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Thursday, November 8th, 2007
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10:27 pm - End of New Zealand
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I'm sitting in a hire car right now, driving my way up Australia's east coast. Its november, so it should be summer here in Oz. Well ok spring/summer, but its not. Its not at all. Right now its raining like I've never seen it rain before. We're driving exceptionally slowly to avoid...well, everyone else.
The hire car is red, bright red. Its a little nippy thing that cost us double what the website quoted us, after they added on all the hidden charges that they in fact did hide from us, despite the "NO HIDDEN CHARGES!" sign on the site.
Getting over here from NZ was interesting. The drive up from Wanaka to Christchurch was simply beautiful and we stayed in a hostel called 'The Jail House'. Which is, as one would imagine, an old jail house. Its a bit far out from the centre, but other than that its worth a look.
The car was exceptionally difficult to get rid of. The market is, quite literally dead. In the end we bought a massive luminous green card, wrote 'For Sale' on it and stuck it in the windscreen. That got peoples attention. I would recommend that approach to anyone trying to sell their car. Putting posters up in pretty much every backpackers hostel in Christchurch just doesn't work. Take it from me.
Whilst in Christchurch, We met up with some friends from Wanaka who were also leaving the country. We went to Akaroa and saw some dolphins, as well as seals and penguins. Wild! It was amazing. We went on the Black Cat, which was well worth the 50 bucks.
We also met up with some friends in Sydney that was also pretty cool. I can't believe its still raining in this country. I feel like I'm back in England...
current mood:  disappointed
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| Sunday, October 28th, 2007
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4:08 pm - Milford Sound
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 Went to Milford! Milford Sound isn't actually a sound at all, its a fiord. I was paying attention on the boat. All in all, Milford has some pretty impressive geology.
We went to Milford on the Saturday, but stayed over in Te Anau on the friday, so we could get up early to beat the 'sound' rush. Te Anau is literally the embodiment of the 80's. Time moved on and left Te Anau behind. Also, its dead (apart from the coachloads of 'silverbacks', which lets face it aren't far off). Friday night, I felt like I was walking around a ghost town.
Nevermind. Milford was lovely, and we picked an awesome day to do it - not a cloud in the sky. We just rocked up and jumped on a near-empty boat. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day:
A waterfall!
A view from the red boat
Me, under a big rock
Kea, just before it tried to eat our car
Oh, just to clear a few things up. I didn't go skydiving, it was too windy. I mean like really windy. Apparently its 'wind' season. I'm probably not going to get to now either as I'm leaving Wanaka tomorrow!
current mood: sad
current music: Coheed and Cambria - No World for Tomorrow
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| Monday, October 22nd, 2007
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3:29 pm - Queenstown #3
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 Lizzy's cousin came down to see us and we spent the weekend eating and drinking ourselves silly. Pizza, cookies, milkshakes, carrot cake, and then we went to Queenstown. Ferg and golf as standard. We walked up to the top of Mt Cook and took the gondola down. I can't help but think we did that the wrong way around.
We did luge at the top. Just once really just isn't enough. I wish they did a day pass, that would be amazing.
I'm probably going skydiving tomorrow. I think that tuesday is a good day to jump out of an airplane.
current mood: bored
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| Tuesday, October 16th, 2007
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10:58 am - Earthquake!
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Last night there was an earthquake! 6.7 on the Richter scale! I was in the bed, and then things started wobbling and some things fell off things and then that was it.
Then, this morning, it happened again! Extreme!
current mood:  excited
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| Sunday, October 7th, 2007
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8:00 pm - All out of whack
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Cardrona has had about a meter of snow which has fallen over the past couple of days, which in all honesty is probably more than has fallen all season. The timing is all out of whack seeing as today is the last day of the season. Brilliant.
In fairness to Cardies though, they went out on a high note. 20cm of pow pow last night and blue bird day most of the day today meant that I had a fantastic time, albiet depressing last day of the season. I got Lizzy to video the sequence you see above - 50-50 to frontside boardslide on the flat down. Which is not so much flat down...more up down. You get the idea.
