• Skiing

Back up to the Remarkables today - drive up again... This is the freakiest drive, especially with a speed limit of 50 (while there's no way it would be safe, the poor little car had the accelerator flat to the floor and still couldn't get much past 40 on the "straits").

There was 12cm fresh snow overnight, while making the driving up harder, made the experience while on the maintain amazing. For a few hours of the day, the mountain was covered in cloud and frozen fog which was weird.

I (Luke) tried out the higher slopes first thing - not well sign posted for a beginner, so just followed a young guy, ended up going down the difficult slope... and hadn't yet had the less on going down the beginner slope - ended up falling over a LOT... After a few more goes on the beginner, had a lesson which ended up being private as no one else was in the same class. Found out what I was doing wrong - so then the rest of the day could go SKIING without falling... to much...! - This is one of the best things I have done, SO GLAD WE CAME EARLY. Went up to the higher slopes, where there was also a beginner track - but made the same error again (really tried to go the right way, but with no sign posting and everything white, it's hard to know where to go), ended up coming down the mountain face VERY STEEP & really tumbled down... Once I found out where the beginner tracks were I was ok (only fell off a few small cliffs - as irt was all white and a bit blizzardy, so couldn't always see what was coming up - managed to miss the big cliffs).

Rachel spend much of the day at the Ski centre, and in the afternoon decided to try out skiing for a while - ended up making a snow man… But did enjoy herself.

Went for an incredible walk in the evening - along the river from the front of the hotel into Queenstown - GREAT VIEW the whole way - had dinner in town (some very populate hamburger place) and ate on the foreshaw. Walked back to hotel at dusk and just got back before night fall.