Queenstown - the week that was

It's Wednesday and i'm back from a week in Queenstown, New Zealand. Fantastic place, and fun times! It's a real shame that i've had to come home so soon. Snowboarding and exploring was the name of the game for this trip! This week is also my last week in Sydney, the countdown to adventure begins!

5 of us departed for New Zealand on a gloomy Monday evening. Several hours later, 1am local time, we were at Christchurch Airport. With half of the airport closed off and the need to stay overnight we settled by the yellow arrivals wall for some rest. Sleeping by the yellow wall sucks... it's cold and the ground is uncomfortably hard. Shouldn't expect any less really. Didn't get much rest by the wall.

With my jacket over my head, there was more than just the cold and the solid ground to contend with. I struggled to sleep as there was gunfire (arcade gunfire) chattering through the terminal. After a while I decided to wander out and a pair of tards were playing Time Crisis 4. They were clearly in for the long haul as they had a mound of coins on the ground next to them. The benefit of not being able to sleep was that I got to explore the recently opened-up sections of the airport!

Now if you're going to sleep at Christchurch airport, try the soft benches in front of the International Departures section. Part 2 of the Christchurch sleepover was much more comfortable... but even this location is not ideal. I awoke approximately an hour and a half later with a pair of elderly people sharing my "bed". Awkward. I then proceeded to search for another resting place.

As the idiom goes, third time lucky, and this is what it was like with the search for a peaceful rest. Upstairs in the cafe area (on the way to the obeservation deck) is the best pace to sleep. Up in the cafeteria area there are some comfortable long soft seats, a dream to sleep on. If you manage to get up there, sleep there. Simple. Strange start to the post... but thought i'd share this little tidbit! Once 9am hit, I was on a plane to Queenstown.

Queenstown is a lovely place, and accomodation wise... the closer the better. That's the way I see it anyhow. I stayed at the Four Seasons Motel. The accom was clean, close, toasty... and not overly expensive. A decent place to stay. No complaints from me.

Day 1 in Queenstown wasn't a full one, so we decided to go Clayshooting. Now this was good fun! Didn't know what to expect but the instructor, Blake?, was a really down-to-earth guy who took us for a bit of a tour in his van before taking us down to blow clay disks out of the sky. Now I wasn't the best at this, and one of the girls came out on top - but this is a must do in Queenstown in my opinion.

Obviously shooting clay wasn't really the main aim of the holiday. One of the main aims was to get some more experience with snowboarding. I've only ever been once before, so trying to master the S-turns was something that I wanted to do. Reasonably successful, but at a price. Spent plenty of time on my backside and knees. One stack was so severe that my beanie, goggles, and glasses went flying!

Spent one day on each of the nearby ski fields around Queenstown. First up was Cadrona, then the Remarkables, and then Coronet Peak. Each had it's advantage - best runs go to Cadrona runs, best view is from the Remarkables, and Coronet Peak has the best food/organisation. Since i'm a bit of a newbie when it comes to boarding I didn't quite get to all of the runs across the different snow fields... but as always, the newbie areas are the worst. People everywhere, and many of them without any semblance of control. As soon as you learn the basics, my tip is to head out and practice in some less crowded (albeit harder) areas. No pain, no gain!

After a few days of boarding it was time to chill out, and we decided to go and visit the Onsen Hotpools. Apparently this is the thing to do after a few solid days in the snow! I would recommend it, as it's not too expensive... and much cheaper than a massage. We went in the evening (the last session was at 10pm), and it was a treat. You get to sit in a hot pool (a little too hot at times), muck around with the roof so that the stars can be seen, turn on the pressure jets, and get sprayed in the face with cold water. Entertaining. Oh, and I also got addicted to the Apple and Guava (organic) fruit juice.

The following day was wet and gloomy, so didn't really do all that much. We quickly found out that there isn't all that much to do on a rainy day in Queenstown. Funnily enough we ventured down to watch Inception. I thought that this was a great film... thrilling and thought provoking albeit with a predictable twist at the end.

The final day in New Zealand was a treat. Rented a car from Apex, a Subaru Legacy, and took a cruise out to Glenarchy, to do a bit of trailwalking. This has to be New Zealand at its best. The drive out to Glenarchy was amazing - snow capped mountains draped with puffy clouds, windy roads following the shoreline, and the pristine blue waters of Lake Wakatipu. Unfortunately we had a limited amount of time and was only really able to do the Lake Sylvan trail walk. Some of the most fun i've had on that track - wet, boggy, and full of adventure. Great times! A great way to finish up in New Zealand.

Back on the home front. Things are quickly coming together. I've booked the short term accomodation in London - a couple of blocks out from work. Furthermore, i've managed to successfully create a UK bank account (fairly painless), and suspend health insurance cover. Only a few days to go... how exciting!