Spring time down South

Wah! Two weeks left! I currently have very mixed feelings about saying goodbyes, coming ‘home’ and excited to see friends and family (and Marmite, our gorgeous flat coat!) – always on an emotional rollercoaster!

Since I last posted, before spring arrived in full glory, we had a final dump of snow. I was quite shocked and amused at the chaos this induced. The biggest dump of the season made for slow moving traffic up the mountain (NZ doesn’t do snow tyres and chains are compulsory – when we went to TC, chains were still insisted upon when the snow had melted. Bonkers! Such a contrast to Japan and the infrastructure in place to deal with the vast quantities of snow) and with high wind putting the lifts on hold, I decided to chill at home on my day off. Especially having made the most of the pre-dump the day before, which although had been dust on crust, it was quiet and a lot of fun.

The snow even made it to Queenstown, which I actually found much more exciting and enjoyed seeing it look so pretty and white. I am glad I witnessed this at least once over the winter.

Some of us spent our day off hiking up the Routeburn trail to the flats hut. I really was walking with a bunch of Jerry’s (“an individual who exhibits a true lack of understanding for their sport, or for life in general” AKA a “gaper.”) as they fell into the river…

I’ve taken to walking into town to get the bus to work, enjoying the sunrises and longer spring days.

I’ve made it up Queenstown Hill at sunset. It was very pretty, but I did rush up and down, so I’ll be going up there again and to explore more.

Spring, even summer, is in the air with very warm temperatures (15ºC yesterday at the Meadows chairlift! A client asked “how cold is it today?” errr…) and nearly the entire Coronet Peak staff have been rocking their coolest sunnies, slathering on the sunscreen and swanning about in t-shirts. The tan lines are all too cool.

The skiing has been fun, cruising around on spring snow. Coronet Peak is an awesome mountain with lots of terrain – it’s a shame there hasn’t been all that much snow over the season.

Frisbee golf has become a popular post work/day off spring time activity, along with a BBQ and some beers on the ‘beach’ by the lake. I can’t say I’ve particularly participated wholeheartedly as my shoulder made 9 holes before I decided it just wasn’t going to function.

We’ve had some delightful rainy days, too. I actually didn’t mind it too much, especially when there were pretty rainbows to photograph.

Yesterday we took a trip on the Earnslaw Steam Boat across Lake Wakatipu to have a buffet lunch. A gorgeous day with some gorgeous food. I said they should have weighed us before the outward boat ride and again on the return. I’m sure the boat was at more risk of sinking.

After a week of indecisiveness from the powers of above at NZSki, we are staying open until the 2nd October. I did extend my contract, and although work is quiet, it has been great working with a smaller team and having plenty of time to go and ski the spring snow, which isn’t half bad. I’ve really loved the work that I’ve had this winter and thoroughly enjoyed teaching such a variety of clients. I’ve decided though to finish on Sunday and make the most of my last 10 days and have a crack at my mini-bucket list:

1. Go back up Queenstown Hill
2. Milford Sound
3. Ohau to see Eri & Nate
4. Eat at Fat Badgers (their pizzas are apparently enormous and very good!)
5. To be honest, I’ll no doubt have a final visit to some of my favourite eating spots.
6. Climb Ben Lomond
7. Funds permitting – The Canyon Swing.

 

I’m sure I’ll end up doing some other things – suggestions welcome, and company!