Niseko, Hokkaido, Japan
Wednesday, January 18, 2017

*LOU*

Our last day on the slopes. Blake got up early to make his way with Dylan up Hirafu mountain down Niseko Village and then up and across to Hanazono where he met Ash and I who had been practising on the bunny hill. We caught the gondola up to the Silver Dream run to show Ash the beautiful views of the volcano. Once we made it to the bottom Ash was ready to hang up her boarding boots and head home to care for Gramps and his bad hip aka Callum. Blake and I went up the run a few more times. Safe to say I am no longer petrified of the chair lift. Just slightly mortified. I made it off each run without a single stack. Big win! Feeling so much more confident on the slopes with both heelside and toe side and linking down the mountain without stacking provided me with mixed emotions as I finished my last run. Happy because I felt I had accomplished a lot with only one 3 hour lesson and only a few half days after that to practice, finally conquering the chair lift and coming away injury free. Sad because I would of liked more time to continue improving my skills. I understand the draw of the skibum lifestyle it's surprisingly addictive. But snow still comes second to my love of the sun!
Blake and I caught the shuttle back to our accommodation before I realised he had grabbed the wrong board.. my board was orange not yellow. Whoops!! Back on the bus I got to retrieve my board. Thankfully it was an easy switch and hopefully poor Jackie Lu wasn't frantically trying to find her board.
Our afternoon activity was a trip to the Hilton Hotel for a sesh in their famous onsen. Now this onsen wasn't like the one we experienced at our hotel in Hakuba. Where we soaked in our bathers drinking Strong's. Ash Maj and I made our way into the women's room while Blake and Dyl departed to the Men's. We had to get fully starkers - Dylan in his element. Maj, Ash and I in a giggle fit as we stripped down and made our way to the inside bath. The water at 42°C with floaties they assured us were due to the minerals in the water. Questionable. We wondered how the boys were coping. We made our way out to the outside onsen which had views of the volcano and a koi pond. The water was too hot to stay in too long. I think we lasted maybe half an hour before making the most of the products available to us while showering. Not to mention a proper shower that didn't feel like needles stabbing you like our ones back at White Bear. We came out with clean hair and moisturized skin and a new found bond. Families who bathe together stay together. The boys had bailed and got on the early bus. Our busy which was supposed to come at 4.45pm just never rocked up. Unusual for Japanese standards. We taxied back to join the boys watching the sumos... they can't get enough of the sumos. What even is life without sumos from 4-6pm each day?! We brought to the table a floor picnic of wine, cheese, crackers, blueberries and chocolate.
We had dinner at Bigfoot. A Canadian/American confusion bar where we loaded up on booze, wings, burgers, poutine and Mac and cheese croquettes. From there Gramps got put to bed and the rest of us made our way to Tomashii (our local) for drinks and DJ Ocky. Eventually we joined the skibums one the d-floor. Proud to admit we made it past 11pm. An impressive milestone, considering Dyl is usually ready for bed by 7.30pm.
Unfortunately tomorrow Blake, Maya and I begin our 3 day journey home while Cal and Ash spend a couple of days in Sapporo and Dylan enjoys and few last days on the slopes in Niseko.