So before I can say "yes I will give skiing a try" we are up at 7am and on our way to Tongariro National Park and more specifically Mount Ruapehu and the ski town of Whakapapa. We had read in the information leaflets that there was a ski school at the resort where for $85 you could hire your equipment, take a beginners lesson and then use the learners slopes for the remainder of the day. We arrived at around 10am and headed straight to the booking office to arrange our lesson. We are then given our tickets and told to take the ski lift down to a place called Happy Valley where all the beginners report to for their equipment. At this point I am feeling a little overwhelmed and very much out of my depth and I am really starting to wonder if I want to try skiing now! We first collect our ski jackets and trousers which is pretty easy as I know how you put on trousers and jackets but that is where the familiarity ends. We then have to collect our ski boots and I ask for a size 5 because that's my shoe size but when I get the boots and eventually work out how to open them I realise they are too small and rather sheepishly swap them for a 6. By this point I am sweating from all the layers I have on and am totally horrified when I realise that these boots are also too small and so I have to go back up, much to the annoyance of the horribly unhelpful staff at the desk and swap them for a 7! There is nobody there to show you how to put your boots on they only tell you to put one boot on until you get your skis. When I finally get a boot that fits I get in line and am then handed a set of skis and still have no idea what I am doing. So when I then have to get ski poles and yet again there is nobody to show me which ones I need I could honestly have put all the stuff down and walked away! It had to have been the worst and most negative introduction to skiing you could get. By the time we got out to the meeting point on the slope I was totally exhausted and sweating like a pig but ready for my lesson. Now I knew it wouldn't be a private lesson with just Mike and I however I was not expecting 11 other people and only 1 instructor! We all lined up and were given a quick introduction to the equipment (where was she 40 minutes ago when I needed her) and then we put our skis on for the first time. It doesn't take long for it to become obvious that whilst this is the first time skiing for me and maybe 2 other people in the group, for all the others it is a refresher lesson as they can clearly all ski already. By the 4th time that I had fallen over and was getting no feedback as to what I was doing wrong I was thoroughly fed up. Whilst everyone else was skiing down the hill I was found in a tangled heap on the ground trying to work out the least exhausting way to get back onto my feet. Michael fortunately took to it instantly and was soon holding his own on the slopes with all the other "pretend" beginners. I managed to grit my teeth and get to the end of the lesson no more able to ski than when I started and hating the experience so far! I am very lucky in that Michael has the patience of a saint and at the end of the lesson we both went off together to a quiet bit of the slope to teach me to ski. With the proper feedback and coaching I could feel myself starting to improve and before I knew it I was able to get from the top of Happy Valley all the way to the bottom without falling over or skiing into anyone. With every run I was getting a little bit more confident, a bit faster and a lot happier with the whole skiing thing. Before we knew it we had been skiing all day and it was time to hobble back into the rental building to hand back our gear. Once out of the ski boots and back into my shoes it didn't take long for me to realise that I had pulled almost every muscle in my body and I was going to be in a whole world of pain the next morning!I was right about the pain and the next morning I was aching all over and as stiff as a board. Everything was sore from my ankles to my knees and even my wrists and arms hurt however there was no resting for me as we were off for day 2 on the slopes. The previous morning I had been so sure that skiing was not for me and I would never be back however Michael enjoyed it so much and I was improving so I thought I would give it another chance. We decided not to bother taking the suggested lesson 2 as the first one was a waste of time and money so we just hired our gear and bought a lift pass for the beginners slope and some of the lower mountain slopes. In the interests of getting it out of the way I decided to fall on the first run of the morning and what a fall it was losing one of my poles along the way! I attribute this fall to the fact that I was still stiff from the previous day and was obviously not yet warmed up so when I asked my legs to slow me down they weren't quite ready to obey! A few slower runs completed successfully and I was soon feeling better and much more comfortable on the slope. It didn't take long for the beginners slope to be too easy for Michael so he ventured of himself to the lower mountain to try something a bit more taxing leaving me happy in Happy Valley with all the beginners. About twenty minutes later he returned to report that the lower mountain was definitely more of a challenge with him falling over twice on the way down! I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon a little too comfortable on the beginners slope and Michael continued to improve his skills on the more difficult stuff before we met up again to have some lunch. After lunch we both agreed that I should give the lower mountain slope a chance as I needed more of a challenge and Michael felt I was ready. We took the lower mountain lift and seemed to climb higher and higher into the mountain and Happy Valley was getting further and further away. When we got off the lift I was temporarily distracted by the most beautiful mountainous views I have ever seen. Everywhere you looked there was the most perfect, unspoiled snow. I spent the first five minutes taking photos completely captivated by how stunning it was and loving the fact that I was standing right in the middle of it all. Then I looked down the mountain and realised I was in trouble as it was far too steep and there was no way I was getting down from here easily! Michael gave me a pep talk and told me exactly what line to take to get down, all we had to do was take our time and for me to follow him. So it all started well we got the first couple of stretches out the way without too much trouble only crashing into an ice wall once! The next part however was much steeper and had disaster written all over it! To best paint this picture you must imagine the second Bridget Jones film when she goes skiing even though she cant ski! I am behind Michael for about the first 2 seconds and then I am gone! The hill is far too steep, I cant control my speed and as I zoom past Michael all I can say is "I think I am out of control"! I was completely paralysed by fear as I got faster and faster going down the ever steeper hill with no idea how I was going to stop and knowing that if I didn't stay on my skis I was going to crash in a dangerously fast fashion and probably break something and I don't mean my skis! It all happened so fast but I am let to believe from Michael, who was standing at the top of the hill watching the drama unfold, that I went flying down the hill, across the floor of the valley and then up the embankment on the other side! Thank goodness there was an uphill embankment to slow me down otherwise who knows were I would have ended up! I should point out that throughout the entire stunt I had managed to stay upright however once I came to a stop the shock of what had happened turned my knees to jelly and my legs collapsed from under me! The next thing I know Michael is beside me shouting about what a cool stunt I just did and that if I hadn't fallen over it would have been awesome. Needless to say I burst into tears not because I have hurt myself but because I am only half way down the mountain so I have to get up and do the whole pantomime all over again! A couple of death slides later and I finally have the bulk of the mountain behind me much to my relief . At this point I am happy to take my skis off and sit on a big mount of snow letting Michael have a few more runs before we have to leave. About an hour later and I have calmed down after my ordeal and my knees have finally stopped shaking enough for me to put on my skis again and take the final part of the slope without falling over! So mixed feelings about the second days skiing, the morning had been fine and I do feel I needed something more challenging in the afternoon however the step from beginner to intermediate was perhaps a little too much for my already weary legs. Once at the bottom I was actually annoyed with myself for not being able to make the grade and if I had had the strength I would have loved to have gone back up to give it another go but I was exhausted! So as far as the Goldie's go skiing, in summary Michael is a natural, loving everything about it and Tracy needs a little more persuasion but is not going to be beaten by some skis and a bit of snow!