Powder Day!

We finally got a big dump of snow! 25cm fell last night so we went early up to the hill today to take full advantage. We were a bit worried about Binney driving in the snow, so we parked at the bottom of the hill and took the shuttle. Turns out the road was perfectly clear, but the shuttle was a fun experience anyway, we had a nice chat with both drivers.

NZ snow is a lot wetter and heavier than the dry powder we get back home. But it was still wonderful to ski in! Actually the wet snow was just what Treble Cone needed...it stuck to the mountain well and covered it instead of blowing off :) 

We found some nice runs on the front side to start off with. Then the back of the mountain (Saddle Basin) opened at 11am, so we were able to get lots of fresh tracks back there! It was a full day, and our legs were pretty tired by the end. The visibility was a bit low at the top of the mountain, but the weather for tomorrow is looking sunny so we are looking forward to another great day!

The day before: it started to snow! Everyone in the parking lot had their wipers up.
To prevent them freezing to the windshield I guess>

Drying out our mitts so we can use them again tomorrow!

Waiting for the shuttle. Notice the lack of snow down here?  And yet 25cm up top!

Pretty sun shining on the lake down below

Powder skiing on skis, eep!

There were some falls and bent poles.

Having a rest. This is hard work!

Dramatic sky overhead

We made some friends on the lift and skiied with them a bit! A woman from BC and a guy from Haines, AK.

Last run! What a great day :)

Queenstown: Wanaka's Big Sister

We spent today over in Queenstown, which is basically a bigger, busier version of Wanaka. Queenstown is the most popular mountain adventure town in NZ, and has a variety of adrenaline activities (bungee, skydiving, jetboating, etc). Similar to Wanaka it is also on a lake and near a few ski fields. Despite all these claims we thought Wanaka would be a nicer place to spend a month, because it is a little quieter and not as touristy. I'm still happy with our choice, though we did have a nice visit to Queenstown today.

The drive to Queenstown was short (less than an hour), but it involved a pretty high mountain pass that Binney had to work hard for. But it was a nice sunny day and we made the drive easily. Our day was pretty relaxed; we didn't partake in any of the typical Queenstown adrenaline-rush activities. Scott probably would have done another bungee jump if I had agreed to go, but I am too chicken :)

We spent the day wandering around town, shopping, and walking by the lake with Dexter. Very nice day!

The day started with waking up early to watch the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics!
I enjoyed most of the program, even the ridiculous parts :)

Stopped to look at the historic Cardrona Hotel on the way

At the top of the Crown Range, which is also apparently the highest sealed road in NZ
Queenstown is barely visible in the distance, off to the left.

Looking down to Arrowtown

This sign was warranted! Quite a steep road. 

Took Dexter for a walk by the lake

Lake Wakatipu, with Queenstown to the left and The Remarkables (mountain range) looming above.
Oh, and Dexter swimming in the middle!

Queenstown!

This burger place is really popular, but we decided the wait wasn't worth it.

Went to Devil Burger instead! Brought them to the lake to eat.

Scott enjoyed his plain burger, lol.

Nice place for a picnic.

The founder of Queenstown, and his sheep :)

Got some yummy candy. Also got Irn-Bru for Scott to try.
He rated it: better than 7up and L&P but not as good as Pepsi or Root Beer :)

Can you spot the moa?

Ok this one is easier...can you spot the giant kiwi?

Scott's camera lens broke a few weeks ago, so he bought a new one today. Fancy!

More Ski Pics

Here's a few pics from the past couple weeks of skiing. As you can see we've had a few beautiful bluebird days! 

Also exciting: Scott is skiing! He brought his snowboard and his skis here, and has spent the past few days taking advantage of the lack of fresh snow and practising his skiing. He's getting quite good :)

Cute idea

Driving to the mountain...sheep everywhere!

They were doing some work on the road, which involved removing giant boulders from the cliff above. 

Scott tackling the moguls like a pro (mostly). 

Can't get enough of this view!

Not a lot of fresh snow, but there's still lots of good skiing back in Saddle Basin

Cheeky Kea

Spotted a kea causing mischief in the Treble Cone parking lot today. He was tearing at this car, trying to get in I guess? This is one of the reasons this curious parrot is considered a pest, though we thought it was cool to see! I guess we would have maybe thought differently if it was our van he was destroying :)

Mount Iron Walk

Today was another nice sunny day, so we did a short walk up the nearby Mount Iron. It was a great walk with beautiful views over Wanaka.

Our house is down there....somewhere

Dexter was happy that he got to come on the walk too!

Treble Cone visible is off in the distance...need more snow soon!
Looks like there's some in the forecast for next week :)

Dexter is smarter than the average farm animal

Great day for a walk!

Nice views in the other direction too

We were way up there!

Later in the day I bravely decided to try making gnocchi! I guess I've been inspired by the thousands of cooking shows on NZ TV (the only thing on more often is The Simpsons). I found an easy-looking ricotta gnocchi recipe and it was in fact easy! Took less than an hour and they were super light and delicious, woot!

Making gnocchi!

Carefully cutting the dough

Mmmm....so yummy.

Watching Batman in style at Cinema Paradiso

Tonight we saw The Dark Knight Rises at Cinema Paradiso. It was definitely the coolest theatre I've ever been to: instead of conventional seats the theatre is filled with couches! And they have delicious homemade pizza and ice cream and local beer than you can enjoy while you watch the movie! AND mouth-watering fresh baked cookies available at intermission!

Somebody needs to open a theatre like this in Calgary :)

The small theatre is packed for the popular movie.

Excited to watch the movie! Yup that's a car behind us...yup that is one of the seat you can choose
(we figured the couch was more comfortable)

Wonderful Wanaka

So even though it's winter up on the ski hill, Wanaka is warm and beautiful! We've had a lovely week of sunny days around 10 degrees, feels like some of the summer days back in Calgary :) I think the rain might be coming next week, but even then doesn't look like the town gets any/much snow (nighttime lows are only about -2).

We are really loving living in Wanaka. The town population is only about 5000, but it's a popular tourist destination so it feels a lot bigger. The downtown area is filled with shops and resturants and bars, but it's still got a bit of a small town feel which is nice. We've spent our non-ski days walking down to town and exploring, and taking Dexter swimming in the lake. I think he's happy to have freshwater to swim in again, it tastes much better!

Feels a bit strange to depart from a warm sunny home to go skiing, but it's pretty great! Definitely enjoying our kiwi-style winter :)

Looking down onto the town of Wanaka (We live a bit up the hill from this field area).

Great place for fetch with Dexter. The ball rolls so far downhill, haha. 

The town is usually pretty bustling, definitely much more than we were used to in Kaikoura. 

Lots of nice pathways along the lake

Dexter cools off after a big round of fetch. He lay down by himself, haha.

Fetch in the lake too

This is a really neat pathway, it has a scale timeline from year 0 to year 2000 (one tile per year).
Not all of the early years have events, but towards the 1800 and 1900s is pretty full 

Tille for 1999 on the far left, then 2000. Such a cool idea!