Mastering the art of Snowboardism

Being unemployed in Queenstown means that you officially become a snow bum. This literally says that "you have nothing better to do than go up in the mountains". It is also the cheapest thing to do, because I am completely set for this and don't need to spend any other money on this. It's a bi-winning situation.
I have to admit - although I'd rather be working right now, I have to say being a snow bum isn't the worst of lives. Alex has his course on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, which means that at least these days I get up as well to get to Coronet Peak, and although I don't ride as much as him, I do get my runs in.
On the other days, we prefer to go to the Remarkables, which has a bit more of a personal feel to it. The Remarks also feel less busy than Coronet.

In the 9 days that I've been up there, I have really improved well. From the flat beginner's area at Coronet Peak, which I didn't leave the first day to practice turns, I gradually went higher and have now ended up on some rather steep intermediate slopes in the Remarks. I can't complain! I am not yet Elegance itself up there, but hey, that's practice, practice, practice.

The snow has been very good these days, even the locals were shocked to see the next (Arctic) front come in and cover even downtown Queenstown in a thick, white carpet. This usually happens only once a season ... and now it has already happened in 2 weeks. Wickeeeeeeeeeed - as they say here :-).

Of course, being up there much more than usual, comes with the necessary little sores and so on. Last Tuesday my ankles really hurt a lot so I went to the physio yesterday. Jodie-the-physio, who is a snowboarder himself, told me to ice my ligaments (where I have a minor sprain), do some exercises to learn to control my toes (which is really funny) and to build up the muscles around the ankles, and told me to change the bindings on my board. I hope this is a help. I shouldn't snowboard for 2 more days. Tomorrow he's going to strap my legs a bit and Saturday I'm going to give it another go, and next week go back to the physio to see how it goes. In any case - I still have the entire season ahead of me so I am not too worried. By the end of the season I should be able to ride the Homeward Bound slope with Alex, or even do a heli board trip :-). Expectations, expectations!

Unemployed in Queenstown

We are about 2 weeks later, and there's still no news on the job front. Everybody keeps telling me that "things are picking up slowly" and that "it will come, don't worry", but I don't know. I get a bit dark on it sometimes, but there's not much I can do. I can start being really pushy and annoying so people wouldn't ignore me, but somehow that's not how I work. So I'll just give it another few days and keep popping into the job agency and keep asking if something new has come up in the last couple of ... hours.

However, it feels like I have been busy the last few weeks. Alex and me have been occupied looking for property, visiting real estate agent after agent (some of them nicer than others), viewing properties, driving around. We had found something we thought we liked and Alex wanted to go for it, but we kept on being played around by the real estate agent so in the end we gave it up. Luckily, there was one place to which we kept on going back, and it might now become Alex' new property. Let's wait and see! In any case we are very excited and can't wait to move, since we are still living in the Kawarau Hotel. I shouldn't complain though, because this is just about the best hotel I have ever been in :-).

In the mean time, between all the property, job searching and workouts, we try to visit Coronet Peak and The Remarkables as much as possible. My new snowboard appears to be a very good one, very light and responsive, so it really is a treat to go up there and just try to improve. Improve I have, by the way, and for the first time in my life I have looked at some slopes without fearing them, but thinking of them as a challenge. Hurray for that, I think :-).
Alex, on the other hand, is getting right into his skiing by following a levels course, which will allow him later to become a ski instructor. This is a pretty intense course so it gets us up the mountains quite some time as well.

I have also been to my first meeting of the Queenstown Creative Writers Group, which is a social meeting in a cafe with some freelance authors. I thought it might be nice to get some writing started. What do people do when they're unemployed! It was actually nice, having a coffee, discussing some (own) writing, just having a chat and a laugh. You have to love Kiwi's :-). And hey, you might just be hearing some more from me!

Snow!

We have arrived in Queenstown last Sunday. We had been watching the weather forecasts suspiciously, because it kept on saying that a second major cold front would hit the country, and a lot of districts got severe weather warnings. However, our trip through Canterbury passed flawless. The trouble came when we entered Otago. Lake Tekapo was completely snowed under, and the drive went pretty slowly. When we entered Omarama, we heard that the Lindis Pass was closed. Of course, this is the one we had to take to get to Queenstown. We stopped for a while, had a little bit to eat, but after an hour the big sign still gave the same message: "Lindis Pass closed". Bummer!

