Schralping the gnar Southern Hemisphere style

Well, the difficult work circumstances have continued. For almost a month now Nicky and I have been visiting her family in Auckland and experiencing my first New Zealand winter. I gotta say it’s no summer, but for all the complaining and warnings I heard from Nicky I'd come to expect Snowmaggedon. In reality, it rains a few times a week but is generally sunny and in the 50's and 60's -- an idyllic 'winter'.

Brendon showing off our Raceltte dinner

Auckland city from Ernst's Boat

As some of you may have seen on the news however (and when I say "see on the news" I of course mean work like a bloodhound to track down any information about our small island in the South Pacific) NZ has been bludgeoned with a winter storm over the past week with bone-chilling temperatures hovering around freezing (its all relative) for much of both islands. Luckily, said winter storm coincided with our trip to the mountainous South island where we spent a long weekend in Queenstown, New Zealand's adventure soaked version of Breckenridge or St. Moritz. I had visited Q-town with friends while studying here but that was during the summer months so I was excited to try some southern hemisphere skiing and to enjoy the scenic island with Nicky on her first visit.

Before even touching down on the South island we were overcome with awe as we flew over the spine of the Southern Alps on our way down

When we did land in Queenstown the inspiring beauty continued as we walked along Lake Wakatipu – the adjacent mountain range is affectionately referred to as ‘the remarkables’, and with good reason. 

We spent the afternoon walking around town and taking in some sunshine, unaware of the storm that was to come. The next day we drove to the sleepy village of Cromwell about 40 minutes outside of Queenstown where Ernst gave service to a few local families. Pretty much anywhere you drive in New Zealand is assured to be scenic and this is especially true throughout the South island. In every direction lay beautiful mountains covered with snow and bathed in sun. In some directions they are jagged, menacing peaks like those of the Alps (hence their name, the Southern Alps) and in others they are great, rounded beasts like those more akin to the Colorado Rockies. To push the scenery over the top, nearly every valley seems to have some sort of water in it. Glacial lakes, flowing rivers, this place has it all! And all of the hillsides are dotted with New Zealand’s two greatest exports – sheep and vineyards.

Near Cromwell

Far side of Lake Wakatipu

Quite some countryside

Sunday meant the arrival of ‘the great storm’ and a 5 hour bus trip to Milford Sound in the Fjordland National Park, said to be the most beautiful place on earth – not sure who originally made that claim but the kiwis certainly support it. I had visited Milford with friends during my last visit but, unsurprisingly, the entire park was clouded in for our two days – Milford supposedly receives 300 days of rain, a curse placed on the area by the Maori gods (as well as sand flys) to prevent people from going there. With a promise of a grand storm rolling in from the South Tasman it was a race to beat the weather. Despite driving through more than four seasons -- along some super sketchy roads and tunnels mind you -- Milford Sound itself was beautiful and clear. It was a true pleasure to take in the mountains (not just the lowest 75ft of them) as we cruised through the sound taking endless photos.

Poor sheep in the early morning storm en route to Milford

More sheep -- It is New Zealand...

Just past Mirror Lakes on the drive through Fjordland National Park

Coming down the pass towards the sound

Famed Mitre peak at the innermost point of the Milford Sound

She's a beauty!

The drive back was not quite as smooth. With the snow hot on our tails we tried to rush our bathroom breaks but to no avail. Less than 50km out of Queenstown we came to a dead halt on

the road thanks to a jackknifed bus in front of us. Several of us hopped out of the bus with the driver to fasten chains to the wheels – not before having to thaw the buses storage compartment in order to retrieve said chains! It was a slow and slippery trip the rest of the way but we made it back in one piece and in time for skiing the next day!

When we woke on Monday however we were reminded that we were in New Zealand and not one of the major ski resorts of the world. If you can believe it, the storm had dumped too much snow to ski. Of the five resorts ‘accessible’ from Queenstown, the nearest one is 15km or so away – doesn’t make a ton of sense to me either. Thus when we woke for our bus to Treble Cone we learned that all the resorts and buses were on hold for the time being. Thankfully, within a few hours Coronet Peak decided to open and we were able to switch buses and give it a shot. Despite being 15km away the drive took every bit of an hour and was complete with several slides, some towards the wall and some towards the edge, and a pull from a tractor for the last km or so. I forgot to mention that all of these mountains, and thus the ski resorts, are well above tree line. Thus, when a storm blows in skiing even at the lowest point of the mountain resembles Whale’s Tail at Breckenridge in its prime. For those that don’t get the reference just picture closing your eyes and stepping into a wind tunnel before starting off. We only made a few attempts at cautiously sliding down the mountainside before we bailed and headed back into town. The drive back was every bit as tricky and included sliding into the guard rail over a deep river canyon...

Community snowball fight in the street after a sniper from the balcony attacked us -- notice the snow pockmarks on the balcony above. 

Not where you typically picture a seagull

Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu from the skydeck restaurant at the top of the gondola

More Wakatipu

Q-town proper

We were able to return to Auckland in one piece on Tuesday and are now back to relaxing in the big city. It’s not quite warm enough to hang on the beach but Nicky and I are going to try and spend an ‘island day’ on Waiheke next week for the old b-day. Hope all are well!