Ou est le Swimming Pool?

Today was my day off and so I decided to splash out (pardon the pun) and go to the Tignes Spa for a relaxing few hours.

I'm trying to be really healthy at the moment so I started the day with a power walk and a bowl of muesli and pear before heading out with a few friends to the swim centre. The cool thing about being here is that, while normally, you would hop in your car or walk to the local pool, we skied.

And it was worth the journey. It was my first time to the Tignes leisure centre and it was an absolutely incredible swimming centre (but you'd hope so for 15 euros). I started by doing laps of the pool. But not your regular pool. This pool played music under water, so you could listen to music as you swam. Amazing!

Then we enjoyed Turkish baths, a sauna and spa as well as sun-baking on sun-beds on a sun-deck overlooking the snow-covered mountains just next to us.

All of the facilities had glass windows that looked onto the pistes and so, as we did our breaststroke, we could take in the incredible view.

After the relaxing swim I got dressed, put my ski boots on and skied home. Brilliant.

I will definitely miss the convenience of traveling by skis- even after five months the novelty still hasn't really warn off!

What a life

 This week I have been giving ski lessons to two of the children staying in my chalet.

It's actually pretty good fun and, as a consequence, I'm able to enjoy the luxury of lunch on the slopes.

I thought I'd share this with you; it's a delicious tuna salad I had yesterday at Sun Bar over in Val D'Isere, after having skied The Face (the Men's Olympic Downhill slope).

Sun bar Tuna Salad

From my table I had the most spectacular view, complete with vibrant blue skies, and hot hot sun. So hot, in fact, that I am now really sunburnt. But it was definitely a gorgeous lunch and a yummy meal!

The view from my table over to The Face

And, to top it all off, this morning, when I woke up I was greeted by the sight of thick snow falling and a winter (well, now it's Spring, but anyway) wonderland outside my window.

This is what I saw:

The view from my window this morning

I didn't really expect so much new fresh snow this late in the season, but I'm certainly not complaining!

Strolling in snow

Lake walk

After almost  four months of skiing it is now becoming less exciting to pull on the ski gear and head up the mountain day after day. Don't get me wrong, I usually really love it once I'm up there, it's just the getting there that can be a struggle.

So I have taken to doing other sorts of activities during the day between morning and evening work. One of my favourite ways to chill out and relax is to go for a walk in the snow and I thought I would show you some of the photos that I have taken recently on my wanderings.

Included in my journeys was a walk up the 'Summer Road', which is a skiable piste and is entirely up-hill. It was a bit of a mission, but so worthwhile once I made it to the top. Also, although you get quite hot, you're still cooled down by the snowy temperatures which are refreshing and, when you've reached the top, you can simply catch a chairlift back down to the bottom again.

The only problem with walks like these is that I can't find anyone who is keen to join me. Somehow the lure of watching a film in bed seems to far outdo the opportunity to get sweaty and do some exercise. Fair enough I suppose.

In the walking 'zone'

So pretty

The lake in Les Brevieres

So. much. ice

Frozen waterfall

The Boisses bubble

A little bit warm

L'Eglise at Boisses

At the top of Boisses

This week we have the Winter X Games which are being hosted in Val Claret. They are set to be very impressive and I am really excited to get out there and watch some amazing skiing and boarding. We've been watching some of the pros as they practice over the past few days. If you get a chance to check it out on television, definitely do. You'll see some incredibly talented people doing things you never thought possible.

Breaking out of the Brev Bubble

The snowy view from outside the window at work

On Monday night a group of the staff from my hotel decided to break out of the 'Brev bubble' and go out in Val Claret for something different.

We had pre-drinks at the Underground Bar beneath our hotel and drank the obligatory 'Drop Kick Ninja's' which have cider, lager, vodka and cassis in them. They pretty much guarantee you a good night and they didn't disappoint. At around half-twelve we got a taxi over to Val Claret - at this point it was snowing really heavily so we were all white in no time - and went to a bar called Saloon. Saloon was fun and quite chilled, with a good vibe to it.

