Chasing the powder

As mentioned before, we were expecting a big storm cycle to hit the country. And hit it did! In no time we were covered by a thick, soft, powdery snow blanket, even in Queenstown City. This meant that the mountains were seeing the best snow of the season. Of course, being true snow bums, we couldn't let this pass, so we hit up Coronet Peak after getting up at the break of dawn to listen to the snow report. Coronet, unfortunately, seemed to be a mistake since visibility was nil and we got literally blown away.
The day after though, we went to The Remarks, which is a ski-field that suits us better, after listening to the snow report that morning ("We have champagne conditions here, so eh, what can I say, strap your skis and boards on and sink into it!"). The Remarks turned out to be gooooooood! I have never seen so much snow on a groomer, let alone outside it. Alex had fun going everywhere out of bounds, while I tasted my first powder on the 'safer' spots. It was amazingly good fun and as if it was a miracle, in the afternoon the sun started shining bright and the conditions were amazing.

On Wednesday we left for the station once more, because cousin Jack (who had been stuck in Christchurch until then, poor bugger) would arrive there the day after with his friends. We obviously took our gear and rode Mount Hutt on Thursday - again bluebird conditions and a lot of fun!
We escorted Jack and co over the river and had a few drinks, and hit the mountain again the day after. By then the snow started to become already a little hard packed. But hey, improving is all we want :).

After going so hard, Alex and me decided to have a break on Sunday, so we stayed on the station and took the truck (and Larry) out to some paddock, where we put a rope to the back of the truck and took turns in swinging behind it on either skis or snowboard. Larry enjoyed the chase very much. All good fun! :)

Now it is back to Queenstown once more, where hopefully work will pick up, the house will become available soon and the sun will keep on shining!

A break from a break

Although the snow bum life is a good life, as stated before, people do get tired sometimes of being in the same place all the time.
Not much has changed lately, although I finally got through to the temping office and they have started to give me some work here and there. Not much, bits and pieces along the way, but a little bit of money is better than no money, I think.

Because of the work, I haven't been on my snowboard the last week, and I have really missed it. Alex and me also live in a very small room, so a few things combined made that we both wanted to get out of Queenstown for a short while. So we packed our bags and headed for the station again in Canterbury High Country. Unfortunately there was no snow over there, but we thoroughly enjoyed all the space, the company of the Smiley family and the dogs. Not to mention Mrs. Smiley's delicious cooking ...

We haven't really done anything, except go for the occasional (short or long) run, watch the Australian series Underbelly (about the Gangland Wars in Melbourne from 1995 till 2004), read, spend some time with the dogs and of course spend some time with Mr. and Mrs. Smiley.
We only stayed a few nights, but they made a world of difference. Everybody needs a little space sometimes :-). And space, that is to be found on the station.

Now we are back in Queenstown. We have attended the Burton Open Sessions, where a few of NZ's favorites played (Kora, Shihad, Tiki Taane ...) and which left us with a hard day the following day.
In the mean time it has started to snow again - which we can only applaud! The snow front is supposed to be as hectic as the last one, only longer, and is supposed to hit tonight. This should be goooood! A bit unfortunate for Jack, Alex' cousin, though, who is supposed to fly into Queenstown tomorrow. Let's just see if flights get in or out ...
I know what I will be doing in any case!