16th August
Ok really sorry to those of you who have been following my blog and have found big gapes over the last few weeks. As NZ has been a big pain in the ass my motivation has dropped off. Not sure why Wanaka has been the place to lose all my belongs but it has. I will be getting a new phone really soon honest. (They are expensive here so I am looking o buy a second hand one). It will be the same number as before so hope no one has deleted it. I am back now and promise to stop moaning and write more often. I am going to try and fill in a few gaps for you all.
Simon came to visit. (I worked with Simon while I was at Swalcliffe) he arrived on 6th for a flying visit. So our aim was to fill in as much as possible. We started off with a few beers in the “Hard rock” pub. Monday night is bingo night. So at 20c a game and loads of crap prizes. It’s anything but serious. Many people are dressed up as old ladies this includes the boys. We have a few in our group and we win a collection of rubbish but the best being bubbles. Which we get distracted with and fill the pub with bubbles. Many of the bubbles head for people’s beers. When fun ends after 10 games we head home. I insist Simon spends the night by the river in the van. After calling me crazy he agrees and goes to bed fully dressed and with a hot water bottle. In the morning we are blessed with a great view of the river and mountains. Simon has his morning shower in the river while I laugh at him and take lose of pictures he never gets deeper than his ankles. I cook eggs and beans on toast. We eat a good breakfast while Simon continues to call me crazy for living in the van. We spend the rest of his trip using posh Motels and restaurants. We head into town to organise the next few days. The plan is to drive to Dunedin over on the east coast. So Simon can see the sights, which were very impressive. We spend the night in a Motel. Have drinks in various pubs and clubs. I catch up on the gossip of Swalcliffe which is really nice after 7 months away. Dunedin is a really nice Town with loads of nice buildings it has a very pleasant atmosphere. A really enjoyable day.
Up early and drive to Queenstown. The plan for the afternoon is a speed boat trip down the river followed by a helicopter trip up the mountain then 5 runs on the louge then a gondolier back down to Queenstown. 4 hours of fun. We had a great day and took loads of pictures. We then drove back to Wanaka. Stayed in another Motel. Had a great meal out before chilling out on the sofa watching some bad film.
Up early for a drive up the west coast. We stop at a few viewing areas and marvel at the views. We then got a flat tire which is quickly fixed at truck and track. Simon got a speeding fine. The rain then comes down so our views are kept to a minimum which is a shame. We walk to Fox glacier where we get totally soaked but had a great time. We then drove on a bit to Franz glacier where we got even wetter. We walked along the river bed to the base of the glacier and took loads more pictures wishing the sun to come out but it refused. So sorry the pictures are not of the usual quality. Then we headed to Greymouth. Where we went for dinner in the Chinese. We walked two feet in the door then turned round and walked straight back out because it smelt so bad and looked really bad. We walked up the road to the Indian and eat there. We drove about the town the largest on the west coast. There was nothing to see or do. It really was the back end of nowhere and not worth the visit. I enjoyed the last night of comfort and enjoyed talking with a mate from home.
Simon was to drive back to Christchurch over Arthur’s pass and I was to hitch back to Wanaka. We had a great few day together and it was sad to see him off. I got a lift within minutes by Luke who just happened to be going to Wanaka. So we spent 7 hours driving through the rain chatting with him. I picked the van up with its 2 new tires and fixed muffler. It now drives like a real van. I meet back up with the Irish crew before heading to bed by the river.
We head up the mountain. The rain has given us 30cm’s of fluffy snow so I enjoy my day’s boarding. Falling over in the fluffy stuff doesn’t hurt. We are all done by 4 and head off the hill. Nine of us meet back at Carols for dinner a great night had by all.
No idea what I did this day but guess I had fun
14th I find my skis at last I am very happy to see them and to see the back of snowboarding. I also have nice warm cloths. Party time.
A great day on the mountain. I could keep up with everyone and only fell over 4 times the whole day rather than 4 times every minute. We were all tired when we came down at 4. Spent some time wondering around town before heading to bed. Wanaka is no bigger than where I live but we manage to spend hours wondering about and wasting time there. Am so happy to get my skis back and my winter cloths.
Thursday 16th
Everyone is on a rest day so I go climbing to Nugget boulders. Over the last few weeks I have been chatting with Rich who works at the climbing wall so he is to become my personal guide to climbing in Wanaka. This is topped off with the fact his girlfriend works in Tango coffee shop so we get free hot chocolate and lunch when we get back. Get to spend the rest of the evening catching up on emails and stuff. So sorry again for the delay and will try not to get so far behind.
Up early and off to the mountain for a morning skiing. The snow is pretty pore now with loads of stones coming through so we ski till lunch. Then hitch back down the hill. (My van is not able to get up the hill it’s too steep). We then head to the climbing wall for a training session. We have to make the most of this because the building and the land has been sold but not the business so the wall will be closing as off 1st September. We climb for a few hours and encourage the kids club to believe in their ability. We then headed back to Chris and Neal’s place where Chris cooked dinner. I then headed off to a new parking spot by the river for a night’s sleep.
Was planning to go up the hill but work up feeling lazy. So I rolled over and went back to slept and didn’t venture back out of my van till 10am. The best thing about lazing around in the morning is that it’s so much warmer and you don’t have to de-ice the inside windows. I have pancakes for breakfast. Spend the afternoon in the internet cafe waiting or my mates to come off the hill so we can go swimming (indoors).