We then made our way to one of the most sleazy places I have ever been, called The Melting Pot. It was crammed full of awful French men who took pleasure in preying on the girls in the club. I ended up wearing my ring on my wedding finger but to no avail really. All of us staff had such a good time dancing and drinking together and, although everyone was pretty gone, it was still amazing to be away from the usual partying routine. At about 4am Aaron (who I work with), Will and his girlfriend Flaps, and a new guy called Andy all headed over to the kebab shop for the customary post-Melting Pot feed. We made our way back to the hotel at about 4.30am and I was up for work at 7am.

The Tuesday morning breakfast service went surprisingly smoothly and although I was ridiculously tired I got through it. I crashed pretty heavily after that and didn't make it out skiing in the afternoon, but did manage a few laps around the lake on my afternoon walk, so it wasn't a complete waste of a day.

Although the past few weeks have been testing because of the Half-Term rush of people and a certain middle of season lull in enthusiasm from all of us staff, I think that we are all past that now and the morale amongst us has certainly lifted.

It's difficult to believe that there are less than eight weeks of the season left. With that ending looming I am starting to plan out what I am going to do afterwards. I am very excited to be spending five fun-filled days with my beautiful friend Sarah in Paris. We plan to visit the flea markets and go on lovely walks and to take photos and sketch and just soak up the Parisian vibes. Cannot wait!

Also putting together plans to head to Italy, Spain, France and then to Greece to meet up with the gorgeous Aussie girlies from school - the three Sarah's! Sarah-Jane (one of my absolute best friends) and I will then be journeying around Eastern Europe for about a month and our itinerary is already filling with exciting trips like a ferry ride from Corfu to Croatia.

This year away is so worthwhile and the adventures are wonderful. I am so pleased to have made the decision to take this sabbatical and am loving (almost) every minute of it.

Chalet Girl Foam Wrestling

This week has flown by ridiculously quickly! I spent my day off on Wednesday skiing with one of my colleagues - a 'ski companion'/ ski guide- and some guests over in Le Fournet, before enjoying some wine tasting in Val D'Isere. How civilized. We then headed to the Folie Douce and headed home at around 6pm - skiing in the dusky twilight - just in time for dinner.

On Wednesday night a 'once-in-a-season' event took place in the Underground Bar beneath our hotel. It is known as 'chalet girl foam wrestling' and, I have to admit, when I was asked to get involved I very firmly declined. I just wasn't really interested in participating in it because it is degrading to women and it doesn't really fit with my morals or principles. Boring I know. I didn't like the idea of so many sleazy men looking on at me while I competed without really gaining anything from it myself.

So although I wasn't wanting to personally participate I did go along to watch my friends give it a go. There was a foamy pit full of suds and each of the two competitors were given a sock. The object of the game was to remove your opponent's sock first. All clothes remained on, everyone was having fun and it wasn't skanky at all. It was just good, clean (and soapy) fun.

The bar was short of competitors and my colleague Janine who I get on so well with - and who was as adamant as I was that we wouldn't get involved - soon decided we'd compete against each other. Janine, who is from South Africa, took the stage-name 'Springbok' and my name was 'The Kangaroo'... how original of us. Our foam wrestling was spread over three rounds - round one I won, round two Janine defeated me and, in the third round, although it was ridiculously close, I managed to triumph. It was a huge amount of fun and I am really glad I did it in the end! A big buzz. Here are some of the photos:

The Kangaroo

Then, on Thursday, it was my roommate Sarah's 19th birthday. We all celebrated by holding an off-piste birthday picnic in the glorious sun. We had loud speakers, lots of food courtesy of the chefs, and some ice-cold beers. That picnic embodied what this ski season is about. It was unbelievably chilled and so much fun. We followed our picnic with a nice ski over to La Daille and the Ski Tranquille area of Tignes.

Regardless of the severe lack of snow here (there are exposed rocks and patches of grass all over the slopes) we are still in good spirits and are soon expecting some 10 centimetres of snow. Hopefully there will be much much more to come because my journey to work and back each day gets more and more slippery and I am now falling daily on the ice sheets.

Tomorrow is changeover day again and hopefully our guests next week will be lots of fun. We are expecting a large group of firefighters who like to party so I'm thinking it should be an interesting week. In the meantime... please pray for some snow!

Le Villaret

Since we haven't been blessed with any new snow in a really long time here in Tignes, I decided to take a walk to Le Villaret, which is a hamlet near to Tignes Les Brevieres.

