Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan Saturday, January 14, 2017 *MAYA* This morning's wakeup call was nice and early...minus the nice. Most of us had our alarms set for 6:10am as we were getting picked up to be taken to the train station just before 7am. The prediction for the day ahead was long and boring. We had an 8 hour journey and about 5 changes in trains for travel from Hakuba to Hakkodate. The first part consisted of 2 trains which were around an hour long ri...

Hakuba-mura, Chubu, Japan Friday, January 13, 2017 *ASH* Everyone had a bit more of a sleep-in this morning including the snowboarders Cal and Dyl. Cal, Dyl and I had brekky at the hotel and then headed to Sakka- the slope closest to us. I went to check out the bunny slope and see if it would be open for us newbies. They said they were hoping it would be open by 10-11am. Maj, Lou and Blake headed to Penke- where we went the night before for dinner. They had...

Hakuba-mura, Chubu, Japan Thursday, January 12, 2017 *LOU* The boys had an early start heading off to Hakuba 47 for another day on the slopes. The girls decided it was time for a well earnt rest day. We lazed around, had a bit of brekky, Maya went for a walk to get coffee before we planned our day. Ash and I booked in massages for 2.30pm so everything else revolved around that. Tour guide Svetlana aka Maj had done her research and found the Oide no Tsuribas...

Hakuba-mura, Chubu, Japan Wednesday, January 11, 2017 *CAL* Today was spent at Tsugaike Kogen Resort. Dyl and I got up early to catch the bus from the hotel to be there in time for the first lift. We had a few runs in some decent snow before we met the rest of the crew to help them work on their snowboarding. The guys were picking up plenty of golden rules of the snow and Blake learnt an important one: all valuables go in a zip up pocket; he had lost his GoPr...

Hakuba-mura, Chubu, Japan Tuesday, January 10, 2017 *BLAKE* We woke up to a nice covering of snow on the trees and ground which made for a spectacular view from our hotel room - a true winter wonderland. We then headed down to have buffet breakfast which was provided by the hotel. It was better than the last hotels breakfast with a few more western choices including cereal which we hadn't seen at all previously in Japan. Callum & Dylan being the experien...