 Today I did something that I've been itching to do for a while now. The story goes like this: The road to Cardies is long and treacherous, but not without its tourist attractions. One of the first being 'Historic Rock' - that is, by the way, exactly how it is worded on the sign post. 'Historic Rock' is, you guessed it, a rock and is in fact just as mind numbingly boring as it sounds. It is a rock to commemorate some trees or something, which were cut down in 1960. So anyway, yeah, if you're ever in Wanaka and on your way to Cardies, don't make the mistake I did...just don't go see the rock. Its just a rock. Please see the pic on the right, proving this fact (its me, with the rock).
So what am I going to busy myself with now? Well, skating for one seeing as the park here is sweet! I shall also be touring some of the finer tourist delights that New Zealand has to offer before jetting over to Australia for a few weeks, grabbing a camper van and enjoying a cold VB and some shrimps - which Australians love placing on barbecue's, apparently.
current mood: sad
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| Monday, October 1st, 2007
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5:49 pm - SNOW!
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It snowed! It snowed last night! Cardrona is the only resort open now and I've just had a wicked pow day. In the morning it was snowing and cloudy, but it cleared up and the sun came out. I'm glad I hung around. I've been mostly practicing front and back 3's into the pow - they're coming on nicely.
Whats going on then? Why snow now? Its the last week. Come on!
current mood: grateful
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| Sunday, September 30th, 2007
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9:41 am - Spring Park NZ
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Snow Park NZ, Spring 2007
current mood:  awake
current music: Mindless Self Indulgence - Straight to Video
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| Friday, September 28th, 2007
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11:17 pm - End of season
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 Gosh its been a while! The end of the season is upon us. That means the snow is biting the dust. Snow Park closes on Sunday and Cardrona the Sunday after, so I'm going to get my last Snow Park session in tomorrow.
So, what have I been doing? I went to Queenstown and bought myself a new snowboard in the sales. Best time to do it really, what with it being cheap and all. Oh and the fact that my board is starting to, well, fall apart. Also, my new bindings broke. My new bindings broke! I know, me neither! Anyway, they're not really broken, well they are. The ratchet doesn't work very well. Not very well, not really at all. So there I am at the bottom of the chair lift, stuck on my board.
Burton have been sending me a new one for two weeks now. Two weeks! I'm anticipating that it'll be hand crafted, imported from the moon and delivered in a velvet lined box. My new board by the way, is a 2007 Rome Agent 155. I know, Lizzy has a Rome too, but thats just a coincidence.
Anyway, I'll leave you with an indy.
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| Sunday, September 9th, 2007
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8:49 pm - Big finger courtesy of Snow Park NZ
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In the last few days I have been mostly shredding at Snow Park. Here are a few videos from the first day here, here and here. The second day was also amazing, except I, well, I don't really know what I did. Here is what I do know - I fell off the battleship and now I have a big middle finger knuckle. Which could have been worse I guess.
That same day was Chris's birthday party in the evening. Everyone drank a little more than they probably should have. Including me. People were throwing up left right and centre. I blame the tequila mostly, but I think Mr vodka and Mr beer were also partly to blame. Never mind aye!
current mood: drained
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| Sunday, September 2nd, 2007
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10:41 pm - Newly bound
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 Today Quest (a shop) had a 40% off sale! Yay. Today I bought some new bindings for my snowboard, again, yay! 2007 Burton Cartels. I feel like I've sold out to the evil corporate entity of snowboarding but, well, uh, so sue me - I couldn't help myself. It would have been rude not to.
I took them out on the *cough* 15cm of new snow today (they were obviously attached to my board at the time). I had to cough just then because I think that must have been a typo, which should have read 5cm, if that. Anyway, they're pretty colours which makes me happy and they don't make my toes feel like they're not attached to my feet.
current mood: impressed
current music: The Alkaline Trio - Live Acoustic in London
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| Wednesday, August 29th, 2007
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2:27 pm - Queenstown the second
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| Saturday, August 18th, 2007
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1:59 pm - Billabong Slopestyle Jam/MTV Snow Jam
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The Billabong Slopestyle Jam was fantastic. Better than the Burton open slopestyle, possibly just because of the weather conditions. The highlight of...I forgot what I was saying because I stopped writing and didn't start again for a couple of weeks.
