Mt Buller Day Trip Part 3

Food for thought: If you intend to procrastinate, can you first procrastinate in procrastinating?


Continued from Part 2...


Before the trip, I was asking my friends about the cost of a ski trip, namely, the equipment rental. According to them, it is cheaper to rent from the foot of Mt Buller and bring it up there than to get it when we're up there. But it all depends on the organisers and I was quite sure that we were gonna rent the equipment at the top.


But as I woke up from my beauty sleep, we found ourselves at exactly where my friend said to rent the equipment!

First of all, it was already cheaper to rent there than at the top. In addition, as tertiary students we are offered a special discount. And on top of all that, we got an additional discount for riding their bus! How nice!

Despite the price cut, the equipment rental and ski lift pass wasn't all that cheap.

$39 - Skis, Boots & Poles
$9 - Goggles
$15 - Gloves
$18 - Pants
$77 - Lift pass & Beginners Lesson

Total = $167 (+$50 for transport & entry)

As you can see, the amount I paid for this DAY TRIP was a lot!! Even when we tried to get there as early as possible, every scheduled event was about half an hour late.

The bus was scheduled to leave at 6am, but it only left Monash Caulfield at 6.30am.

We were given 30minutes to get our equipment and lift pass, but it took us an hour.

Which meant that we reached Mt Buller about an hour later than scheduled. And this means 1 hour less to learn how to ski!!

After getting all the equipment, we reached Mt Buller at about 12pm and was set to leave at 4pm! ONLY 4 HOURS to get up there and ski!! Wtf...

As everyone took their bags of equipment and took off, I took mine and started changing into them. So did Jacky, my ski-mate. That's because her friends opted for the toboggan instead of skiing.

At first, we were suffering because the boots weigh at least 3kg each and it was too bulky to walk conveniently. But as Jacky got used to it, my legs were still killing me and I had to loosen the buckles or my legs would literally die.

We were short of time, so we quickly boarded the free shuttle bus to the skiing area. But after the 10-minute bus ride, Jacky forgot that she left our lift passes on the bus! So we had to make another journey back to the bus to get them, which further reduced our time for skiing.

Lucky for us, the bus driver was still there and he was nice enough to unlock the bus for her to get the passes. So there goes another 30minutes or so for getting the passes. When we got back up, we went to pancake parlor to meet with the rest. Apparently they were having some lunch.

Then, we all went to the ski lift area. For some reason, we got separated and I needed someone to look after my bag. So I was looking for Ching Yoong and gang while Jacky was waiting for me.

Before I found them, I saw lockers! So I quickly stepped into the long queue to rent a locker. I was already short on money and renting the locker would render me financially disabled. To make matters worse, the locker I rented was broken! So they returned my money and suggested a few other places for lockers.

By that time, Jacky had already left on the lift since there wasn't much time for her as well.

So I hurried back up to the ski lift area and tried to put on my skis. It didn't fit! It was then that I realised everything in my bag was of smaller size! Which meant that previously, I told them to label the wrong bag!! X_X

At first, the skis could be easily adjusted to fit, but the boots were so tight, that my feet would die if I buckled it up. So I rented a walking boots and intended to just play with the snow since I was up here.

But Ching Yoong and gang had already left via shuttle bus back down! So after renting the boots for 15minutes, I returned it and even the employee felt sad for me.

By that time, it was already 3pm and I gave up on skiing. I wore the killer boots again and carried the skis back down to the bus.

Surprisingly, I didn't feel all that sad when I thought about how I spent $200+ and didn't get to ski. Maybe it's one of my mental defence mechanisms that prevent me from being overly sad. Or I was too sad that my emotions were numb.

Whichever it was, I still had a good time with the gang. They were funny and quite open-minded lol.

Lesson learnt: The next time I go skiiing, I'd make sure that I secure my own equipment personally and also the trip would also be at least 3 days. =)

At least now I cannot say that I've haven't seen snow before. But I just didn't get the chance to play with it, or on it for that matter.

Overall, the ski trip was a mess. But as Jacky would say, "it's a nice story to tell".

And there ya go, the story of my failed ski trip.


But to me, it wasn't a complete failure...

Coz I would say "what matters is not the activity, but the company" and the trip wouldn't be as much fun without them. =)


***I couldn't get in touch with Jacky and that's why this post was delayed and still without any photos.***