NZ Ski season begins

Well Having gone to Queenstown I arrived just before the winter festival. On first impression Queenstown was very nice but before long I found that the atmosphere was not the same as Wanaka. There were a lot of people here for the Lions tour and a lot of wealthy tourists here for a short ski trip. The feel in Wanaka had been that of a relaxed alpine town with a lot of skiers here for the season. It felt homely and relaxed whereas in Queenstown it was hard to settle in as everyday I had new room mates who were backpackers just stopping for a couple of days, usually to do a bungee and get hammered. The hostels are pricier too and often have a 1 week only policy to prevent long term residents staying for the season.

I spent a day or two applying for jobs and had fairly good response. I even had an interview with Magic Memories, a company which employs photographers on the mountain to take pictures of people and sell them. Unfortunately the interview began with the chap sticking a very bad photo in front of me and telling me that I would be expected to sell crap pictures taken by colleagues and I would have to be ok with that. I wasn't and had already lined some work up to sent over from home and that was that.

My first day of skiing was at the Remarkables. I got up early and went up in the car. Skiing in New Zealand is a bit different to Europe. You basically have to drive or get a ride up the mountain everyday. Many people drive to the base and hitch up or even get a ride from town. The road to the Remarkables is pretty dangerous. It's unsealed gravel and mud which turns to snow and ice further up and there's no barrier protecting you from the sheer drop over the side. Going over the edge is pretty much game over and my first trip up was quite nervous. Once at the top though, you are pretty much at the lift. I hadn't skiied for 6 years and then only for 2 days so I started by going down the nursery slope to try things out. After a few goes I decided to try the green run and was surprised that I could still ski. It was great and the sun was shining. The snow wasn't fantastic and the runs are small compared to Europe but I was skiing and didn't care. In fact I was last off of the lift having skied for 6 hours. The drive down was worse than the drive up and there were almost a few accidents with people over taking in crazy places.

I had the next day off as the wind was high and that usually means closed lifts but was up the mountain again the following day and now felt comfortable on the road picking up a load of hitchers at the bottom to make the 45 minute journey more interesting. I had another good day and that night in the hostel I met some nice people and agreed to take a Japanese guy who spoke no English up the mountain the following morning. It was an interesting experience and Hyrado generally comunicated by pointing and going 'AAAAWWWWWGHGHHH!!!!' in the way Japanese people do with a look of stunned amazement on his face. It was a bit like being in some strange episode of 'Monkey' where monkey swaps his cloud for a snowboard. Both tired we cut the day short and picked up a couple of hitchers on the way down.

My interest in Queenstown had dwindled and I felt the need to go back to Wanaka and the friends I had made there. Hyrado was heading for Wanaka too and wanting to avoid the winter festival I decided to head back giving him a lift. Arriving back felt like arriving home and everyone was amused at my return as they all knew I would be back. I met a chap called Mike in the hostel who was doing the Rookie academy course ski instructors course with some other people I knew. He has just finished season as an instructor in Canada and was doing his next level to be an examiner. Being a Londoner we got on well and decided to make the drive to Remarkables as the snow in Wanaka wasn't up to much. Over the next 2 days I basically had free tuition all day from Mike who is one hell of a skier and my skiing went from beginner to intermediate in 2 days.

With Queenstown fully booked for the next week a decision had to be made and I decided to stay in Wanaka for the season. It would mean buying another season pass but staying in Queenstown for 3 months just wasn't something I wanted to do. A chat with a girl who worked in the hostel resulted in me moving in with her and her boyfriend who were looking for someone to share the rent in a house on the edge of town. So I began to settle in for the season which will end in early October. It has gotten off to a very slow start with pretty poor snow but to be honest it's good enough for me and there will be better snow. The fields in New Zealand are mostly in the South Island with The Remarkables and Coronet Peak near Queenstown and Cardrona and Treble Cone nearer Wanaka. Myself and Mike decided to try a local ski and gave Cardrona a try which was great. It was much better for me than The Remarkables. We met up with Sam who works at the hostel and is doing an Avalanche patrol course and had a great day but having tired legs I ended the day falling over on some mogals so we went home early and the next day had a day off to sort my place out. With poor snow a few of us had some time off and went on a fishing trip. Well Mike, Richard and Chris fished and I took pictures. It was a good way to sooth some minor aches and pains and Rich even managed to catch a rainbow trout.

The snow having been pretty bad for a few days and with bad winds closing ski lifts, Mike, Charlie (another ski instructor) and myself decided to take a look at Treble Cone before going on a walk to the Rob Roy glacier. Treble Cone is regarded as the best skiing area down here and is also where the Rookie academy do thei training so a lot of my friends are up there in the week so I bought a weekday season pass. On the way back down we came across a smoking car and lent a helping hand. That's the third car I've rescued in New Zealand! Then took the 20km drive from the base of Treble Cone, or TC as it's known, to the base of the walk. The coutry here is very cool with cows, deer and sheep wandering across the unsealed road. Getting to the base of the walk we began the steady walk to the swing bridge and we crossed onto the mountain where the going got steadily harder. Being in the shade it was pretty cold especially in the cold wind so the abundant tree cover was not only very pretty but a welcome break from the cold breeze. It took about 2 and a half hours to get to the view of Rob Roy glacier and upon arriving there was a loud cracking noise which echoed through the valley like thunder. It sounded like thunder but it was the glacier cracking and sounded amazing and quite scarey considering we were in the valley bellow and could see people entering an ice cave in the base of the valley. We carried on higher and went to a better view point where the parrot like birds called Keas hang out and bother you for food. They hang around on the ski fields too and are big green parrot like animasl with hooked beaks (http://www.doc.govt.nz/Conservation/001~Plants-and-Animals/001~Native-Animals/Kea.asp). We had a lunch while the Kea's entertained us and then began a precarious climb down a steep, dry, bouldered river bed. Reaching the path again we stood and admired the glacier one more time before heading back and as we did another loud thunderous noise of tearing ice ripped through the valley as the glacier broke and a small avalanche began. It was amazing to see and hear and we were lucky to have been there.

Having had a bit of a cold I was a bit knackered by now and I was hiking with 2 super fit ski instructors. My legs were tired and I managed to slip and hurt my knee on the way down but not badly. Apart from that though it was a successful hike and we got back in good time and before the last of the sun dipped over the mountains. That night Mike and me had fish and chips and enjoyed an open air spa. It was a good end to the day. After that a rest was in order as I was worried about my knee and health so I sat out a few days of skiing and waited for some better snow which sure enough arrived a few days later. Better late than never. People have been going stir crazy here but at last the snow is looking better. Down in town it is generally sunny, fine and warm with snow only above 500 meters or so and this makes for a nice climate and environment. I eventually started to ski Treble Cone this week and got 2 days in before my knee began to feel the strain so today went for some physiotherapy and descovered that I have bruised a ligament in the back of my knee but am still ok to ski as long as I take it easy and behave myself so I'll be back up tomorrow. The Prime Minister of New Zealand was visiting Treble Cone today so it was a good day to miss as it would be packed.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the season's skiing and don't feel like I am travelling anymore as this is much more like normal life. The urge to constantly see new sites is gone as I feel in New Zealand much of what you see is the same and a lot of it is ticking off boxes on the backpacker list of things to see. Just having my own place where I can put my keys and wallet on a table and hang my clothes up is a real relief and so relaxing. Stopping here and doing the season is much more interesting right now even if it does make for less eventful emails.

Well it's sunny outside and I should get out and anjoy it while it lasts.

Chiao,

Kaveh.