, Jon and Rose were the ones who were doing the half day. Andy decided we should try and do a full circle and we did we started by going up the chairlift and finished by coming down tour side of the mountain. Most of the time was taken up by getting in and out of gondolas. We took things nice and slowly and it wasn't long before it was 12pm, me and Rose once more decended down on the Gondola back to the hotel and the Lads did their last run skiing all the way down.

We quickly got changed and sorted the boots and skis out, but the taxi's arrived. The journey back to the airport was slightly quicker than arriving but i didn't mind i just wanted to go home!!

The flight was on time and we were soon boarding the plane. Most of us caught up on some sleep, but i was woken up by the pilot who announced we would be landing soon. We were soon on British ground. Although getting back into Coventry airport was a problem, we had to wait to go through passport control and they were taking a very long time. Next came the baggage and that was even worse becasue there was only one carousel, we didn't have to wait long though and we were soon through the doors and into the car park.

We managed to find our cars, although dad had a flat tyre, which luckily he could pumped up again. So we had to say our goodbye's.

Dad dropped me off at mum's so i could say hello and start telling our stories, but then Kieron came and picked me up. I was so glad to see him again. We picked up fish and chips (as i was starving!) and we got back to the flat. We jsut sat and watched t.v but i was glad to be back home!

There we are, i will post some piccy's of the trip when i have more time, but until then cheerio!!!