I was invited on this little adventure by a couple that I work with and I'm so glad I took up the opportunity because the views were gorgeous and it was great exercise!

Here are a few photos from our walk:

The lake in Les Brevieres

Me sitting next to a pretty water pump

The pretty water pump

A quirky house in Le Villaret

Some hand-painted handicrafts available for 5 euros each

The view from Le Villaret back down into Tignes Les Brevieres

A charming old door

The walk took around an hour and a half in total and was quite exerting on ascent, but much better descending the mountain on the way home.  Although there were sheets of ice and sharp thorns to avoid, it added to the adventure.

Le Villaret is a bit of an unusual little hamlet. When we arrived the village appeared to be deserted, with old buildings standing destitute, walls crumbling and wooden planks boarding them shut. However, we soon stumbled upon a sweet little table of handicrafts left unmanned outside a quirky house.

The house itself had a mannequin dangling from a rope at it's front - quite bizarre and somewhat creepy!

I did appreciate the little touches within Le Villaret though, like the hand-painted water pump and trough, which I imagine would look so gorgeous in summer, surrounded by lush grass and sunny skies. 

All in all it was a really enjoyable experience to do something other than skiing (or boarding) and I had a fabulous day, despite feeling the exercise in my legs the next day!

A trip to Le Fournet

Today, on my day off, I enjoyed an amazing ski trip over to Le Fournet.

Le Fournet is the farthest point to the left on the Espace Killy piste map, meanwhile where I live is the farthest to the right.

The gondola back from Le Fournet

For the past month or so I have been desperate to make the lengthy day-trip journey across the Espace Killy and as each Wednesday day-off comes around, I put it off until next week because it seems too bigger treck! This morning however, as I looked out of my window to a clear blue sky, I knew today just had to be the day.

I don't share my day off with many other staff members and this makes finding an early morning ski buddy rather tricky. Luckily though, my friend Andy (who is the hotel's plongeur) finished work pretty early and was keen to get lots of skiing in, so a ski buddy I had found.

After conquering the infamous Face without trouble, we caught multiple chairlifts and drag lifts and found ourselves at our intended destination. Despite the freezing temperatures of -12 degrees celsius and the icy slopes, it was gorgeous weather which made the trip so very worthwhile. 

We decided to stop for some lunch, each ordering un assiette de frites si vous plait and we both enjoyed them in the warmth of the Le Fournet restaurant. 

Inside the restaurant at Le Fournet

Andy and his frites

Once we were truly full from our hot chips, we thought we ought to start heading home. The 2-hour each way trip meant that we didn't have much time to explore the area, but it was a fabulous ski nonetheless.

Lunchtime!

In fact, upon arrival at home afterwards, we were met with questions of "did you go to the glacier just above Le Fournet?"... Unfortunately I wasn't aware there was a glacier nearby and so I may just have to make another trip back in the near future to check it out.

Just gondola-ing

Andy in the gondola

Here is the picturesque view as we skied back from Le Fournet to Val D'Isere, the clouds and blue sky nicely framing the mountains and village below.

On the way back into Val D'Isere from Le Fournet

This week our guests are really lovely and, despite a slight faux pas on my account, our week is going very well. One of my male guests was telling me that his heater wasn't really working too well. I asked him whether he had "had a fiddle with the knob in his room" which, of course, was met with hysterics. Yes, I will be more careful with word choices from now on!

Last week's guests were really fun! We were even lucky enough to be given a bottle of Moet & Chandon as a thank-you and, to be given recognition for hard work just makes it so worthwhile!

Into the Hidden Valley

Me, just before I left to go skiing this morning

On my day off today I was fortunate enough to catch up with some friends from back home in Sydney who are staying in Val D'Isere. The group was rather huge - 20 of them - and despite having only been here a few days, they were able to show me an absolutely amazing off-piste run called The Hidden Valley. This run is definitely not for the faint hearted. It requires the taking off and putting back on of skis many times, the skiing over of mini bridges, the abseiling through rock holes and the climbing through crevasses. But it is most certainly worth it as you ski through a beautiful little hidden area that seems barely touched, apart from the ropes left by predecessors enabling you to climb more easily.

