A love-affair with snowboarding sees me return to it this June.

November 2004, age 17:
I graduated from highschool/Year 12. Didn't go to uni; worked full-time instead.

June 2005, age 17:
Took a road-trip with then-boyfriend-now-fiance, let's call him J. We drove to another state (itself taking 3 days, 2 nights), to work and snowboard/ski for as long as we could. We slept in the back of a Landcruiser in a caravan park, cuddled every night, enjoyed the longest time we'd ever spent together successively. In the end, we stayed for a month, heading home due to lack of money. But while we were there, I fell because of and in love with snowboarding. Rental gear got me on the mountain, though I found some Burton boots in a store that fit me like a dream, and a Burton snowboard that oozed style, good looks and amazing abilities. Lack of funds stopped me from getting the boots, and lack of funds and skill stopped me from getting the board. All in all, the trip caused me some physical pain - I didn't know how to snowboard, but learned the hard way - and a lot of good times, which I will never regret.

January 2006, age 18:
J went overseas, to Canada *envious*. He snowboarded for about 5 weeks, and brought back a sexy sexy snowboard and a set of bindings for me. (I paid, o'course.)

July 2006, age 18:
J proposed to me . I accepted.

February 2007, age 19:
J and I took a 2 week holiday to Niseko, Japan. Wow, what a wonderful time! It seemed to last forever, but just the right amount of forever. The price was great, the snow was better than I'd had in Australia ('05), and I had all my own gear, finally! Things fit! My board was lovely! Oh, wait. My boots were crap; they didn't fit properly, they were a last-minute buy out of desperation for something that I could use. They 'didn't fit' so badly that some of the rubber on the sides was cut/shaved off in an effort to make them fit in my bindings. (Unsuccessful.) This caused my set-up to be unresponsive, and so I didn't have full self-confidence when boarding. But, well, can't complain too much. I learned my lesson - get boots that fit! Ones made by the same brand as the bindings!

March 2008, age 20:
J and I discussed the idea of going to the snow again in late June. Hmmm, seems feasible; a week for just under $1,000. I'm willing to shell that out in order to go snowboarding again. Of course, I can't go with the crappy boots I used in Japan.
One trip to a store in the city later... I'm pleased to present my wonderful new boots:
Burton Sapphire (the black and red ones).
They're responsive, decently priced, and the colours will go well with my pants and jacket. And, they will fit in my bindings!

Woo!

<3



G.