However, Alex and me are of course not born yesterday, so eventually we just ignored the sign and figured that with our big white 4WD Hilux, we might just make it. And lo and behold! As usual, kiwis had been just a slight bit overcautious, because there was no real reason why we couldn't get through the pass unharmed. We took it nice and easy and got out on the other side in one piece. Hurray! It was a great feeling to see the road we usually take completely covered in snow. Finally the long-expected white carpet! The wind was playing around on the ridges and we saw more than a few little whirlwinds. Our legs started itching for the snow and the newly bought snowboard and skis.

The drive had been long and we enjoyed a relaxing night in the same hotel we stayed at before. On Monday - yesterday - we went for a first ride in the very snowy mountains, and our choice fell on Coronet Peak, because it has such nice beginners slopes. I strapped George (which is how I baptized my precious new Burton snowboard) to my Burton-booted feet and had a great time just getting the hang of it once more. What a great feeling! Everybody has been waiting for this snow for so long, and now it is finally here it is here in big amounts. Delicious!

Today the mountains were closed because of the severe weather so that means that tomorrow will be great, with fresh new carpets to ride on. Yaaaay :-).

In the mean time, I obviously haven't stopped searching for a job, but that has still not been successful. I have contacted just about every architects office in the area without answer (except for the 2 or 3 few) so the time has come to just go walk in and ask what the deal is. If that doesn't work out, I'll have no choice but to resort to what the friendly people at the job agencies have for me. Sad but true.
But hey, let's not go dark over it. We'll see what happens soon!

Still snowless in Queenstown

We only spent one night in Christchurch and then moved up to the station - where we got our feet wet during the river crossing. Supposedly there was some work to do for us there. This job turned out to be cutting down some trees to make a small clearing for hunters. Unfortunately, it only took us a few hours. It was good fun though, my first time of holding and using a chainsaw. Those trees came down well!
The rest of our days there we spent walking (or running) Larry, going for a little run, using the sauna, enjoying the delicious Mrs. Smiley-made food, and so on. We don't complain!

After the station we headed back to Christchurch, only to prepare to go down to Queenstown again. We looked at some more properties and made some more appointments. I think by now we have talked to just about every real estate agent in the city. We also poked our head in on the Queenstown Winter Festival, but shamefully enough there was hardly anyone out there. So sad, a Winter Festival without snow and people!
On our third day there, though, I am happy to say that we found a place which we really liked and which Alex is going to make an offer on. Fingers crossed!
We decided to extend our stay for a few days to get the ball rolling. Unfortunately the snow was still lacking, so there wasn't too much to do except for properties. The job hunt is still fruitless, since the snow isn't there ... Everybody is very positive though, that the jobs will come once the snow is there. Let's hope so!

On Monday we went for a second viewing of the property and we are still pretty convinced that we want this one. Yaaay! Finally a winner. The ball is rolling now and the question is now what we will do for accommodation in the mean time. It looks like it's going to be jostling from hotel to hotel, since rentals are - like I said before - pretty hard to find, since it is quite hard to know when exactly we will be able to get into the apartment, and since renters aren't too happy about tenants who don't know how long they are going to stay. Hotels it is, then!
I will be happy to get settled though, because it is a bit tiring to move from Christchurch - Queenstown - Station - ... all the time. I also want to get a job started so I will be able to buy my snow gear.
Because, believe it or not ... Snow has started to fall in Queenstown since yesterday! A very big front was expected, and is there now, so for the next few days it should be snowing hard. Should be, I say, because you never know in New Zealand.
We are going back on Sunday - going back to stay, this time - so the mountains should be covered in a thick white carpet - I can't wait! But to be honest I'm still holding my heart because I will only believe it when I see it. Touch wood people, your snow dances seem to be working! :-)

Dry July

In an act of complete selflessness and world-loving-ness, Alex and me have decided to sign up for Dry July. This means we won't drink alcohol for the complete month of July. EESH, I say! Now, to be completely honest, this act isn't completely selfless: with this we also want to limit some alcohol usage to get fit and ready for the ski fields and to watch our bills a bit. But hey, in any case it's win-win!
Obviously, donations are very welcome to support this a bit, and let me assure you- you do not donate to me, but to 13 hospitals all over Australia to help those suffering from cancer. Show your good hearts and click on the link below. Cheers! ... with water :-).


To donate, click on Dry July 2011.

Snowless in Queenstown

Last Monday in the early morning, Alex and me were en route for Queenstown. Bags packed, food in the car and a list of meetings lined up, we were pretty confident that we’d be back the next day.

The drive started in a rainy Christchurch. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a map in the car and yours truly, who has done the drive from Christchurch to Queenstown in 3 weeks, thought she knew the road by heart. Alex was pretty sceptic about this but we still kept going, until at some point we both realized that it could not be the right way. In Timaru, we asked which way to go and the friendly fuel station manager chuckled a bit and told us we’d driven “a bit out of the way”. We had to drive back to Fairlie and there take the road past Tekapo, Twizel and so on. Whoops, my bad!

