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This blog ends at the start in that we've travelled a full circle in the last 2 weeks. We picked up Maeve from the airport in Christchurch and drove in our "super saver" rental car to Methven for some skiing. On Friday the conditions on Mount Hutt were glorious with good snow, blue skies and spectacular views over the Canterbury plains out to the South Pacific Ocean.We were also feeling very pleased with ourselves having found the best hostel since we began our travels 14 months ago.It was spotless, had a log fire, free espresso, internet and a spa pool.Peter, Louise, Haley and Nigel were due to drive up from Christchurch on Saturday morning to join us for a weekend of fun.
Unfortunately the plans were shattered after Peter phoned on Saturday morning to tell us Mt Hutt was shut! So we slowly got a plan and the 3 of us left our hire gear back and drove 3 hours down the road (as you do) to Mt Lyford.With only 3 km to go to reach the ski area we were hit by more bad luck….snow on the access road and with no chains available our 2 wheel drive "super saver" was not permitted to go any further.We were stranded!Meanwhile Peter, Louise, Nigel and Hayley were enjoying their skiing up the mountain (with no phone signal to hear our pleas). Finally Brian's enthusiastic hitch hiking paid off and we made it.Skiing in this private ski area was an experience, generally the mountain is not groomed and they have 'Nut cracker' tow ropes, you wear a harness and after grabbing the toe and getting up to speed you loop over your nut cracker and hold on, it's hard work and poor Louise nearly lost her hand!
After a fun weekend we said our goodbyes to Peter, Louise, Hayley and Nigel we headed back to Mt Hutt once again. When we arrived back to the hostel the owner, Emma, filled us in that when we had returned our hire gear on the Saturday morning, we had in fact given in one pair of hire skis belonging to the Korean ski team!So on the Saturday morning a distraught Korean girl, also called Kim, was running around the hostel shouting that someone had stolen her skis.Opps!
Next on our ski safari was a trip to Queenstown, so we picked up Rachel (Kim's colleague from her work in Sydney) and flew down. The city itself is small and surrounded by mountains and Lake Wakatipu. The view from the plane and up on the slopes were amazing. We spent 5 days here skiing in The Remarkables and Cordrona. The latter being the best, lots of long open runs and a snow board park which was hosting a freestyle and half pipe competition. Which was great to see and made us realize we've got a long way to go, especially with my slow motion wipe out on a rail and Kim's ability to wipe out people when she's stationary (check out Rachel's face plant pic for evidence of this).
Highlights from Queenstown other than the skiing were the 'Fergburger '(the best burger in the world). I'd heard the hype and our taste buds have confirmed this amazing feast. Sorry Maeve and Rachel, but Kim and I went back for seconds when you left. We also managed to meet up with Belinda who works at Specsavers, we went out for a pot of tea. Great night.
Some of the bars, Winnies (the roof opens, much to Kim's dismay "they're letting all the heat out"), The World (cocktails in Teapots: dangerous, I do love my tea). The Boiler Room (free view into the Ice Bar: to pretend you were there), Buffalos (a great fire and free monkey nuts!). The list goes on. Needless to say we had to drag ourselves away.
We made our getaway from Queenstown in a Thrifty relocation car. The deal is to move it from A to B and all you pay is the petrol. So we were hoping for an economical car, but we got a 4WD Toyota Bus. Nice car though, and we tried it out taking it to Mt Cook (highest in NZ) and up to Mt Hutt for one last ski. Once again the conditions were great but when we arrived we were perplex why everyone was standing in the car park rather than on the slopes. We had just missed an avalanche after a snow dump overnight of about 1m.Luckily no one was injured and we got on the slopes to enjoy some fresh powder.
So now we are back in Christchurch airport waiting for Phillippa and Laura to arrive in from Wellington, we plan to have a day of fun with them before heading up the coast, in another relocation car.We will be with Peter and Louise in Wellington tomorrow. The plan there is to settle for a little while and find some work to let the bank balance recuperate after our 2 week snow safari!
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