Having accomplished this amazing adventure, we stopped for lunch before splitting off into smaller groups to do our own skiing. Nick - who is a friend from back home - and I both went off and did lots of fun off-piste powder skiing in knee-deep powder. Unfortunately I fell more than a couple of times, but it was definitely a huge amount of fun creating our own tracks and was a memorable afternoon!

On another note, earlier this week I was skiing with our chef, Robbie, and his 2 male mates and encountered another type of skiing adventure, but one that didn't end up as successfully! Robbie (who is probably going to read this so I should be careful of what I say) decided I had the capability to do a 15 foot rock jump. As the others did the jump I started to feel a bit uncomfortable about the idea of doing it myself. I wasn't the only one looking on though. The chairlift right next to the jump meant that all the passers by felt the need to add their own encouragement and yells of "you can do it", "go on, what are you waiting for" to my own internal voice that was most clearly yelling a "that's probably not the best idea". So of course I crumpled under peer pressure and did the jump. I stacked magnificently, with both skis coming off in different directions and me face planting into the snow! After about 20 minutes of climbing up the thick powder to retrieve my skis, I made it to the bottom of the snow dome and, after skiing back to the ski lift, I left the guys and shakingly skied home. Not going to do that again too soon. To be fair though, Robbie does take me to lots of fun jumps and, while I might not enjoy the 15 foot ones, I do have heaps of fun skiing with him and the other staff I work with!

Just about to head out now for some quiet drinks because it is my night off. I was a good girl last night - in bed before 10pm - so I suppose it's not too bad to head out tonight.

Feeling as though I am not being too successful in my attempts to keep in touch with everyone back home, but know that I am sending lots of love!

Another day off in Tignes

La Folie Douce where we enjoyed some apres ski!

Today was my day off (yes, it's Wednesday AGAIN) and I spent it having lots of fun skiing from 8.45 am until 5.45 pm.

I had made friends with a nice New Zealander guy - who is one of our guests - and so my friend Sam (who is also my workmate) and I decided to go skiing with him and some of his friends.

Fortunately during my day off I had absolutely beautiful weather! The sun shone brightly and, although it was cold, it wasn't unbearably so.

We skied all the way up to the Grande Motte in Tignes - which is an all-year skiing area and glacier - before skiing back down into Val D'Isere and doing several runs. Sam likes to ski pretty fast so it was a challenge trying to keep up, but lots of fun also.

La Grande Motte

We enjoyed lunch at the top of the Aeroski - I had something simple (hot chips) because it was all quite expensive and I wasn't too hungry - and then did some more skiing in the afternoon on some of my favourite pistes. Sam had to go home to get ready for work, so I continued to hang out with my friend and his mates.

Unfortunately one of his friends did a jump over at Grand Pre, which is a fun ski area I had taken the group to,  and while trying to accomplish a 360 jump, he fell and his ski brake snapped off his ski. Without a brake, his ski ran with increasing speed down the side of the mountain. Luckily we were able to retrieve the ski and, although the friend was forced to ski one-legged down the piste for a while, all was well.

After some more skiing it was decided that it was most certainly time for some apres ski and the place for that apres ski was most definitely La Folie Douce.

La Folie Douce is the most hectic apres ski bar I have ever come across. There are huge magnums of Moet et Chandon all over the place and massive bean bags in a special VIP area. You can even order a champagne bottle worth 4500 euros. Everyone dances in their ski/ snowboarding boots on the tables and there is an amazing DJ and trumpeter who play for the crowd, along with two brilliant singers. Here is the link to their website to give you a better idea of how cool it is.

Despite the temperatures, which were hovering at around -5, some of the guys had taken off their shirts and others were crowd surfing. Interestingly though, at 4.25pm every afternoon the bar becomes instantly deserted as everyone rushes to catch the final ski lift for the day.

After we caught our lift back to Tignes, we were too late to catch the Chaudannes chairlift over to Tignes Les Brevieres, so the guest I had been skiing with and I both caught a couple of buses and then skied home in the dark, taking in the beautiful twinkling lights of my new little town from above.

I was hoping to go skiing again tomorrow with the guest I was hanging out with today, but unfortunately tomorrow is my 'day in' which means that I don't get a break between my morning and evening duties. I have to lay out and wash up staff lunch as well as cleaning the staff bathrooms and doing any other chores that need to be done. Not so fun, but has to be done!

