Boards, Bikes and Bath-tubbing

Arriving in Queenstown we were greeted by some old friends and decided to stay for a while, maybe even for the whole season. We took in some of the local sights, went for a couple of walks and handed out some CV’s in an attempt to find work. I probably saw more of Queenstown than I did the whole of last season, as we enjoyed the lake, and Queenstown Gardens. We took the trek up to the skyline Gondola… Ambre took the gondola down and skipped the fee. I walked down and somehow got lost. But after climbing through a hole in a metal fence, sliding down on my arse most of the way, and having all the onlookers in Gondolas laughing at me, I made it down safely.

 

Ambre and I even managed to get job interviews in Queenstown, but only after we had decided to move to Wanaka. After realising just how far away Queestown is from our ski field, Cardrona, Wanaka was really the only option. I wanted to buy an old banger of a car, with charm and comedy value. However there was little available in that category, so the best and most sensible option was a 1995 Subaru Legacy. It’s got a roof rack, tape deck, and some sweet stickers. Plus it seams pretty good at getting up and down the mountain.

 

We have had no luck with jobs in Wanaka yet, but did manage to find a sweet place to live. It’s a few dollars more expensive than other places, but has a en-suite bathroom, wide screen TV in the bedroom, lake view, and includes use of a gym, sauna, jacuzzi, pool, tennis court and table tennis. It is part of a luxury holidays resort, but the owner prefers not to use it as a holiday home in winter, luckily for us!

 We’ve made full use of the facilities, but with the ski fields delaying their opening for a couple of weeks, it was clear I would need something else to keep me busy. Keen as always to act my age, I bought a skateboard. I know it’s not very mature, and I am still pretty useless at it, but it is a lot of fun. We also purchased a couple of bikes. Not mountain bikes, which would have been the sensible choice considering the local terrain. But a stylish retro Raleigh one speed, and a kids BMX. The choices were imposed by our dire financial situation, and our bikes are not very practical, but they do look cool!

We’ve been on a few bike rides, and the Raleigh has had a couple of admiring comments already. We’ve not done any challenging routes, but it should be keeping us in shape for the impending ski season.

 

Life has been relatively quiet in Wanaka so far, so to change all that we headed to Queestown this weekend for the Winter Festival. Sure enough it was a change of pace that included free beer, vomit, falling asleep in a bar, a mechanical bull, and that was just Ambre. We also checked a snowboard workshop and the opening firework ceremony. The highlight was due to be the bird-man competition, where our mates Lee and Oli would rein-act the movie cool runnings by jumping off a peer in a bath tub. The competition went ahead, but any involvement by our party was held back by a hangover.

 We did attend the festival, but did little more than sample the free booze that was been dished out. Not wanting the bath tub to go to waste Lee and I picked it up, and after removing the bobsleigh appendages it somehow managed to fit in the back of the car. We started with the gentle slopes of the local rugby field before progressing onto some more challenging bath tub rides. The rugby club stairs were my final frontier. I would like to say I wasn’t taking further risks due to the upcoming snowboard instructor course that I have already paid for. However compared to the madmen and woman that undertook the days most challenging bath-tub feature, I was just being lame.

 

The biggest stair set in town is not only long but had rails either side and a dangerous looking wall at the bottom. Our group was ten strong, but the crowd that gathered was considerably bigger. A few people went to the bottom to act as ‘stoppers’, as the bath could’ve ended up on the main road. A few people took up good vantage points to video, and I stayed at the top to push. Knowing how guilty I would feel if I pushed and someone got seriously injured, I let a couple of random guys do the honours. Luckily the bath-tub smashed into a railing half way down and the days events came to a close, almost injury free. The mad woman who volunteered to take the front seat did have painful looking hand injury, but hopefully  she’s okay.

 

After the excitement of Queenstown we returned to our routine in Wanaka. It has got colder and the ski fields have been making snow. The first ski field in New Zealand opened yesterday near Christchurch, and hopefully the fields near Wanaka won’t be too far behind. Until then it’s all bikes and boards, maybe some more bath-tubbing..?