Another very, very, very, early morning
All of us minus Gavin and Jane left the hotel to catch the 5.30am train to make sure that we got to the airport on time for our plane to the snow

We had booked and paid for the tickets before we left (see here) so we had vouchers and no idea what to do with them
Found some nice JAL staff at the SMILE counter and got our boarding passes and checked in ... phew!

The Plane and The Mountain
two photos

After walking through security we came face to face with an amazing view of Mountt Fuji which of course meant more photos

While checking the departures board we noticed that lots of flights were cancelled due to snow and that some had even been marked 'may return' so even though it had taken off and was on its way, it still might come back
Our fingers were crossed it didn’t happen to us ... and it didn't !!

Errol and Tanya on the Plane one photo

Mount Fuji from the Aircraft four photos

Anyway, we took off to more great views of Mountt Fuji and some amazing scenery on the way up to Obihiro
(click here for more information)

When we landed the pilot announced a ground temperature of -17 degreesC Holy crap ...... that is freaking cold !!

While waiting for our luggage I could see a man standing outside the collection area with a sign that said "Club Med"
(click here for more information on Tanya's site plus a link to their Home Page)
We were all very excited and raced out
We were taken to the bus and the first step outside was certainly a shock ... the cold took our breath away !!

The bus ride to Club Med took about an hour and a half through some beautiful scenery
We were all surprised at the amount of open spaces

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We got to Club Med and there was quite a number of staff out front singing and dancing to some very loud music to welcome us
It was kind of crazy
After a quick lesson on the way Club Med worked we were taken to our rooms where our bags had magically appeared

Tanya and the view from the room
one photo

Errol and I got to our room and the curtains were open ... the view was quite amazing !!

Tanya and Errol one photo

Tanya one photo

Errol one photo

We went straight down to the bar to meet everyone else and on the way down there I noticed it was snowing
Errol had never seen snow before the trip and had certainly never stood in the snow so we pretty much just ran outside ... dressed quite inappropriately for -17 degrees but it was fun!

We have arrived !!
one photo

I also hit the bar for what was the first of many margheritas over the next five days ...

We went to lunch and that was our first insight into what we could expect at this place ... food, food, food, as far as the eye could see

The Head Chef, Ravin, came over and invited us to a sushi demonstration that afternoon and Michelle and I said that we would go

After lunch Errol and I got fitting for our snow gear ... after much deliberation I decided to snowboard
We placed the boards in the ski room

Tanya .. Errol one photo

Tanya .. Errol ... Erin one photo

Tanya .. Erin two photos

Trevor, Erin, Me and Errol then went upstairs and put on our ski clothes and ski boots and then we headed out the back of the resort and ran around and tackled each other and basically played silly buggers in the snow ... fun, fun, fun !!
Yes, Mum, I made another snow angel

Norio the Sushi Chef one photo

Awesome Decorative Sushi three photos

Tanya enjoying it !! one photo

Then it was time for Michelle and I to head to the restaurant for the sushi demo
I am so glad we went
Norio the Sushi Chef was great
He made a few things in front of us but when he brought out the decorative sushi and sliced the rolls we were blown away
I would have loved to have seen how he made it but I bet it would have taken a while so I was quite happy to just be the taste tester

Then it was back to the bar for another drink before some ice skating

Errol and Tanya ready to go one photo

Tanya on the rink three photos

Michelle one photo

The rink was right outside the restaurant
I hadn’t done it since I was in the UK
It was fun and I only fell over once !!
Errol and Michelle were both pretty funny ... poor Errol’s feet we too big for the biggest skates so he struggled around for one lap before giving into the pain and heading back to the bar
Erin was great and blew us all away

I also had to book Michelle, Errol and I in for our beginners snowboard lessons

Errol and Tanya ... and a Fire !! three photos

The Restaurant one photo

Then it was time for dinner and more drinks
The food was amazing ... pretty much everything you could think of
There was a beer machine in the restaurant as well as a wine fridge from which you could pour yourself a glass or just take the bottle back to the table

After dinner and another drink at the bar I went and used the 'onsen' for the first time
(click here for more information)
It was nice and I was on my own in there
I had to get naked and wash myself with soap and water and then we could get in the hot bath ... it was so beautiful and relaxing and then I switched in between that hot bath and the cold bath a number of times before heading back to our room

Lights outside the room
two photos

I went to bed and I slept for nine hours straight ... the most I've had in my trip so far and it was heavenly .