Having lots of fun and loving meeting so many new people although I can't quite believe just how fast time goes by!

Happy New Year and welcome to 2011

Fancy dress for NYE

Just a quick note to wish you all a very happy new year.

I spent my New Year's at the Underground bar below my chalet, drinking with guests and workmates.

It was open fancy dress so I decided to go as a cat with whiskers and tail to boot.

Our guests insisted on pouring me wine glass after wine glass and, unsurprisingly, when it came to finishing work I was feeling a bit drunk. A splash of foundation and a glass of water and I was good to go again.

We all danced on tables and drank festively until the countdown to New Years.

The cat costume

When it came to the countdown, all of the staff ran around and kissed each other and it was so lovely sharing the occasion with my newfound friends.

I don't think I bought a drink the entire night - I just kept being given drinks - but this morning I was feeling awful.

I woke up with 15 minutes to spare before work and, when I entered our chalet, I could not believe my eyes. There was food EVERYWHERE! There was cheese all over the counter and empty wine bottles strewn across the tables - and I had only half an hour to get the place ready for breakfast service while feeling delicate to say the least. To make matters worse, my colleagues weren't up and after ten minutes of going solo I had to wake them to help me. To be fair though, if being hungover is the greatest of my concerns life obviously isn't so hard.

Fortunately after lots of manic picking-up I managed to get everything ship-shape with my workmates' help and all was fine.

I felt a bit too sick to ski today but, having skied the past few days, I wasn't too phased to be missing out.

I might add that yesterday afternoon Sarah (my roommate), some of the longstays and myself all went to the supermarket and bought these amazing drinks called Desperados (which are beer and tequila) and skied to the top of the mountain. The five of us all sat and enjoyed looking out over the slopes, particularly because it was warm enough to take off our ski jackets and just sit there with our hoodies on. Bliss.

Enjoying some chilled bevvies on NYE afternoon

Skiing on my day off!

Today was my day off and I was lucky enough to have my best friend come over from Meribel to ski and visit me.

It was so surreal having her meeting my colleagues in the hotel and for us to ski together again after last year's ski antics.

Unfortunately Beck  and I accidentally found ourselves on a very very black run (some might say Denzel Washington black) which was okay for me but not so much for Beck who has only ever skied for two weeks before. Ever. 

This black run is renowned throughout the Espace Killy because it is the Men's Olympic downhill ski course. Unfortunately due to it's serious difficulty it is no longer the ski course... am I painting a picture of the difficulty of this piste yet?

It took us about 1.5 hours and at least 10 tumbles for Beck before we reached the bottom. I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to restore Beck's confidence in her skiing ability and will have to hope that the experience wasn't sufficiently disastrous that she no longer wants to ski. As an upside, her blue runs wont't be as challenging anymore.

Tonight is my night off so I a, thinking I am going to have to have a bit of a big one. Last night we had pub trivia which is always fun, though I was well-behaved and didn't drink so it won't be too bad to have a few cheeky ones now. Last night at trivia we had lots of fun and, although we only came fifth, we won best team name, which was a bit of an 'in joke' but it was Quiz Trow - a play on one of the owner's of the bar's names.

Still loving working at my hotel and starting to get very excited for New Year's which is set to be good fun. It is fancy dress again so I am thinking a sailor's outfit couldn't go too far astray.

Christmas in Tignes

I am pleased to say I spent a beautiful, snowy, white Christmas at the hotel despite being away from the family. The hotel's staff all came together like our own little family and enjoyed a nice christmas meal together on Christmas eve before doing the evening's service. We then all partied til about 3am in the underground bar, dressed up and dancing on tables. Lots of fun, but huge headaches for Christmas morning.

Christmas dinner with staff

After doing Christmas morning brekky service the staff all gathered and opened each other's Secret Santa presents with champagne (yes, more drinking) in hand.

Opening our Secret Santa pressies

We all then skied over to Tignes - which was not fun while feeling ridiculously hungover in a claustrophobic gondola - and all enjoyed a lunch paid for by our company.

Skiing on Christmas day

We then served about 70 guests a lovely Christmas meal on Christmas night, before I fell asleep at about 10pm absolutely exhausted from my 4 hours sleep on Christmas eve.

