A happy-go-lucky English rambler dude goes to New Zealand for a year. Here he interfaces with some of those he left behind and details his nefarious activities. Or summat.
Recently clicked on MP3s - 7th June 2005 The Lucksmiths - Warmer Corners
Jens Lekman - When i said i wanted to be your dog
The Trashcan Sinatras - Weightlifting
Teenage Fanclub - Man Made
Laura Veirs - Carbon Glacier
The Decemberists - Picaresque
The Eels - Blinking Lights
Monday, June 24, 2002
Woo! Back in one piece from a "days" Skiing (Sorry no 'Boarding Alison) at Mount Hutt.
I say a day, but due to the fickleness of the weather and the driver's side window on the mighty Toyota Corona, i only managed 20 minutes of skiing :o( Before setting off the car window got stuck in the 'down' position, and so the best part of an hour was spent dismantling the door, wiggling it around and working out how to put it all back together again once we'd finished.
Once we'd finally got there, we had to decide what method of snow-based propulsion to use. Went for skiing, as there wasn't time to have a lesson, and i had extensive previous experience in this discipline - a one week school trip to France 12 years ago, as opposed to a 2hour lesson in Swadlincote 2 years ago for snow boarding. Once this had been decided, and the relevant pieces of equipment strapped to the relevant body parts - we were off! I started with a mini slide about a minutes walk from the main 'lodge' thing, and was instantly reminded what a great laugh sliding around on snow is :oD I then ventured a little further and further up the nursery slope (With Michael regularly swooshing past me), and enjoyed each run more an more, probably never getting much faster than 10 mph, but happily i can still snowplough with the best of them (the nearby Playschool aged children anyway), hurrah!
However this was soon stopped by the spoilsport wardens, who decided that the gale force winds lashing snow into everyones faces, was somehow 'dangerous', and closed down the slopes, as well as the access road for a while too! So while i only got a few go's, the good news was that it was completely free, as we were refunded due to not managing an hour on the slopes. This brief go has whet my appetite for more snowy action though, so Michael (& entourage & maybe Jo & Wee Al) and I are off to Wanaka & Cardrona, in a week or so, for another bout of alpinism.
Comparing NZ skiing to my vague memories of European skiing, the main difference was actually getting to the ski fields. In France you can catch a cable car from the town centre, all the way to the top of the mountain. There's no such wussiness in NZ however, in typical no-nonsense ( / supid?) Kiwi style you drive up the mountain to the pistes. Snow chains were definitely required, as we drove up the rather preciptous road to 1600 metres! (That's 200m higher than Ben Nevis for non-mountain geeks). Seeing a packed car park, near the top of a 2000m mountain is a truly odd sight. Greg "Snake" Chalmers informed me today though, that the Mount Hutt road is about the best ski road around, and that if you found that worrying you're a big, girly, wuss (So i didn't mention to him that we caught the bus up to the top) :os
