The over-riding feeling was happy exhaustion when we left Cardrona. We'd had two beaut days in the sun and made the absolute most of our time in the snow.

Day 1 was Cross-country skiing up at Snow farm on Pisa range. Mrs Roberts chatted to old friends, the Lee's, who established Snowfarm and Cardrona in the 70's. She met these guys when they would billet our Waitaki Girls' cross-country ski proteges back in the day. In the half hour before the lesson, the girls had basically got the hang of double-poling, striding, pizza-ing uphill, and going back downhill FAST. Instructor Jonah gave us the green light to take the girls out to Meadow hut which is a real highlight (a challenge for some!) We made it back to base just before the heavens opened with a snow flurry.

The girls had no problem going to sleep after a big labour-intensive day on the slopes and this was followed by a 5.30am start for downhill skiing at Cardrona. Covid-19 has meant a lot more precautions are in place to deal with social distancing which does mean you need to allow more time.

The overall winner of the weekend was downhill skiing. The kids had a cracker time on the snow and all were off the learners slope and up the McDougall's chairlift by lunchtime. There were a couple close calls - particularly for the fences - which Laura Dunshea was dealing to at every opportunity.

Both fields were really busy - with NZers enjoying what our gorgeous and diverse country has to offer. It was also fantastic stumbling upon ex- Waitaki students at both fields and they were happy to chip in with ski tips too.

Many thanks to the PE team, John Hamilton for his help and skills, and the girls for being such a positive and resilient bunch.