Track back to Oz

Business calls in Melbourne, so time to make some tracks back towards Oz. The weather seems to indicate that icy/snowy roads are likely soon, so I waste no time in geting back via an Intercity express to Christchurch before any road closures are likely through the Lindis Pass to catch a really early plane back over the ditch.



With plenty of time to spare in Christchurch, its time to kick back a bit and take a holiday from the travel, and adjust the internal clock for Oz or probably a better reason would be adjust the clock for the 2am wake up to catch the flight over to Melbourne.

Coronet Peak Paragliding

Picture above is a panorama from the top of the ski lift looking back down to the valley. The actual landing area was about 4km around to the left of the mountain as you look out (which couldn't be seen from here)

Paul hadn't rang, which was a bit surprising, as I was sure he said he was going to one of the ski fields around Queenstown today.
In any case, I figured he might have just had another big night, and was late. I walked into town to offload some excess baggage back to Oz, and I thought if I'm going to hitch a ride up there, I'd better at least check what the weather conditions are. Weather forecast was for strong wind, but knowing how wrong the forecasts usually are, I really wanted to know from someone who might be up there. I give Keith a call from Elevation Paragliding (the same group I iniitially tried to do my license with but the weather wasn't looking promising at the time) and ask him what he reckons the conditions will be like and says he doesn't know but has a tandem flight booked at 11am (but not promising the customer anything) so he's going up there anyway. Keith says, "where are you now?", to which I later realise I'm about 100m away from him! So I get in, we pick up the tandem customer (Lee), and his pilot, Swannee and head on up to Coronet Peak. We get to drive right up next to the ski lift, hop on and ride the 6 seater chair lift with 3 people and a couple of gliders on board.

We're all amazed when we get to the top, that the weather is perfect. It's completely clear skies and a light 5km/h breeze blowing up the mountain at just the right angle. Swannee and Lee head off first, and I follow in a few minutes later (with a quick flight check from Keith) to glide from the 5400ft peak down to the valley below.

Above picture is the area down in the valley where we landed.

Ski Lesson at Treble Cone

Paul is on his way up to Treble Cone again today, and I hitch a ride with him. He lets me know that he's probably not going to ski much of the day, as he's been doing the skiing full on for everyday, and will probably head off to Queenstown early afternoon. I'm happy to hitch a ride to Queenstown too and if weather and circumstances permit I'd like to head up to Coronet Peak to Paraglide. (picture above is Paul standing at "Pub Corner" looking out to valley. TC base and ski lift is in background)

It's a very windy day up at TC, with snow blowing across the top of the ridge at around 80-90km/hr. Conditions are otherwise fine, but I opt out for paragliding here unless an expert is handy. It turns out an expert was taking off at Pub corner below, but before I realised it, it was too late for me to get down there. Not to worry, its quite nice at the base here by the outside fire.

Paul finishes up and asks if I'd like to use his skis and boots, to which I happily accept. I can't barely even remember the last time I put on some skis about 15 years ago at either Perisher or Thredbo, but I don't remember having any real trouble, on my first lesson that day. Whatever they taught me was just a complete blank. I don't even have a clue how the skis connect to the boots. I venture on down to the super easy 20m beginner slope. This is the one that has a magic carpet and an incline that's almost level. I ask Paul to give me a few pointers, and I go down this slope 10-15 times just practising the wedge stop. While I play around with this for the 30 minutes, he heads back inside and get a few more tips from a lady who has skiied a few times before, and is practising herself. She gives me a few more pointers about how to do the zig zag down the slope. She's a star teacher,, and after a few more runs I recommend we head on up to the next beginner slope which has enough slope to it that you can actually get a quite a nice bit of speed up.

Things are moving along nicely, and I reckon I've got this more or less sorted, and decide to go locate Paul for the next bit of advice and also rest the legs.

He comes on out, and grabs my phone and takes some video of me while giving me some more tips on refining the style.