I am having a ball here at the moment and am enjoying all the partying and camaraderie with everyone I work with.

On a side note, I love the quirkiness of France. Every morning and evening I collect bread from a bakery nearby my chalet and my baker is continually stoned. Literally, my baker is baked. He leaves his half-smoked joints on the bench-top as he packages up the baguettes. Crazy, huh!?

Some gossip to update you on

Only three days until Christmas now. I am so excited. I put up the Christmas tree in Chalet Hattiers yesterday and it was the first time I really realised that Christmas is soooooon!

I thought I would fill you in on the last 24 hours. Today is my day off, so last night was a bigger one - we had a pub quiz and my team (the Quiztina Aguileras) came second. There weren't that many people in the bar, but it was still lots of fun. Sarah, who works in the bar, was pouring my drinks with a generous hand of vodka, needless to say I got a bit drunk. 

Eye of the Needle

I met a pretty cool guy called Ollie last night too. We went skiing together today and he took me to this amazing place called the Eye of the Needle. We had to take off our skis to get to it, and climb up this steep snow covered mountain, but it was definitely worth it once we got up to the landmark. We soon discovered kissing isn't possible with goggles on. Quite a worthwhile lesson to learn early on in the season I suppose. 

Week 2 at the Chalet

Some of the guests we skied with!

I have just finished my second week working in the chalet and time is flying by.

Unfortunately I have been pretty sick this past week and have been spending all my time off in bed trying to recuperate. Without too much success in recovering I went to the doctors yesterday and have been dosed up on drugs, so feeling better already which is nice.

Last week I moved over to another chalet - it's a bit fancier - but also more to clean. I work with a gorgeous South African couple and they have such a great taste in music, so despite doing lots of hard work it isn't so bad when we have good music to listen to.

There are quite a few niice (read hot) guests coming through the hotel at the moment which is always fun, but unfortunately seeing as I've been sick I am not going to the Underground (the pub beneath our hotel), so am having to make the most of lying in bed watching films on my computer.

Cannot believe it's only five days until Christmas. Time is traveling so fast! It's a little bit weird to think that i'll be away from the family, but it's nice knowing I have already bought my pressies for everyone. Just a Kris Kringle to go for one of the staff members in the chalet.

Sorry this isn't full of juicy goss, hopefully once I feel better it will be!

xx

First day on the slopes

I am pleased to announce that today I went out on the slopes for the first time in the season. I had such a great time and thoroughly enjoyed skiing with people that challenged me to go faster.

We skied from 11.30 am until about 4 pm before going to Vincent's for a quiet red wine before starting work. We also made a short visit to Loop Bar in Tignes where we all had drinks and refreshed ourselves before it was time to hit the slopes once again. So much fun!

This evening I went up to my chalet and our chefs cooked up the most delicious dinner party for us. We had sausages in a tomato sauce, a beautiful salad, vinaigrette potatoes and a melted camembert. Delish!

Sarah and I tried to  bake a cake for tomorrow's afternoon tea and I'm disappointed to say I kind of screwed it up. It looked good when it went into the oven, but it turns out that the 3 tablespoons of baking powder I put into the mixture were in fact only supposed to be 3 teaspoons. Oops. So the cakes were a massive flop (literally) and I will need to rebake them tomorrow.

I am finding that my days are getting more and more enjoyable the longer that I stay here on my season. Lots of fun and hopefully it only gets better!

Update on life in Tignes

So I have now been working at the hotel for a week and it has gone quite quickly really. I am still getting used to everything though and wish so much that I were skiing. We got our skis and boots today though, so hopefully the lift passes will come soon (perhaps tomorrow?!). Then we will be able to hit the slopes which, to be honest, is the reason I am here.

Work has been difficult. Some of the staff are absolutely hilarious and I am really lucky to share a room with two lovely girls. There have also been some tough times though which make living away from friends and family seem difficult and cause me to question whether I will be able to last five months here.

We have been going down to the bar below our hotel most nights and I really don't want to make too greater habit of drinking every night (as has been done the past two nights) because it is so bad for me and makes me feel awful the next day when I am up and working at 7.30am needing to look bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Must practice self control.

Unfortunately no real man-talent yet... will just have to wait and see. Though some of the guests are pretty sweet and one couple left a bottle of red wine for us when they checked out.

