Hey everyone, well we switched surfboards and sand to snowboards and snow in a matter of a days drive.We left Gisborne on the 14th, only to find that the main route out of town was closed due to severe weather conditions. Fortunately the road reopened in the afternoon, we could see why it was shut, trees were hanging over the roads and muddy rock slides had cut the road down to one lane.It was along drive but finally we reached Ohakune, The Carrot Capital, although we weren't there to munch carrots. We met Tereza, a friend from uni, that evening and parked up on the driveway. She has spent her winter here working in a rental shop/climbing wall and going boarding whenever the weather would allow.Ohakune is the town based at the foot of the Turoa ski field on Mt Ruapehu, the skiable volcano. We had thought it would be a good place to base ourselves to enable us to walk the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, however as the ski season is still in flow it also means there is still a bit too much snow covering the mountain for us to cross.Drinking coffee in a cafe we weighed up the option of going boarding for the day, it would be perfect weather for it the next day and really fun, but as always with this sport its really expensive. As the clouds had been covering the mountain since we arrived, Emma thought a bit of visual enticement would surely make the decision. As we drove up Mt Ruapehu appeared, it looked incredible, ‘thats it we are going’.Back in Gisborne we had already bought new gear, as we got a really good deal off the price, and something just felt like we might need it. SLR the shop where Tereza works has the best value for hiring and we were soon suited and booted and ready to go, just had to wait till the next day now. Em got a pair of skis, whilst I went for a board, of course.The pistes are actually 17km drive away, you can jump on a shuttle or hitch but we stuck with our wee camper and piled in, excited for an unexpected day on the slopes. With Tereza knowing her way around the mountain we were soon on one lift, then taking another ‘The Express’ which takes you to the top of the slopes, before we knew it we were stood at the highest point on the pistes ready to tackle New Zealand snow. I must mention that emma has only skied for a week 3 years ago and it was a good year or so when I last hit the slopes, and here we were at the top.What an awesome day finding our feet and edges, starting at the top had been the best option as you don’t have anything to work up too, and with less crowds and more space it was more fun. We stuck together for the morning, briefly popping back to the camper for some lunch. In the afternoon I got an opportunity I couldn’t resist. We met up with Tereza and her boarding buddies who were about to take the 45min trek beyond the ski field to the summit of Mt Ruapehu for some off piste powder action, no wasn’t an option. Emma stuck to the safety of the slopes whilst we tackled the step accent up to the 2797m summit. We finally reached the summit, I was told I had chosen the perfect day and was lucky to be there, as most of the people doing a whole season hadn’t even had the chance before.The summit is spectacular, standing on top you can look directly into the steaming Crater Lake. After catching our breath we were soon taking the steep drop into the centre of the volcano. We floated our way down into the volcano towards Crater Lake, eventually having to resort back to foot to climb back out again. Back on the crest we strapped back into our boards and took the long powder traversing back across the Volcano towards the slopes, by which point we had the entire mountain to ourselves as the lifts had now shut. We made the most of the ride back down dropping into gullies and popping over jumps, the terrain of the mountain is just superb and packed with features, a lot different than alpine slopes. Eventually we arrived back at the base to be greeted by Emma who had managed to fit in a handful of runs, only falling over once on the last run.We spent the next few days exploring the region, tackling a few of the local treks and joining some of the locals for evening entertainment. We left Ohakune today to revisit the coast in Wanganui to meet a familiar face.Lots of love Lee & Em