Arrive in Auckland, cold and raining. Depart two days later in the new Neil mobile, a 1992 Toyota station wagon, 2 litre, 16v babe magnet, ha ha. Purchased at an open air car market from a Iranian gentleman who insisted he wasn't an
unregistered car dealer. He gave me his cell phone number and said if the engine blew up he would give me my money back. Nice chap. For NZ$1150 it was a good price but it's a pretty tired old car,
straight line it'll pull well over 160 Km/H (on private roads of course) but slowly does it through the corners because the suspension is well shot.
Through the rain and down to Wellington to visit my relatives Doris and Ted, who had very kindly cleared and snowboard gear through NZ customs and took delivery. It was very nice to be looked after and fed having been living in hostels for six weeks. Two early morning swims with Doris showed how unfit I was after travelling across Europe and Asia. Not good preparation for a season of snow boarding.
Onwards to the south island on the ferry and the first sight of snow on the mountains.
I'd only planned a brief visit to Methven and Mount Hutt snowfield, four weeks later I finally managed to leave. No feeling of urgency on my travels. There was a good crowd at the Mount Hutt Bunkhouse, with some friends there from a previous visit. Even though it was lacking in snow some pretty good days were had on the mountain, with some pretty boozy nights in Methven and the Bunkhouse. We'd all be out the back late at night doing our snow dances. You can try it too, patting the dog with one hand, screwing in the light bulb with the other. Seemed to work with a dump of 24cm we were almost first to the top of the mountain for fresh tracks down. Riding most days with my buddies, oh so cute Japanese girls, German dudes and Hamish who at 53 rides for longer and harder (oo-er) than any of the rest of us. Remember age is just a number in your head.
Frank Zappa wrote a song called 'Don't eat the yellow snow'. That morning at Mount Dobson I was more concerned about the green snow under my car. 15km along a gravel road the car park was at a height 1720m, the highest in New Zealand. I wasn't reckoning that my breakdown cover would get me out of this one. Oh well, it wasn't as if I was driving through one of the most remote parts of NZ. Looked like the seal on the expansion tank cap had gone, no major worries. The day soon got worse on the mountain with snow falling heavily. Loaded up with water I continued my journey south, past Lake Tekapo and then Lake Pukaki. The snow was falling to road level now. The lake was a fantastic sky blue iridescent colour in complete contrast to the gray sky and brown landscape. The light was fast disappearing and the snow getting heavier until the car was skidding across the road. Time for the snow chains maybe, but the then the lights of mount Cook Village came into view. A good 5 inches of snow lay on the ground by the morning. An amazing winter wonderland in this extremely remote alpine area. The weather began to clear by lunch time I so walked up the valley to the Kea point. Strewn across the valley was the debris of a retreating glacier, the ice blue on the mountain side.
Mount Cook was obscured by clouds. Impressive were the sound of avalanches and rock falls from the mountains.
Back past Lake Pukaki, even more brilliant blue in the sunshine, and onto Ohau Lodge beside Lake Ohau (pronounced oh-how). My budget blown for the week I enjoy a beer in the out door spa pool with a view of the lake and mountains beyond. A really cool place to stay.
Ohau ski field is in my top two ski fields in the south island. One chairlift, 50-60 people on the mountain, great terrain and some good untracked snow well into the day. Hike to the ridge above the chairlift, climb, strap in and ride down the next ridge, more hiking, boots sinking up to the knees in the snow until the second peak is reached. Six of us had made the hike, we were rewarded with a steep untracked powder slope. 50 minutes from taking the chairlift I was back down. Who needs to spend money on heli-snowboarding when it's as good as this.
Feeling pretty stoked after my day at Ohau, I headed south to Wanaka. It was an easy decision to go to Treble Cone Ski field the next day. My other top NZ ski field. A concerned bystander asks if I know about the puddle of coolant beneath my car, I nod and she says 'I thought so'. The ski was blue the snow soft, the views of Mount Aspiring and Lake Wanaka below amazing, the trails; Shooter, Bullet and Side Winder giving so much fun, winding natural half pipes down the mountain side, the untracked powder after hiking to the summit, riding the best I've ever done in my life, my super new Ride DH snowboard, yeah man, life is good.