My mum had a numerology reading the other day (which we have both had done before and which are always so spot on) and the reading said that I will soon meet a man and he'll be really perfect for me... certainly an encouraging/ nice thing to hear. So we shall see.

It's quite difficult always trying to be perky and smiley and happy around everyone, particularly when we all live and work and sleep in such close confines. And because I share a bedroom there isn't every really any time alone. Not that I am complaining - my room mates are brilliant - but it's just an adjustment to get used to.

Hopefully I will be able to stick to it and will enjoy myself and have loads of fun, particularly once we are able to begin skiing! Watch this space.

Ten days to go.

In ten days' time I will be at Sydney International Airport with my family, kissing them goodbye as I embark on what I hope to be the 'Trip of a Lifetime'.

It's been years in the planning and finally all those dreams are about to be put into motion.

Of course I am excited, but it's starting to sink in that I won't see my immediate family for a really long time - the longest yet for me. When I did my foreign exchange to France in 2005 (I was 15) I found that tough. I'll be away for a lot longer than that!

I will spend my first week staying with my grandparents in Oxfordshire, and visiting friends and relatives, before leaving for Geneva on the 1st December.

From there, a coach ride will take me to Tignes, where I will begin my ski season as a chalet girl working in a lovely hotel.

I really have no clue what to expect once I arrive in Tignes. What will the people I'm working for be like? I literally know nobody. Will we become instant best friends, or will there be conflicts? Will we go out drinking on our first night? ? And if we do, are they going to drink me under the table? If we play 'Never Ever', should I be honest? So many questions.

The unknown can be exciting. For me, it is. But it is also a scenario wherein I have little control. And I like to be in control. I like to know what to expect. I like to be mentally prepared for the situation.

I think that this year away will be good for me. I'll have to go with the flow, take everything as it comes, and lower my expectations so I don't get disappointed when things don't go as I've planned.

Do you have any tips about traveling and backpacking? How would you cope with living away (for me, it will be for five months as a chalet girl) not knowing anyone?

I'm making my final arrangements and beginning to pack. The moment I'm looking forward to is when I am sitting on that plane, with everything sorted, reflecting on my 21st birthday (which will be held two days prior) and looking into the future.

Note: The above photo is from http://startlinemtb.com/index.php?p=1_4_Tignes and is taken of Tignes, where I'll be living and working during my ski season.

Ski Camp (After)

I promised I would write about ski camp upon return and, because I have been back for at least three weeks, it seems timely to pen my experiences.

To recap, I travelled with year's nine and ten at the school where I work, alongside several staff members and two gap students. We had lots and lots of fun over the five days, with one of the highlights of the trip being snow shoeing. This consisted of fitting tennis racket-esque covers over our shoes and trecking with stocks up snow covered mountains. This was so very rewarding as, at the peak of the mountain, there were the most spectacular views over to adjacent mountain peaks dusted in snow.

Another highlight of the trip was watching the year 10 students put a menu plan together on $200, which had to provide people with a three-course meal, as well as catering for breakfast the next morning. The students not only had to source their ingredients, but to cook for the group also. They did an amazing job, choosing a simple menu of garlic bread as entree, pizza for main, and ice cream with toppings for dessert. The next morning pancakes were on the menu, and the kids were really proud of themselves for accomplishing what they saw to be a rather challenging task. It was also lots of fun getting up at 4.30am with the kids to watch the soccer, and all sitting in a refurbished train carriage, snuggled in our doonas and pjs, cheering on the Aussies!

While the snow wasn't the best, it was still good to have a ski and I skied predominantly with the male teachers on the trip - we were fond of High Noon (because it was the most challenging piste with sufficient snow) but were also fond of coffees at the top of the mountain! The skiing part of the trip really made me excited for my ski season at the end of the year!

A very long drive home at the end of the trip meant that most of the kids had naps, and the teachers joined them in dozing away the six or so hours back to Bathurst. After three stops at McDonalds along the way (either for toilet stops or for food), we finally made it home and it took several days to catch up on the lost sleep from 6am-11pm days jam-packed full of abseiling, rock climbing, orienteering, skiing, snow shoeing and cooking.

I am to leave Scots in late August and I'm grateful to have been able to part with fond memories of skiing and traveling with the students and teachers.