We just got to wanaka via crown range....no dramas on the drive. Wanaka looks nice! Cardrona with the kids tomorrow. Might go for a run this arvo.....a bit of family tension to blow off!!
Shame a lot of the mistakes in Queenstown are happening in wanaka. It’s not the place it was 30 years ago!
Yeah, you're not wrong. Lots of kids, lots of snowboarders, lots of Chinese. A bit of a circus. The queues though are at least well organised, so not too bad.
Conditions at Cardrona are hard and fast. Groomed trails are in very good shape, but offpiste is generally pretty sketchy so generally avoided. Was an enjoyable fast cruisy day though.
Receptionist at the place we are staying at tells me the chinese olympic ski team in town......i saw what i presumed to be them running into town when i went to the stupormarket to get supplies i think they may be staying with us up the end of anderson rd. Ill take what i can get......pretty happy with the nz experience so far....certainly more civilised than aus resorts eh? Good healthy food on offer too.....sure beats the 'yellow food' (deep fried whatever) back home.
Not many chairs go up with out being filled which is great to see. The next developments should really Open the resort up especially if any of the nice to do things get done...
So...today sunny til early arvo then a change then maybe 10cms tonight tomorrow, is that right? Here til sunday. Thinking today would be snow farm day for mrs mr xc as opposed to tomorrow? Thanks
Agreed. You really are a captive audience there and prices are going crazy. And we found that, apart from Speights, there isn't really much in terms of casual cafe dining.
Thats interesting I asked at reception at wanaka where to go for dinner in wanaka. I got 'cook for yourself'. This is fine for me, eating out and paying for 5 can be exorbitant anyways
There’s red star the burger place that used to always be a good feed. But even things like fish and chips are expensive in wanaka.
So cardrona was sunny all day, firm n fast today....lift lines busy, but i dont think NZers have skiied buller! We got there about 930 and did the drop off and scored a park just down from the top! Continue to be impressed by the service, the lift line organisation-staff (you 2? you 3? Need a single!) and the food on offer. Notice plenty bring their own food....i guess its always a day-trip. Also impressed by real plates, real cups and real cutlery. Plenty of aussies and chinese and school kids..... I suspect some sectors of the skiing chinese middle class may develop a reputation like bogan aussies in Bali or niseko.....anyhow, i guess every culture goes through the same curve. Day started with sunrise over treble cone
Then i finished off the tele-quads day with a beautiful 9km ish run around sticky forest and the lake edge....millpond
Slow start for last day. Looks like 10 cents fresh at cardrona. Chains from bottom. Heading up with 2 older kids for a couple of hours. Mrs mr and ms10 heading to snow farm. Looks pretty rough on the cams.....
Yes......thats what they say...... Anyway mr12 is very keen for last day.....its 'his trip' (he asked for it for xmas) so ill go with it. I expect we wont last long...
Is what it is..........enjoy. It's a great way to work on technique and think about body position, shins on the tongue of your boots. etc. Change to low vis lenses if you have them. I followed a private lesson for a bit in very low vis last season. (couple of locals I was chatting with at lunch said worst vis day of the season). The instructor was fantastic, skier was a kid who was probably 14+ very good little skier. Instructor kept a very very slow pace and asked him a number of times if the boy was OK, not feeling sick in the stomach? Instructor was saying it was OK to feel sick in the stomach, was normal as it was not a normal situation to be in. But instructor kept on saying, I know where we are, it's a wide blue run, we are safe and this is a great opportunity to just think about your technique, etc etc.
Haha well we put chains on at pine tree, went to bottom carpark all pumped about the pow.....'ah gents we are shutting the mountain.....!'
And here I am complaining that there wasn't enough snow when I was there. I think I'd be shattered if a day got called early due to too much snow coming down.
I think it was vis and wind up high. I thought the vis was fine by aus standards and it wasnt that windy i thought but the shape of the kiwi mountains i guess means it would be easy to lose people off the sides.....dunno, really why they shut it...
And i got another 10kms in near the lake. Back to melbs tomorrow, think we will go via cromwell Real estate is fkn expensive both QT and wanaka. A bit mind blowing really Seems to be alot of kit forms or modular in wanaka I prefer wanaka but i guess everyone is saying that now!
Noooooo. Saw they didn't even open Captains at all this morning, so must have been concerned about boundaries and people loosing their way? Maybe something happened which made them pull the plug? Winds were not that bad.
Ive skiied in alot worse. And the pow was just starting to get good. I must say the chain guys are great at the bottom.....although i was showing my teens what to do and started having a few peeps ask me to theirs. Dont wear an orange jacket and sound competent!
Mt hutt had a shocker as well. Opened. Then pulled pin at mid morning. Convoys down. Risk of Avie's on the bluff
My first day this year was poor visibility and raining. A couple people dropped over the edge of Sean's Way cat-track en route to Captain's basin. The day wasn't shut down then. Maybe the concern today was finding people if they did manage to disappear over an edge, rather than people actually falling over edges.
Id been told that but we had 3 / 4 days fresh dry snow, sunshine, no wind. Then the mountain was shut on a day we thought was pretty benign Its all a beat up i tell ya!
Not for a Australian on average, unless ya like being the whipped dude in the pub!!!! Yep, great banter.
Two separate skiers helicoptered to Dunedin Public Hospital from TC yesterday. Rugby not worth mentioning.
2 degrees and sleet on the cromwell road....crown range open but we went to QT the gentle way to be sure...very scenic....id say more scenic Fergburger breakfast in QT. We had heard the hype but the queues were scary....but no queues this morn. Good burger
Every time I go to QT I always spend time looking at real estate agents' windows. Every time I go to QT I always spend time thinking of how many kidneys I really do need.
Yes a quick peek in each town told a pretty interesting story. Is it like that in the south generally or is it boomers investing etc?
Built form wise you mean or otherwise? Seems to me a bit of a skiier-tradie town making it off the detached build, rather than the apts of QT of a different scale
