CP closes!! For 1 day

So we had our first proper closure the other day. Luckily it was on my day off so i never lost any money. HA HA HA losers! No, it was a weird old day really as when i got up it was absolutely stunning outside. I had planned on a nice chilled out day in front of the laptop and maybe a walk or something. When i looked at the snow report Coronet Peak was closed. Up the hill they were having gale force winds but down by the lake we were basking in the gorgeous spring sunshine. It was our first closure of the season. Not bad considering the recent weather. The Remarks were closed for 3 consecutive days a while ago. I chatted to one of the lifties who said that when they re opened the hill most of the lifts were under nearly 6 feet of snow which they had to dig out at 5 in the morning! Sod that, well not quite................I'll elaborate later.

So i woke up to gorgeous sunlight and it wasn't long before the texts started rolling in. A closed day means the first time all CP staff have been off at the same time this season, so after much rushing around getting myself dressed and into town i met up with a few of the guys for a game of frisbee golf. In my rush to get ready and walk into town it hadn't once crossed my mind that the sunshine outside might actually carry some warmth so i rocked up in a hoody, my jeans and trainers. Everyone else was in shorts, t-shirts and flip flops (or jandals as they are called here. Or thongs as they are known in Aus. Or shlops as they are known in South Africa. These southern hemisphere types sure are strange, eh?). So anyway, i met up with Tee, Blake, Richard, Dickon (or Dicks as he prefers) and Gemma for our epic frisbee encounter. It was good fun. Richard, who you may remember throws a dodgeball like a girl, apparently throws most things like a girl. In fact he was so bad at times he even managed to fling his frisbee into the lake. Twice. A feat i feel is actually more difficult than it should be as the lake is no where near most of the holes. To be fair by this time the gale force gusts had hit town and quite a few of our frisbees were ending up no where near our targets.

On our way round we bumped into a crowd of the rental guys who had abandoned their game of frisbee golf and where heading to the pub (at 11.30am), mainly because Talis (the dude who helped us at dodgeball) had also managed to fling his frisbee toward the lake and in an effort to try and stop it floating away, slipped on a big rock and cracked his head. After much heartfelt and sympathetic laughter we carried on our game but craved the pub. By the time we finished neither of us needed much persuasion to head to the bar for a few cold beers. No idea who won the frisbee golf as we all lost count. It was probably a close run thing between me and Blake but at the end of it i just wanted some alcohol. So we hit the bar at lunchtime for a few drinks in the sunshine and i ended up getting home at around 2. Er, 2am that is! It seemed to be a steady stream of people from work meeting up with us as people left throughout the day so there was always someone drinking with myself, Dicks and Rich.

Dicks and I were a little tender the next day at work but nothing too bad. The great thing about the day off was getting to see spring in full bloom. The wind hurled the blossom around us as we feebly chucked our plastic discs in the sunshine. Although i was over dressed, it was so nice to feel the sun on my back. That means though that the small amount of snow on the hills is receding rapidly. We are down to the last few weeks of the season. I'm gutted that it is coming to an end really. Not just because i will miss skiing but because i will miss Q town when we go and will certainly miss all the new friends we have made. I guess this is the norm though with seasonal workers. I can see myself seeing some of the guys again in the future though. Well, i hope i do.

Wow, after all the elation of being told i could work in rentals, i got a crushing blow the other day. It seemed they cocked up all the hours in rentals and it turns out they don't actually need any extra help. So for the second time this season i got told i wasn't gonna work in rentals! It was such a shame as it was my first choice when i applied to NZSki and the rentals guys have been really welcoming. Oh well. I then heard of more hours being available as a lifty. Long story short, i am gonna start as a lifty on Monday. Well, lets not speak too soon. The head of lifts said i need to see him before i start to finalise a few things but it'll mean i can still work in the shop too. There are also some more hours coming up in the shop as Jane from the Remarks is leaving soon and the Remarks stays open a week longer than CP. Hours i might just snap up but will discuss with the other guys i work with. So fingers crossed, the lifty thing will go ahead. Especially since it is such awesome weather at the moment and the slopes are pretty quiet.

The shop has continued to be quiet so i have added to my robot that i made last week. I made a rubber band ball as big as my fist which has started everyone else off on a rubber band ball trend. We are all now walking around bouncing our balls. Mine is the biggest though as i used a whole 500g bag of god knows how many rubber bands. I'm a bit worried that it will get lost or stolen on my days off. My other project was a suit of armour i made for a teddy bear. We have a little toy box in the store with a big white teddy in it. It looks quite cute, until i put it's armour on! Then it becomes a scary muthafucka!! I've put it up on the shelf in the shop next to my robot and again, am getting some positive comments. One girl actually wanted to buy my little robot the other day. I told her to fuck off.

I worked at the Remarks today and am working there tomorrow too to get a few more hours. I really like the laid-backness of the Remarks. It's very different to CP. We had a laugh today when we got a box of goggles delivered to us which had been left in the loading bay of the warehouse overnight and had been savaged by Keas! The little bastards had pretty much eaten all the cardboard but left the goggles alone. It was another bluebird day there too and i was gutted i never took my skis with me. The best thing though about being back at the Remarks is i get to see the topless lifty from night tubing again! I can't help but smile at her everytime i see her. I doubt she knows her boobs are on my blog and are able to be viewed by millions!! Well at least by my mum (lesbian).

Our assassination game ended. I got killed by Anna in rentals who went on to be the last assassin standing. We forgot to work out a prize so she ordered us all to buy her a beer in the pub that night or she would proper assassinate us. The game was a lot of fun and other departments were jealous to not be included. So, we have commenced another game with now over 30 of us playing. It's chaos! We are all hanging out in our "safety zones" and are constantly jumping into our safety positions. You can't be killed if you adopt a Karate kid style praying mantis stance. I argued that it is technically a crane stance, having done a little kung fu but got shouted down by the others. We also added that you can be killed up to 8.30pm which means a whole 12 hours of paranoia and constantly being on tenterhooks. We can be killed anywhere too and there are no safe zones in town. My target hasn't been in all week, making it near impossible to murder her. That said, she is Gemma, my next door neighbour, so if it comes down to the deadline (i have to make my first kill by Sunday), i'll just knock on their door or abseil in through her bedroom window and sticker her. If i'm not killed first that is.

Ah man, just heard the weather report. We are due for a shitstorm of bad weather over the next few days! Damn, and there was me hoping that i could work on my tan when i start as a lifty. Being a lifty will mean i am totally exposed for potential assassination! Maybe i'll go tell them to stick their job up their arse!

Peace y'all.

D

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