We arrived into Calgary and to our hotel at close to midnight, but were still greeted by a super kind manager who offered us cookies, cold water, and all sorts of advice to aid us in the errands we needed to complete the next day. Lucas said “Wow, Canadians are so friendly” multiple times in the first 24 hours and we all felt very welcomed!
In the morning, Logan headed out via bus, train, train to collect our next Turo vehicle – this time our rental satisfied our practical needs of winter tyres, a good heater and a roof box. Meanwhile the kids made use of the hotel pool whilst I got all the washing done. It was also a day to stock up on food and essentials as we knew we’d need to be pretty self-sufficient where we were going.
Whilst there was some snow on the ground in Calgary, we’d been told that it was the warmest December for 140 years and the ski season was off to a pretty shaky start. Unperturbed, we carried on with our plans and drove 244km south to Castle Mountain. We arrived in the dark but could see that there had been minimal snowfall – but also that it was a very pretty area.
We chose Castle Mountain as our first place to ski as our Mt Ruapehu Life/Season passes are part of “Powder Alliance”, allowing us free skiing at partner ski fields (of course there are rules and exclusions – particularly at this time of the year). So, as we had nothing to lose, we went skiing!
The staff were apologetic about the lack of snow, but we didn’t care – the snow that was there was lovely, the open runs were super fun, and the scenery was spectacular! Logan kept telling the lifties not to worry because it was going to snow overnight and they laughed him off…but you should have seen their grins when we woke up to 18cm of new snow on Saturday morning!
18cm of fresh, soft, beautiful POWDER! Wow! It was certainly a lot less than they would usually have at this time of the year, but for these Kiwi skiers, we were buzzing! SO MUCH FUN!
There was no new snow on Sunday (Christmas Eve), but the sun was shining and more lifts and runs had opened up on the mountain. Lucas gave Zara a bunch of tips to improve her skiing the day before, so she was really flying! We’ve officially reached the point where both Lucas and Zara are faster than me now – I’m so thrilled that skiing will always be natural for them and I have made peace with tootling along behind with nothing to prove to anyone. Zara was stoked to be elevated to “go and have a blat with Dad and Lucas” status and declared it as some of her best ski runs ever!
When we got in from skiing, we found this note stuck on our door:
A little while later, Pearl arrived with a crockpot of delicious food, and all the makings of a lovely Christmas dinner, including a mini Christmas tree! Pearl is the sweetest woman who used to own the place we were staying – we had met her the day before when she was dropping off Christmas treats to the staff here (still taking care of them, even though they are no longer her staff). We were blown away by her kindness!
Before bed, Zara arranged a “Santa table”, leaving a note and a mint oreo for Santa and a carrot for the reindeer.
Christmas morning dawned a beautiful day and Santa, true to form, had found the kids despite being a long way from home. Thankfully Santa is a practical bloke so whilst he left a few treats (some beautifully hand-made poi to play and practise with along our journey and a Hershey’s chocolate bar), he also left a comment on our blog saying that his gift this year is for the kids to choose to DO something fun as a family somewhere along the way.
Later on as we were leaving our accommodation to check out the Christmas Day scene at Castle Mountain, we were met by a Kiwi accent asking us if we were the family of Kiwis with no Christmas Day plans! Before we knew it, we were invited for Christmas dinner with this wonderful family – two generations of Kiwi women married to Canadian men and their 2 boys aged 10 and 12. As well as that, Lucas and Zara were delighted to ski a few runs with some other kids. Pearl’s food became a yummy lunch, which we munched on in the sun as we called out Christmas greetings to people we’ve met during our stay here. It is easy to see why families return to Castle Mountain as it is such a lovely community. Whilst it would be amazing to be here when there is armpit-deep powder, we have loved the quiet pace and no lift lines!
Christmas dinner with Vicky, Dennis, Alan, Tish, Rob, Chase and Ryder was so fabulous – delicious food, Dennis’s special “Christmas Drink”, NZ wine, eggnog, Christmas crackers, sharing of stories, games, and pavlova decorated with cream, huckleberries, strawberries and white chocolate for dessert! Amazing! We didn’t take any photos but it will be a Christmas dinner to remember!
We are so grateful for the kindness shown by the folks of Castle Mountain and feel a little bit sad to be moving on.
What an amazing Christmas. You attract such kindness and generosity.
It was fun sharing dinner with you all too! Hope you had a good drive to Cranbrook and found some exciting things to see along the way.
Sounds like you guys are having an awesome time!!
Wonderful to have a quick chat this morning Keryn from central New York at sunset!
Have just spent time reading your travel blog and checking out your amazing photos & videos ! The kindnesses of strangers, the Canadians and now friends has been great ( You may have to consider setting up a homestay to accomodate them when they venture South).
I marvel at all your skiing confidence and enjoyment of snow and ice. Safe Travels
For me it’s good to be home – such an amazing family holiday so far away. Pity about the jet lag!!❣️MVGxxxx