JW in NZ

I decided I'd go skiing on my second day to one of the areas that I wasn't planning to get a season pass for, Cardrona. The format is slightly different in New Zealand to Europe; no-one really stays up in the mountains, rather people stay in Queenstown and Wanaka and drive or get a bus up to the slopes. Cardrona turned out to be roughly a 30km drive which took ages since the roads are really poor. Honestly thought my car wouldn't make it! I stopped on the way at a viewpoint, largely because I was herding and there were lots of people there. Several people started talking to me and the popularity in fact turned out to be due to a broken down bus with passengers wanting lifts. Earned $20 off that one since I gave 4 Australian guys a lift to the ski area. In fact, I've had passengers now for exactly 50% of my journeys to and from the ski fields!

I had to put the bindings on my skis, which though easy would have best been done somewhere other than in the back of my car at the top of a windy mountain! Having also had the obligatory faff, I got skiing and soon bumped into three of the guys I'd taken up here and ski'd with them for the rest of the day, which was great. Meant that I got a couple of photos to prove that I have actually been skiing!

One thing here that I'm taking a while to get used to is having decent conversations on every lift journey - I'm used to people either not speaking English or being closed off UK train style and avoiding all forms of communication! Everyone here seems so friendly.

Here's one for dad: I'd just got on the main ski lift at the second ski area I've tried, Coronet Peak, and the people behind managed to wipe out getting on the lift (anyone care to enlighten me as to how it's possible?!). This meant the the 'lifties' shut the whole thing down, the only problem being that the lift refused to start back up! To this moment, I'm not quite sure what the people on the next couple of chairs who were watching us thought when they saw the lifties help to lower us off the chair and ski off!

Had a nice confidence boost towards the end of one day - I'd been messing around on a deserted black run leading down to a shortish drag lift and one of the lifties said "nice skiing there, mate" as I got on. He needn't have mind since I was already aware of that fact!