Weekend 29 - 31 January 2010

As many of my regular readers know, my beloved husband turned 40 last week, we have been together for 19 years on 28th March 2010 and I am delighted to say I love him more now than I ever have and feel amazingly privileged to be his wife.

Simon is a strong, loyal and committed man and his family is his absolute life, he has ALWAYS put us first in EVERYTHING and so I was delighted to be able to jiggle and juggle our savings to make sure that for this birthday he got to have one of his dreams come true.....learning how to ski.

We left Haywards Heath for Gatwick via train on Friday morning and then from there it was on to Inverness with Easyjet - and no they aren't as horrible as they have been made out to be, we found the staff very helpful and accommodating, the plane was spotless and the pilot more than competent (thanks heavens lol). Flying time from London to Inverness is only 1hr 20mins but I am delighted to say Nick Nick shut his eyes as we taxied down the runway only to open them again with the jolt of landing....I know what a star, and let me tell you that was only the beginning of it, my baby boy was an absolute SAINT the entire weekend.


Collecting our rental Golf from Eurocar went without problem and it wasn't long before we were on our way to Aviemore and the start of our skiing short break weekend. Our accommodation at 101 Dalnabay was out of this world and filled with all the modcons we could possibly need - I actually heard Simon breath a sigh of relief as we went inside and he saw how gorgeous the accommodation was, such a relief after our first attempt at finding somewhere to stay was met with reviews like "the best thing that could happen to this hotel is for it to burn down".

101 Dalnabay, Silverglades, Aviemore, Scotland

An early dinner was followed by an early night and an even earlier start on Saturday morning - we needed to be at the ski school to collect the equipment by 8.30am so it was up and out even before the sun had risen properly (day starts late in the Highlands of Scotland in Winter).

Our little rented golf having just been desnowed at 8am on Saturday morning

Cairn Gorm (Cairngorm) is the sixth highest mountain in the UK and one of 5 major skiing resorts in the Scottish Highlands, just 45 minutes drive from Inverness it is a winter wonderland comperable to many of the best in Europe - after experiencing record snowfall this year the mountain offered 37 runs from beginner to advanced and had plenty to do to keep even the most jaded skier busy.

We had an AMAZING day and it was one very very proud mummy that watched her family skiing down the slopes unassisted at the end of their first day...to say they were hooked was an understatement and while I tried angling for a day at Loch Ness on Sunday the others were adament we were returning to Cairngorm for another day on the slopes....sigh, I had by this stage spent many many many hours entertaining a baby in a restaurant the size of a South African lounge....admittedly a magnificently patient and well behave baby, but a baby none the less :0)

Megs enjoying a cup of the best hot chocolate I have ever tasted

Excitedly waiting for their lesson

Phillip



Megan



Simon

Saturday night saw lights out before 9pm - my skiers were absolutely exhausted from all the snow and fresh air and also wanted to be out on the mountain by 8.30 on Sunday morning so as not loose too much skiing time due to our flight back to reality. Sunday we had no lessons booked so after hiring the equipment we would need Simon decided to head up to the top of the mountain to some beginner runs up there for he and the children to practise some of their skills.

One very very very patient baby!

Up the mountain we went in the funicular (a little monorail which carries skiers up and down the slopes) and were met with an almost total white out at the top - literally could not see more than 5 meters in any direction and it was FREEZING (-15 degrees). After getting Nicholas and I nicely settled in the top day lodge, Si and the children head out in search of the beginner slopes....well there I am sipping my hot chocolate when the next minute I see Si and the kids heading onto the top of a red slope instead of the nearby green one - after watching for a minute and seeing them edge closer to the slopes I grabbed Nick, thew his coat over his head and ran out into the icy conditions yelling on the top of my voice to save my precious family - well lets just say all is well that ends well but I am sure people will be discussing the mad South African woman out on the mountain in just a jumper for years to come :0)

Anyway, disaster averted I returned to the warmth of the day lodge and continued with my hot chocolate -this time joined by a slice of lemon cake....I know I know and on Thursday I will be devastated when I haven't lost any weight, but 8 hours combined over two days in a restaurant will break even the strongest will (lol). 30 minutes later I glance out of the big picture window and there struggling up the mountain come my family - Phillip's hair has big white icicles in it and Megan's pony tail is a solid lump of ice down her back, needless to say we decided the top of the mountain was WAY to adventurous for our little party so back down we went to the relative safety of the lower slopes.

How Nicholas spent most of his time on the mountain - he really was a miracle baby

Another two hours were relatively peacefully passed with only a couple of mishaps - Si missing his ski lift and being the only person in history to go up the slope with his arms wrapped around the t-bar as opposed to his bottom being on it....nuff said lol and Phillip losing his ski pole while being involved in a mountain rescue - you don't wanna know, and then it was time to retrace our steps and head for home.

Champion Skier waves for the crowd :0)

Two very tired but very happy children at the end of the second day

Personally I don't think Cairngorm Mountain will ever be the same - but hey as I often say if you are going to go, go big! Such an awesome holiday once again made possible by this wonderful journey we are on.