6HopScotch: 2014-01-19

What an amazing start to our ADVENTURE YEAR!!!

Well, almost....but let me start at the very beginning!!! Our first road trip in the our Honda 6-seater down to Newcastle, put the concept of a spacious car, back on the discussion list. Arno's smile could not get any bigger!! The six of us, ski gear for a week, plus roof box with ski's snowboard, and sledges, extra sleeping bags and mats...and all the food and other paraphernalia.... Well, he got it in and my strength was not even required to hang on the handle of the roof box to get the lid secured. Ha! Win-win!

Even though Arno joked about our romantic anniversary overnight cruse (we took the DFDS ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam, some people(me) are not that happy about being tossed about on the open seas... Praise God that the children are all 'great sailors', just like their dad!! In spite of the queezyness, it was an fantastic different experience to be celebrating our 15^th anniversary in a boat!! We had a pic-nick on the floor in our 5-berth cabin and watch a pirate animation movie...all very appropriate!!

By 10am we were in Holland and the day in the car was spent breathing in great German and Swiss scenery. Loved it!! Destination Bern. Here we spent the night with my Swiss-South African cousin and the kids had their first culinary experience: Swiss style raclette:boiled potato, chopped up on your plate, while you are doing this the Gruyere cheese is melting on a scoop underneath a hot plate,nice melted, you pour it over your potatoes, pickles, black pepper...walla

We were surprised about the high temperatures we were experiencing and the fact that we did not see snow ANYWHERE. On our way up into the mountains we were delighted to witness the rain....because that held the promise of snow on the higher grounds. Entering Chatel, Portes de Soleil, French Alps, we still had not seen any snow falling. At least, here, snow was lying beside the roads.

Excitement knew no bounds!!! We waited in a little cafe beside the chalet for our South African friends, Bowman family of 4, to arrive AND then it happened: it started snowing!!!!!!! We just love the white stuff (as you by now might have gathered!!!)

The comfortable chalet sleeps 7 in 4 bedrooms with the added bonuses of:

View from our chalet

a wood burning stove,
above the Twinner ski-shop(where occupants get a 10% discount on rental and gear)
across form the Linga ski-lift
across the local french ski-school
with free ski-bus to pic you up at the front door (or nearly)
oh, and do't forget our own sledging slope at the side of the chalet!!

So with al 4 bairns booked into ski-school we thought we would have wonderful mornings criss-crossing the valleys...well they thought it will be kind to book the older and younger ones at different times, so hey ho....we made the best of it! An added bonus was that we skied with Thomas(8) and Alana(10) every morning and had the great opportunity to witness their improvement from morning to afternoon!! What a privilege. I can say that they are confident red-run skiers now!! They can ski where ever I can ski and that will be great for our next time on the snow. We've made our investment in the ski-schools, I think it's time to go solo!!

Philippa progressed so well too.On our last afternoon I managed to take her up on a button lift, and she can be trusted to do nice turns and control her speed. The best of all was, that she was the last one of the family to get off the piste...she just wanted to do it 'one more time'!!!

Nina...well, she is comfortable on ski's, and she know about 'pizza' and snowplough, but the reality is that she just want to go fast down the hill and then just put her trust in somebody else's ability to get hold of her and prevent her from crashing out BIG STYLE!!! What I can say is, that she can grab a rope-pull(and INSISTS on doing it on her OWN) and managed most of the times to get herself to the top of the nursery slope without causing a rescue mission!!!!

We were just counting our blessings. First day on fresh powder snow (any boarder's dream) and no further rain for the whole of the 6 days we were on the slopes. We had glorious sunny days, sometimes, with temperatures in double digits on the sunny sides.

My parents, who were travelling in France at the same time, had accommodation in the next valley and they came round one afternoon for a visit and a wee peek into a skier's life. Dad found the sitting-outside-the-cafe-and-watch-the-display a bit cold, but nothing that a nice cuppa hot chocolate and a glass of gluwein could not fix!! We even exposed them to the crowded ski-bus filled with ski's and boards and poles and covered-up people and sledges and bags and heavy boots and.....where is Nina??....!! You can just imagine it.....Well, it's all part of the experience!!

We were sad to greet our lovely Chatel ('t was the 3^rd time we've come to this beautiful quaint little alpine village) and promised her that she will see us again. She's been such a blessing to us!! We also thank the Darwish family for sharing their great chalet with us.

With our friends - Nigel, Aneleh, Ane(3) and Lian(2) - with Linga-lift behind us. (Loaded Honda FR-V on right hand side!)

We enjoyed another day witnessing spectacular scenery driving through Switzerland and France in reaching our final overnight destination in Dunkirk, northern French coast. Our main aim was to visit the Dunkirk Community Cemetery. Here lie many brave men, some unknown to us, but known to God, who has chosen to exchanged their lives during WWI and WWII for our safety...even today.We wanted to share this monument to our future, with our children.

If you are interested you will find the historic account of Operation Dynamo here:

The sailing from Dunkirk to Dover was more Marilie-style!! Just 2 hours and tiny waves!!

Every time I see it, I just marvel at God's creation: the White Cliffs of Dover. What a welcome sight it must've been to the little boats returning form the rescue mission all the way back in 1940....