Our 2nd day at Cordrona Ski resort was made better before we even left as Hes and Emma surprised us on arrival. They had woken up at 5am before everyone else and booked on to the ski bus. With Tes, Carly and Arias also joining us our kiwi ex group were skiing in force.
It just so happens that one of our new best friends we have met over the last week, Johannes, is a ski instructor and out of the goodnes of his heart he gave us both an hour long private lesson to kick of the day. He was awesome and in particular gave Char the confidence and technique to be able to have an awesome day skiing with everyone. Anyone who has skied before will know that the first lift experience is hard and usually ends with you in a pile on the floor. Matt knew the outcome so tried to give Char a wide berth on the first lift exit but at the last second we caught skis, resulting in a pile up. The afternoon was spent by tricking Char into attempting the intermediate slopes. With Char in at the deep end she managed to get down all the intermediate slopes to see the full resort. Matt ended up skiing with Arias and Holly down the advanced runs just managing to hold it together. We met the full kiwi ex gang for lunch at captains cafe in the middle of the valley then Char went solo for the afternoon on the blue runs. With Char's navigation skills this was a bad idea. By taking a wrong turn Char got into trouble but using her common sense, followed the ski school that was full of young children. What could go wrong by following a group of young children? Turns out they were practicing the advanced slopes. Doing her best she slowing snaked down the piste. When things became tough she slowed down and turned uphill however this resulted in a backwards downhill ski. Of course she didn't pull it off causing a self inflicted wipeout. Her argument was that nobody had taught her what to do when you end up backwards down a steep hill. Matt wished he had been there to witness the comedy. Once we had split up Matt went skiing with Hes Emma and Tess. Getting very over confident at this point, Matt had a huge wipeout. Some of the guys said he was so covered in snow that they thought he had disappeared. It must of looked tragic as a guy came over to check he was ok and handed Matt his skis and poles which had being left in the wake of his tumble. We can truly say we made the most of the ski pass today, making up for yesterday's disappointment.
Most of the hostels we have stayed in lately are dry. This means that there is no alcohol allowed on the premises. As backpackers on a budget this is a huge problem. It's easy to get the booze in but random room checks make it hard to actually consume. However the risk of getting the contraband confiscated doesn't stop the competition of who can have the biggest room party without getting caught. Tonight the group excelled. We rigged up temporary surveillance out side the room using the go pro and an iPad to check for any lurking staff. Such an operation was needed due to the 20 plus people we had in the room. It was said that you could hear it on the floor above. After the pre gaming or prinking, whatever you prefer, the English amongst us were craving a steady night sat in a pub by a warm log fire. An environment that is readily available in Queenstown. This sparked the pub not club campaign. We made a compromise to go to both in the end thinking that most people would be too wasted to get into the club anyway. It turns out most people were too drunk to even get into the pub. Those of us who eventually made it to Locos, an over rated house club, left immediately after entry. Still in search of the elusive, quirky Queenstown nightlife the remainder of the group (Me, Char, Holly and Johannes) found an awesome bar complete with rock trio playing blues. The night suddenly took a drastic turn for the better. On return to the hostel a visit to devil burger (rival to Fergburger) was perfect where we ate curry cheesy chips. A fascinating taste sensation.
M & C xxxx