26/7/05, 4.45, 8.39, 3.5, 5.5, 1, 41, 2, 50, 1, 100:65, 10.15

A day I explain numerically – just to be different!

26/7/05: The day we went up to Turoa for the day

4.45: The time we got up in the morning to meet our friends and leave by 5.30am

8.39: The time it was when we saw our first glimpse of the mountain. Beautiful.

3.5: The number of hours it took us to get to Ohakune. We were so early through Taihape that we couldn’t get breakfast because neither the Brown Sugar nor Exchange cafes were open (9am and 8.30 am respectively)

5.5: The cost of my thin slices of Molenburg bread (despite ordering Vogels) and peanut butter that I ordered for breakfast at The Powder Keg.

1: The 1 hour we spent waiting for the AA because our friend’s rental car got a flat battery while we were having breakfast.

41: The number of kilometres we had to drive around to Whakapapa because Turoa was closed and the weather had really packed it in since our first glimpse of the mountain.

2: The weather had also packed it in by the time we got around to Whakapapa – it was raining and 2 degrees.

50: Visibility was pretty appalling at around 50m and only the beginner’s slopes were open. However we got to stand in the snow and rain all dolled up in our ski gear.

1: The number of guys that can make coffee at The Powder Keg. The quote of the trip has to be the one delivered to me when my afternoon coffee finally arrived, “Sorry for the delay, there’s only one guy here that knows how to use the coffee machine.” !!! Actually, it was worth the wait.

100:65: On the trip back I wanted to check out the ratio of cars:trucks as the road seemed to be very truck-heavy. I stopped counting at 100, which was about Levin – 100 cars:65 trucks.

10:15: The time I was tucked up in bed, trying to get to sleep after a very full on day – still wired after the drive back.

Great day.