Anyway, it was awesome! It snowed while we were there! Some guy did a double backflip. I think he won. Free concert afterwards, yes, on the mountain! Snowboarders pulling tricks off a kicker behind the stage. Lots of teenagers, and a big queue for beer - I still got some though.
The picture is a picture of what it was like. You can see the Mint Chicks playing on the stage and a snowboarder upside down above/behind them.
current mood:  bouncy
current music: The Used - Paralyzed
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| Friday, August 10th, 2007
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10:39 pm - Treble Cone and the Burton Open at Snow Park
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A lot has been going on over the past couple of days which I would have like to have written about earlier but haven't had the chance. I managed to get up to Treble Cone with a load of mates last monday. Its pretty good up there, at lot more rideable terrain than Cardrona - I can see why it would be fantastic on a pow day. Plus it has a 6 seater lift! 6 seats, crazy!
View from the top of Treble Cone, NZ
We had a wicked time...until the second run. Chris and Sian spied some pow, unfortunately it was under a rope. A rope that seperated TC from restricted land. By restricted land I mean land on which riders have their pass removed if caught riding on it. Chris and Sian had their passes throughly removed, and spent the rest of the day getting drunk in the cafe.
The Burton Open happens every year at Snow Park. They needed extra workers to help with events and stuff. I was a extra worker on Wednesday and Thursday, working on events. First of all, I didn't know what hard work was until those two days...and secondly, I didn't realise there was a 4:30...AM in New Zealand! You know the fences down either side of the piste you see all the time on snow related TV shows. Well, turns out they don't just magically appear overnight. Its suckers like me who get taken up the top of the mountain at 5:30am, get given a drill, mallett and fence posts and are expected to put that shit up! The picture shows some of my handy work - there are loads more on the competition website.
Anyway, it wasn't all fence post putting up. We had to do some fence post taking down as well. Serious, everyday, even if they're going up again in the same place next day. But, really, seriously - I got to marshall the jumps. Which basically involves stopping anyone landing on top of someone who has already stacked off one of the jumps. There is more to it than that, but thats how I'd describe it to you. The whole experience was really cool, and I even got to ride a ski-doo...more than once! It was sweet.
current mood: cheerful
current music: Fall Out Boy - Take This To Your Grave
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| Wednesday, August 1st, 2007
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2:16 pm - Groan
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 It finally snowed...a bit. I had quite simply the best pow day yet yesterday. With actual snow and everything. Today however, I've been punished for having a good time in way of illness of the man flu variety. Needless to say, I don't feel fantastic and I've missed out on snowboarding today.
Lizzy got her new board the other day. Its a 149 Rome Vinyl with Burton Lexa bindings, which I'm just slightly jealous of.
Anyway, I've got to stop writing as the drugs are wearing off.
current mood: sick
current music: Ataris - So Long, Astoria
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| Thursday, July 26th, 2007
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11:31 am - Welcome to Queenstown
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 Queenstown is about an hour drive from Wanaka. Yesterday I went to Queenstown for the day, it was awesome.
We parked the car up and alighted onto a frisbee golf green. I feel the need to mention that we didn't actually park the car on the green as that sentence suggests, as it would be reckless and inconsiderate. Now, this obviously means that someone somewhere decided that golf and frisbee combined would make a good game. Its a great game. The 'holes' are a ingenious invention - a kind of basket that you have to get the frisbee into. This would normally be pretty tricky, but each basket has a set of chains suspended above it, which 'catch' the frisbee and drop it below into the basket below...yeah, my English language skills don't convey that too well, but its cool. You'll just have to believe me on that one. The pic on the left is me teeing off.
After a quick look around the local shops (where lizzy found her future snowboard to be) we went for lunch. This however was no ordinary lunch, as we went to fergburger. Fergburger is pretty much internationally recognised as the best burger joint in New Zealand. I'm not going to go as far as to say the world but it's certainly a contender. According to wikipedia there are 30 different types of burgers on the menu, and they're all size=large. Just, go there and you'll see.
We wanted to see what other types of golf Queenstown had on offer, and so head on over to what I can only describe as the very best (indoor!?) crazy golf course I have ever had the pleasure of seeing within my lifetime. Like, literally. Not only was it a stupidly awesome course, but when you pot a ball on the 18th, you get a lolly AND then you get a free soft drink!
