Thursday, January 27, 2005
Well, we arrived safely, although there are three immediate comments I must make.
1. Australia is far from everywhere. Japan seems close as it is Asia, however it took us 22 hours to get here. Canada has been done in 24 hours door to door, so I'm not sure we're any better off if you were just trying to do a shorter flight. To make it more frustrating, of the 22 hours, only 11 was flying. The other time was sitting in airports, buses, trying to clear customs, etc. After working until 10pm, packing until 2:30am, waking at 3:15am, picking Dennis up at 4am, and being on a plane at 6am, arriving here at 11:30pm Niseko time (1:30am the next day Australian time), we weren't up to partying.
2. There is a lot of snow here. A lot. More than heaps. Lots. Almost too much. And it hasn't stopped snowing since we got here, and according to Carolyn, it hasn't since she got here on Sunday. Not only do they have 460cm as a base -- they've received 25cm overnight, 65cm in the last 24 hours, and 85cm in this storm cycle. Our first runs were amazing and scary at the same time -- trying to remember how to snowboard when you are up to your knees (and waist in some areas) in snow. Trying to follow people ahead of you, but their powder reduces your vision to 0. And coping with going from 37oC in Melbourne to -12oC in Niseko!
3. Wireless connections are great. I've connected from our room (tiny, sleeping on the floor Japanese style) with the laptop on my lap to send this, and we've managed to download the software for the camera software from the Pentax site, so we should have pictures up soon!
Stay tuned!
1. Australia is far from everywhere. Japan seems close as it is Asia, however it took us 22 hours to get here. Canada has been done in 24 hours door to door, so I'm not sure we're any better off if you were just trying to do a shorter flight. To make it more frustrating, of the 22 hours, only 11 was flying. The other time was sitting in airports, buses, trying to clear customs, etc. After working until 10pm, packing until 2:30am, waking at 3:15am, picking Dennis up at 4am, and being on a plane at 6am, arriving here at 11:30pm Niseko time (1:30am the next day Australian time), we weren't up to partying.
2. There is a lot of snow here. A lot. More than heaps. Lots. Almost too much. And it hasn't stopped snowing since we got here, and according to Carolyn, it hasn't since she got here on Sunday. Not only do they have 460cm as a base -- they've received 25cm overnight, 65cm in the last 24 hours, and 85cm in this storm cycle. Our first runs were amazing and scary at the same time -- trying to remember how to snowboard when you are up to your knees (and waist in some areas) in snow. Trying to follow people ahead of you, but their powder reduces your vision to 0. And coping with going from 37oC in Melbourne to -12oC in Niseko!
3. Wireless connections are great. I've connected from our room (tiny, sleeping on the floor Japanese style) with the laptop on my lap to send this, and we've managed to download the software for the camera software from the Pentax site, so we should have pictures up soon!
Stay tuned!
# posted by KLS : 22:34
