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Saturday 20 December 1997 | |||||
| Woke up at 4am, phoned Kim, train to Gatwick, flight to Geneva. Didn't feel too bad, considering the time I got up, and the 'few sociable drinks' the night before. Arrived at Paul's (friend or Nigel's) place at around 2pm. Found his front door key in the letterbox and let ourselves in. Discovered he is to install cable TV the next week, but for now the TV had but 3 (not very good) Swiss channels. However, found a 'Friends' video and watched a few episodes and vegged out all afternoon. Paul came hone, had a few beers, went out for food in Geneva old town. Very nice peppered steak and chips (and beer). Went to an Irish bar (perhaps as Paul is Irish?) and had a few more beers. Got home not much before midnight and crashed out knackered. | |||||
Sunday 21 December 1997 | |||||
Having slept like a log, woke at 8am feeling very iffy. Drove to Flaine (driving takes my mind off feeling ill) in a little over a hour. Good weather (sunny and just below freezing), no queues to speak of at the lifts, not many slopes open, but enough to keep us occupied for the day. Found the fresh snow to be good, if a little deep for me in places. Straight up a bubble and down a red, was amazed I remembered how to ski straight away - much better than the last trip.
Had peppered steak at a mountain restaurant for lunch (now feeling much better). Weather got cloudy and it started to snow. Nigel fell over and broke the binding on one ski! I did the rest of the run (then went back and did it again) while he walked down. After 7 hours skiing, with a couple off for breaks, drove home in around 90 mins while Nigel tried to sleep. Had Ethiopian take out. Quiet strange, spicy pancake things you pick fillings up with, in one hand. Very messy, but nice. | |||||
Monday 22 December 1997 | |||||
Got up quiet early, but had to meet Nigel's friend Damian and get his binding fixed. Arrived in Avoriaz 11:30, so only got a half day pass (11:45 - 16:45). Great resort though, and the weather was fine so had a good few hours skiing.
Did nothing of note in the evening, basically collapsed and watched more videos. | |||||
Tuesday 23 December 1997 | |||||
| Woke early again and headed for Chamonix. Got a little lost on the way, after discovering that this was a collection of small ski areas, which are collectively known as Chamonix. Still, managed to be in one of these areas (Le Tour) by 10:15 to get a pass and start skiing. The weather was dull, and snow quiet sparse in places. After a slow start, found a few good runs, but nothing as good as Avoriaz. Managed to brave the very cold and windy pistes until 16:15 when we had to catch the bubble back to the car park, the run down being closed due to lack of snow.
Went to Mulligans again, then to what appeared to be a shopper's restaurant (the surprisingly good Movenpick) then to bed quiet late. | |||||
Wednesday 24 December 1997 | |||||
| Christmas Eve, back to Avoriaz, which we discover is part of a huge ski area called Portes du Soleil - The Gates to the Sun (or something like that). This is by far the largest area, with the best snow near Geneva. Parked down at Les Prodains and took a cable car to Avoriaz 1800. Skied with Nigel on an easy circuit in the morning and ended up in Switzerland (Les Crosets) for lunch. He wanted a lazy afternoon, so did part of a harder circuit in the afternoon before meeting up at 4:30 for the trip home. Went round to Damian's for drinks and met Greg and Laura (Canadian couple), and Dan and Dela, his wife (Brits). Left on xmas day, but not that late. Nigel and Paul went to a dodgy night club which I skipped. Couldn't have even gone if it were normal as I was so knackered. Took a cab back to Paul's, rang Kim and crashed out. Nigel and Paul came in about an hour after me, and I had apparently missed nothing. | |||||
Thursday 25 December 1997 | |||||
| Slept in all morning, then just lazed around until about 3pm when we went back to Damian's for xmas lunch. Opened a load of oysters, but couldn't bring myself to eat any. Greg and Laura turned up with another couple, Jeff ('Franco American') and Helen (Londoner). Ate lunch, played Pictionary and generally slobbed around for the rest of the day. Stayed sober in all this time as we planed to meet Jeff, Helen, Greg and Laura in Avoriaz the next day for skiing. | |||||
Friday 26 December 1997 | |||||
| Got up quiet early and drove to Avoriaz (again). Met the afore mentioned in the car park as we arrived (had arranged to meet later, so thought this lucky). After they'd sorted skis, etc. out though it was midday. Greg and Laura bumped into an Hawaiian couple they knew, purely by chance and decided to ski with them too. After all this though, Nigel, Hawaiian couple and I managed to loose the rest on the very first run. Still, stuck with the other two for the rest of the day. Tried the speciality of the region (Tartefette I think) for lunch, which was OK for mountain restaurant really. Took a semi-closed run down to the car park, rather than the cable car, and unfortunately managed to mangle my skis on rocks. Good job they were hired (and the shop didn't mind!). Back in Geneva, had drinks at Dan and Dela's. Very nice buffet too, but didn't eat or drink too much so I was fit and well for the flight home the next day. Shame, as the food was excellent. Met yet another couple, one American and his French wife. Dan and he work together as Personal Bankers, so had interesting conversation about work, tax avoidance, etc., etc. Home around 11:30 and took on an episode of Ab Fab before turning in. | |||||
Saturday 27 December 1997 | |||||
| Didn't really sleep to well the night before, but managed to get up at 7:30 all the same. Took the skis back and checked in early for the flight. Sat and wrote this in the airport rather than spend hours looking at the huge array of watches on offer. Flew back to London, ordered a cab to the airport 7am, had a few beers with Sean and Lyn in Islington before crashing early at Nigel's place. | |||||
Sunday 28 December 1997 | |||||
| Start of flight to Aus. Cab was very quick to airport, so checked in very early. As a result was able to secure an emergency row Singapore to Sydney. Managed to get away with checking in an unfeasible large amount of baggage - couldn't work out if this was because their scales weren't working or they just didn't care as I was so early. Good flight really, slept quiet a bit due to lack of sleep the previous few nights. Singapore air was very good, 22 channels of video, decent food, etc., etc. | |||||
Monday 29 December 1997 | |||||
| Still on the plane... Was impressed with Changi airport (very clean and tidy). Managed to pick up a cheap hi-fi (sort of) duty free, also lots of cameras, videos, etc. on offer. Landed in Aus a few minutes early and passed through customs, etc. in around 45 mins. Was collected by Kim and Wendy, but still managed to get slightly lost in the city on the way home. Crashed out around midnight (although this could have been any time really, not having had a decent kip in over 3 days). | |||||
Tuesday 30 December 1997 | |||||
| Woke up 6am without any feeling of jetlag! Read for a while them dragged Kim out of bed and went on a mission to get Medicare registration and a bank account sorted out. Did the first, but totally confused the poor chap in Citibank with my questions. Just relaxed in the garden in the afternoon, but had to grab some sleep around 3pm for a couple of hours, before I was woken by Kim (after several minutes of coaxing round apparently) telling me I wouldn't sleep later if I didn't get up. Short walk round the neighbourhood before dinner, and met Robert after. | |||||
Wednesday 31 December 1997 | |||||
| New year's eve... woke after an almost normal sleep and drove north to Nelson bay to meet Greg and co. for a few (bit of an understatement?) beers. Went to the beach during the day, then the booze up. What do you expect? Warm up at home, then down to the pub by the beach for midnight. Loads of people milling around outside in the street. Went back home to carry on, lots of nudity ensued (who's idea was that?). Don't know when it all ended (much memory loss). | |||||
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