What a weekend it's been! We have had an amazing time on the slopes of Mt Buller.

Friday we got up early doors to catch our coach to Mt Buller, the journey took ages but we eventually arrived at the mountain midday. The journey up the mountain was good fun - it was a narrow road that wound it's way up so there were some spectacular views.

The mountain was covered by clouds on Friday so the weather was grey and drizzly but all the same we donned our snow shoes and headed out for a walk. I was a little disappointed to discover that snow shoes are no longer tennis racquet like devices that are attached to your normal shoes!

The walk was really good because we got taken to areas of the mountain that we wouldn't normally see (because that is where the advanced slopes are!) unfortunately, because of the arrival of the early spring weather a lot of the snow had melted.

After our walk we found the doughnut man who sells bags of hot fresh mini doughnuts absolutely caked in sugar. They were sensational! Hot and sweet - just what you need on a cold wet day.

We stayed in a B&B called The Duck Inn which was a 10 min walk from the village centre or a 3min ride on the free bus shuttle. We had a room with a balcony that looked out onto the distant ski slopes so we were pretty chuffed. That evening we watched some fireworks with a glass of wine from our balcony then headed into the village for a cheeky drink as well as enjoying a night ride on the scenic ski lift.

Saturday morning we got up bright and early, had some breakfast then put all our ski gear on. The weather must have known it was Davie's birthday because it was glorious; clear blue skies and sunshine.

With our lift passes we got a two hour lesson included so we headed to the Ski School so that: a) I could learn how to ski and b) Davie could refresh his ability to ski. The lesson went great, we learnt how to put on our skis, how to move backwards and forwards using our poles, how to snowplough and how to turn using a snowplough. The lesson took place on a nice easy beginner slope with a carpet lift so it was a massive shock to me when I actually had a go on a 'real' slope.

Davie, bless him, had the patience of saint on Saturday. I spent most of the day rolling around in the snow because it took me ages to get the hang of skiing. I was particularly poor at turning right which meant I kept turning left and eventually I would run out of slope and just throw myself on the floor to stop and turn around. I'd get back up and within minutes I'd be back on the floor. It was sooooooooo frustrating, especially when there were kids of 5 years whizzing past me no problems at all! I felt like a complete idiot because as soon as I would pick up some speed I'd panic and forget everything I was suppose to do. I was so close to giving up, partly because I was fed up and partly because I was exhausted from picking myself back up all the time, it's hard work with skis on! None-the-less I kept at thanks to Davie's encouragement and by the end of the day I was getting more confident and it was finally starting to click. Although I wasn't able to make it all the way down the slope without falling over I was certainly improving and finding it much more enjoyable.

That evening we went back to the B&B, opened Davie's cards and presents and had a good laugh at how the day had gone. I called myself Zoolander because I was only able to turn one way and we had a good chuckle at some of the stuff I said whilst I was having my tantrums!

Sunday morning was another stunner with glorious sunshine. I was feeling optimistic because of how much progress I'd made the previous day so when we got off the chair and onto the slope only to discover that the snow had been compacted and frozen solid over night I was back to square one! The surface was far to quick for me and there was no loose snow to snowplough against so I was like bambi on ice except this time it hurt when I fell over! At one point I had to fling myself into a barrier just to stop but luckily I wasn't the only one. Davie had good fun on it though and he expertly weaved his way down the slope at some speed.

After an hour the snow started to melt and I was able to ski again! By mid morning I made it all the way down the slope without stopping or without falling over!!! I was so proud of myself and so was Davie. After that there was no stopping me and we were up and down the slope in no time. After a coffee and doughnut break I felt confident enough to progress onto a bigger slope. The views from the top were amazing and we were both blown away.

The bigger slope was amazing and it had some really steep sections where we picked up some speed. I was able to weave in and out of all the people that were falling over and I was even parallel turning towards the end of the day! It was such good fun.

When we arrived back in Melbourne that night we were both shattered and it felt like I'd been hit by a bus because I was so achey, especially down my left hand side from all my left turns from the previous day (zoolander syndrome). The pain was well worth it though because we had a fantastic weekend and we've both agreed that it is something we'd like to do again, we're even going to look into going to the Melbourne SkiCity Centre so that we can keep practising and maybe progress beyond the beginner slopes next time!!