sf 2 oz

One of the first things we planned after arriving in Australia was a ski holiday to New Zealand. Skiing in August in the Southern Hemisphere was something we just couldn't pass up..  I booked the trip after some internet research and a few hours with a Lonely Planet guide, so I was pleased that everything turned out great! Well, everything but the snow conditions. It had been several weeks since the South Island had seen snow, so we had spring conditions for 3 of 4 ski days. The last day we enjoyed powder as it snowed about 20 cm. the night before.

For those interested in the play by play summary, read on.

We flew Air New Zealand direct to Queenstown, which was so worth it. Going via Christchurch would have added a lot of extra driving to an already short trip. After 3 hours and a hot meal on the plane (which I don't think I've had on a short flight since I was 12 or so), we descended upon the South Island and the scenery from the plane was incredible..seemingly endless snow topped mountain ranges, fiords and lakes. After arriving we picked up our rental car from Nationwide, which was a groovy hot blue 4WD Suburu. It turned out to be a perfect car for the trip.

We then headed into Queenstown and checked into Browns Boutique Hotel, a really cute B&B on the edge of town that I had discovered on Trip Advisor. After we got our rental gear squared away, we had a fun night having drinks at the Bunker and pizza at the Cow, a popular eatery in an old stone milking shed from the 1800's. The next day we skied at Coronet Peak, which is only a 20 minute drive on a sealed road from Queenstown. After a full day of skiing, we played mini golf in our Uggs and then headed to battle the crowds at the famous Fergburger. At $12 a pop it was no In n' Out burger, but it was still really good.

The next day we headed up a steep and curvy dirt road to ski at The Remarkables, a small resort with 3 lifts. We couldn't imagine driving that road if there was ANY weather or frost, it was pretty treacherous. We did some skiing and watched freestyle skiers practice for the Winter Games. The highlight I think was our "Snag" sandwiches. For some reason sausage in airy white bread tasted SO good! That evening we had a bottle of wine in front of the roaring fire at Browns that Donald McDonald, one of the inn keepers, kept stoking for us. And yes, I enjoyed saying his name..Donald McDonald.

Since we were in the adventure capitol of the world and had no desire to bungy jump or sky dive, we decided to do the Shotover Jet Boat ride. Shotover Jet has exclusive access to a really cool part of the Shotover River with high cliffs on either side. The ride was so thrilling..it's sort of hard to describe, so we've posted a video below. After our action packed morning we packed up and drove to Wanaka, about 45 minutes north of Queenstown. The incredible scenery continued..there seemed to be a beautiful vista, field with sheep or snow peak around every corner. Amazing! We skiied for about an hour and a half that afternoon at Treble Cone, which was defintely the best ski area out of the 3 we tried. It had a lot of accessable terrain that was all pretty advanced. We really enjoyed skiing there on our last day with powder and blue sky, although  Mike was kicking himself that he didn't go heli-skiing that day.

In Wanaka we stayed at a B&B called Wanaka Homestead. It was built within the last few years and the buildings were a beautiful combination of stonework and dark wood. We got upgraded from a lodge room to a "cottage" so we ended up with lots of space to spread out. As a little birthday treat, we even had a massage therapist come to our cottage. It felt so great after days of skiing. The town of Wanaka was much smaller and quieter than Queenstown and a nice change of pace. We ate at two really good restaurants while there, Missy's (where we saw Shaun White!) and Relishes. We drank some wonderful Pinot Noirs, as that area of New Zealand (the Otago region) is known for that varietal. It tasted so delicious with all the meat we were eating like lamb, venison and steak!

After 5 days in Queenstown and Wanaka we both felt we'd just scratched the surface of New Zealand. I'd love to go back during another time of year and spend time driving in a Campervan around the country.