 In true golfing fashion, we retired to the bar. The ice bar that is. You've probably guessed already, but the ice bar is basically a pub in a freezer. Everything but the alcohol is made of ice, even the ice cubes. It was great, if not a little weird. The pic on the right is me, sitting next to a dead animal which I can only assume found its way in, got trapped, and froze to death.
current mood: rejuvenated
current music: The Alkaline Trio - I Was A Prayer
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| Sunday, July 22nd, 2007
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4:47 pm - Seriously, where IS the snow?
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 There hasn't been any snow since I got here. Yesterday it was meant to snow. Yesterday it didn't snow. Today it was forecast to snow. Today it didn't snow. Seriously now, come on, where IS the snow? I even hear that there has been flash floods in the UK. What the?
Instead I walked up Mt Iron today. Which is a big mountain outside our house. The picture is me on the Iron, with Wanaka in the background.
current mood: disappointed
current music: Incubus - Rogues
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| Sunday, July 15th, 2007
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11:33 pm - Electric Quarterpipe Comp
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Yesterday we all went up to Snow Park to check out the Electric Quarterpipe Competition and after party. Snow Park have dorms that you can stay in for the night so practically the whole house decided to stay up there, check out the comp and then get boozy afterwards.
Staying over was somehow super cheap. $10 each! The comp was short but sweet, with some pretty amazing guys (and girls) going huge. Check out some of these pics and this video:
The Electric Comp Quarterpipe and run in
Needless to say, the afterparty was sweet ;)
current mood: exhausted
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| Wednesday, July 11th, 2007
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10:57 am - Fancy a Brewski?
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 Its wednesday evening and I'm shattered. I've been snowboarding and skating for like 5 days running and I've now been living in 112 anderson road for nearly two weeks. Its been awesome skating the local Wanaka park, learning rails and boarding with others at Cardrona, and getting to know my new housemates. Which, by the way, all appear to be legends.
Whats crazy is that i've met a ton of people who used to live at the house, but seem to keep coming back. It appears I've stumbled across and am now living in the social centre of Wanaka. Which is amazing, to say the least.
Anyway, enough with the serious stuff. I have pictures of weird:
  This my friends is an actual Brewski. So when I went out for a brewski, I had a real life proper actual brewski. Cool huh!
Secondly, Wanaka has a place called Puzzle World, which is a nice time waster of a sight seeing activity. As you can imagine, it has a bucket load of puzzling activities including a massive maze, pictures of einstein looking at you from all angles and a room on a slope.
Anyway, the picture is of me standing on a step in the sloping room. Sadly no, I've not actually figured out how to cheat gravity.
current mood: amused
current music: The Lawrence Arms - Are You There Margaret? Its Me, God
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| Saturday, July 7th, 2007
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7:33 pm - Got snow?
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Cardrona is now officially open! I've finally got a chance to explore the rest of the mountain. There still isn't enough snow for most of the park stuff to be open, but they've added a couple of boxes and rails to the skyline trail which I've been sessioning for the first time today. Got down a couple of 50-50's and lipslides which is probably more impressive to me than anyone else. No matter. You may like to hear that on landing a 50-50 over this triangle shaped box, I caught my heel edge, destroyed myself, and bit a chunk out of my cheek. mmm bloody.
Captains Basin, Cardrona, New Zealand (with lizzy inset)
Another point of interest happened whilst returning home (again). I was just driving up the car park to turn around, when this snowboarder comes straight towards us. Panic sets in as both of us apply the brakes simultaneously. He ends up having an intimate cuddle with our front bumper, which, I imagine, is a lot less ugly than it could have been.
current mood:  hyper
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| Thursday, July 5th, 2007
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9:55 am - Funny Noises
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Last night, and all yesterday it dumped like 20cm of snow. Instead of snowboarding today, I went to get the car checked out because it was making weird noises. Turns out the brake pads are worn. They're being replaced now, but this means I'm not snowboarding. I'm not happy about this, but am happy I've not driven the car off the side of the mountain on the way down because the brakes failed. Bonza.
Update (later the same day): Got the car back and I'm going out...
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