Skiing and Snowboarding at Perisher

We had our first ski trip ever at Perisher on Snowy Mountains not too long ago with a group of fun-loving friends. It was so much fun in spite of the cranky cars and continuous blackouts in our apartment. Little hiccups like these tested our patience but also played an important role in spicing up our lives.

Haha, yes, I'm very optimistic indeed.

Anyway, here's presenting the wonderful people who embarked on this amazing journey with us. There were 3 skiers and 4 snowboarders in total. We didn't know one another very well prior to this trip, but I'm glad we all got along pretty well.

Call me ignorant, but I never knew that skiing was possible in Australia until recently, and I was truly amazed by the various options available. You can ski at Thredbo and Perisher in NSW, Mount Hotham in Falls Creek or Mount Buller in Victoria. Out of the lot, Thredbo and Perisher are probably the most popular skiing destinations.

We were blessed with fantastic weather throughout our one week stay.
Check out the spectacular view and our snowboarding friends in the foreground!

I observed that most snowboarders were younger and clad in fashionable hip-hop garb, as opposed to the skiiers, who were usually older and more conservatively dressed.

I would love to try snowboarding one day, but the fear of falling accompanied by the physical pain thereafter really scares me. I really applaud our snowboarder friends for their perseverance and courage. LOL!

Our first ski class was terrible as the instructor didn't dwell very much on the basics (e.g. gliding and braking). I nearly fell on many occasions but I narrowly escaped by some stroke of luck. Phew!

The lessons on the 2nd and 3rd day were significantly better and before long, I could ski, not without some trepidation though. I guess I'm generally more risk averse, so speeding down a slope is not really my kind of thing. I love to be in control, so I guess you could call me a control freak.

JW, on the other hand, is a dare-devil. I had to stop him from going up the higher slopes several times because he likes to stretch his limits and always seems oblivious to danger!

Despite our differences, we ended up enjoying ourselves thoroughly although we never thought we would like skiing.

That said, JW still prefers rockclimbing, but I would love to ski again some time. How I wish I could ski in Singapore, but alas, you and I both know that it'll only happen in our wildest dreams.

We also took the opportunity to explore the rest of the ski resort by taking the ski lift right up to the top!

The slopes at the top are not meant for skiing but wow, the view was absolutely breath-taking. We literally felt like we were on top of the world.

I think I look like an explorer on Mount Everest or something in this picture, which really cracks me up because that's the last thing that I'll ever be!

For the duration of the trip, we stayed at Jindabyne, a quaint little town near Perisher. Our first accommodation was a 4-bedroom cottage facing the lake. It was decorated in the style of the 1970s, but we loved how warm and cozy it was.

Pretty boots all in a row!

Waiting for dinner to be prepared by our chef for the night, Felicia. Haha

Unfortunately, all good things had to come to an end at the stroke of midnight. Just past midnight, we experienced our first blackout, and this was in winter!! The absence of working heaters meant that we were cold to the bones. Thank goodness firewood was readily available.

If you thought that was it, you're wrong. The blackouts continued for the next 2 days and the frequency only increased with time. We finally decided to throw in the towel and moved to another house provided by the real estate company.

Just look at how chic and modern this house is! We were sold the minute we stepped in. No regrets about moving at all.

Well, no regrets, until JW decided to frighten us with his remarkable apple-slicing techniques.

We took turns to cook breakfast and dinner everyday, but girls and boys, this is a negative demonstration of how you should slice an apple, so please do not try this at home ok? I have no doubt that JW will chop off his fingers one of these days, or even kill someone with that knife, but let's move on to happier thoughts now, shall we?

To steer those negative thoughts away, let's look at some food.

Yummy breakfast by Shaun

Pasta lovingly made by Peiyu. I love her carbonara pasta!

We spent a whole week focusing on just skiing and snowboarding, waking up at 7am and sleeping at 10pm everyday. I actually liked the routine very much, which came as a surprise, even to me. At the end of the week, I certainly felt more well-rested than ever before and very toned too, thanks to all the exercise!