The rest of the trip was great. The rain lifted and made way for a clear, bright blue sky. We passed Tekapo, which is where I first realised that I love New Zealand, and the lake was as beautiful as the first time I’d seen it.

The drive then continued through Central Otago, which consists mainly of large tussocked plains with in the background huge impressive mountain ranges. The autumn colours were very vibrant, the sky was littered with slices of cloud and the image was just picture perfect (unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures).

When we passed through the Kawarau Gorge, I knew we were not too far from Queenstown anymore because I recognized the breathtaking type of landscape from a heli-raft trip I did around there: huge gorges with a river swinging down below. It was downright beautiful.

On arrival in Queenstown, we both took a deep breath of air – the temperature there is much colder than in Christchurch, and the air feels purer. Welcome home! We booked into a hotel and immediately had a meeting with a real estate agent for a property viewing.

The next days were filled with the same: property viewing, trying to find something to rent, trying to find a job.

It so happens that finding rentals and a job will not be easy, since the rental market has been flooded by people coming from Christchurch to try and escape the quakes.

We did see a few buying properties that interest us though, and living in Queenstown will be really cool. The city has such a nice vibe – you can’t really find this in Christchurch, and definitely not since the earthquakes have wrecked the city.

Unfortunately, the snow has not yet fallen in Queenstown, and every skier and snowboarder is anxiously waiting for it to happen. The city hasn’t had this problem since years. Hundreds of people don’t have a job at the moment, because normally the ski fields should’ve been opened by now but due to lack of snow aren’t … hopefully the snow will fall soon – do all your snow dances and prayers for us!

Now we are back in Christchurch once more, where – no surprise there – the earth has moved again yesterday. Luckily we didn’t find any extra damage to the house. For now we will just wait, do a bit of work on the station, and then go back to Queenstown – where by then hopefully the snow has fallen – to start the real winter. 

A scenic flight around Mount Algidus Station

After two nights being rumbled and shaken awake in "Shakey Shakey Christchurch", Alex and me decided it was time for a trip into the mountains to visit the family. Cousin Ned would also be a guest at the station. Reunion with all the familiar faces here was again very nice, and as always Larry the dog was proudly waiting to be patted, chest out and face high in the air. Good dog! Tic, poor girl, is really getting old, and Teddy is just wandering around the place as always.

Ned wanted to get a better look of the station, and what is a better way than to do that in helicopter? ... Yes you here me coming; we got to join him :-). The trip was amazing! The weather was fine, so we had clear skies all along. The flight took us about an hour, and gave us the most wonderful sights of the land around the station, the closest alps and even a glimpse of Mount Cook. There hasn't been much snow yet - to Alex' great frustration - but some of the peaks were covered in a white layer and it was magical.
The heli dropped us off at some lakes in the mountains, still on Algidus domain, which was completely frozen over. Since the sun was shining so well and there was no wind, it was a lot of fun to walk around the place and take some pictures :). I just love it when you step in a fresh carpet of snow and your feet sink away completely. This is winter as it should be!
Tim the pilot then took us for some more sightseeing. When we flew over the Rakaia Gorge, we came upon a whole bunch of glaciers which made me think of the Franz Josef Glacier last year. Again the amazing wave formations, crevasses, blue ice ... wonderful. As it turned out later, we must have not been too far from the glaciers anyway :).
In the end we even got a glimpse of the West Coast ... Amazing how far an hour flying can get you.
It is safe to say that this was a flight well spent - the 3 of us were deeply impressed!

The day after - yesterday - Alex was going to take Ned out for a walk to the peak of Mount Algidus. It took me a while to decide if I would join them, since I didn't have the right foot gear, but in the end I just thought "Whatever, it can only hurt". Well, although now I can tell everyone it is not a good idea to walk mountains with Timberland boots (waaaay to heavy!), it was a good idea to climb the peak: at least now I have got my exercise in for a few days and the views were again - what else could it be - stunning. We made good time walking up (me proud :)) and had a little delicious lunch up the top. Afterwards, going down was easier than going up in the scale, haha, I felt like Gollum in the mountains!

Now it is time to venture our way back to Christchurch-hopefully-still-standing, as we plan to go to Queenstown in the next few days to see some apartments and try to find a place. Fingers crossed that the snow starts falling soon!

Photos of this event can be found in my new album on Facebook: A Trip Around Mount Algidus Station.