Later, I learn that the reason he's heading on over to Queenstown is for ski instructor get together, and learn that he was doing ski instructing at Queenstown last year. No wonder the tps were so good! And he took the video for the "video analysis" to have a look at later. The funny bit was this was the component of his ski instruction course to get a level one pass, but it obviously worked for me, so Paul definitely passed in my books! (I'll up load some video later - after I've edited the boring bits out)

Snowboard at Cardrona

The day before, Paul had found some other ski bunnies down at Shooters. Allan and Deslee. They're repeat offender Cardrona junkies. They're from Australia too, and are here for a couple of weeks every year. They've got me interested in checking out Cardrona. They say, if you're a beginner and you're managing TC ok, then you'll just love Cardrona because almost all of its slopes are much gentler. I was enthused the night before, but hearing all these stories of busy slopes and lifts full of teenagers I thought it would be best to at least wait 'til school holidays is over. Meeting up at the pub at the scheduled 5-6pm happy hour, I hear that it really was a busy one so I was lucky I didn't go to Cardrona Tuesday, but they've still got me interested in these easy slopes, so I organise to meet up for a 8am ride today.

It turns out to be an exceptionally good choice. Overnight its been snowing and the early morning weather looks worse than it really is, keeping most of the crowds away from the freshly powdered fields! Now and again you had to put up with a snow storm in the early part of the day or board through some low cloud at the lower end of the field, but this just made it more interesting. 90% of the day it was clear blue skies.

Allan and Deslee are spot on though. Unlike TC, where I can barely venture beyond the "easiest way down" (which is equivalent to an intermediate slope at Cardrona), I circumnavigate the entire place at Cardrona throughout the course of the day.

I expected to catch up with my Aussie friends somewhere on the field, but this place was so vast it just wasn't meant to be, so despite all our efforts to meet up for breaks throughout the day, I miss their ride home, but manage a hitch down the hill with another Paul who's visiting from Dunedin all the way back to Shooters with 5 min spare for our regular meetup.

More snowboarding at TC

"TC" as everyone calls Treble Cone, is again today separated from Wanaka below by another inversion layer, which means gliding is unlikely. Paul and I repeat the process of getting up early and cruising up the mountain to get perfectly clear skies above the cloud layer. Once Paul goes up the lift I never see him on the slopes til the end of the day. He's an expert skier that ventures around to all the advanced areas around the mountain. He's also expert at getting the best deal in town for ski lift pass. He's from Sydney and this isn't his first ski holiday over here. He's learnt from last season that if you hire a "Jucy" car rental and ask for the ski pack for an extra $12 per day, it includes snow chains, ski rack and..... a ski lift pass for the driver! (a daily ski lift pass costs around $100/day). So his total cost per day for renting the car is $45/day which is cheaper than the ski lift pass (yes ... he had to repeat this to me twice before I got it!) I have seen some other good deals around such as buying early in the season etc, but this one will be tough to beat.

Meanwhile.. I'm starting to get the hang of going down the mountain on the "toe - heel" doing the "S turns" most of the way down, but still lacking some fluidity. I'm making progress though. The first day it took me near enough to an hour to get down, but now I'm doing it in about 10-15min.. albeit on the easiest way down, and I haven't even had a look at most of the slopes on the mountain yet.

Treble Cone Paragliding

After the Christmas in July celebrations at Wanaka Bakpaka (an evening where everyone cooks something and then shared in smorgasbord style). Paul arrives in late, and misses the great feed which must have something to do with the premise's earlier life (as it was a restaurant before it got converted to a backpacker).

Paul is on his way up to Treble Cone in the morning and offers me a ride up there. We start the day with the best breakfast in town down at Kai Whaka Pai (keep in mind "wh" is side like "F"), and get up the hill with glider on board for opening time. I hang about by the outside fire down at the base of the ski field waiting for conditions to get perfect. I'm on my own here, and the take off area is extremely small, so I'm not taking any chances. At about 11:30am I walk down the area to lay out my glider on the 45 degree angle slope, and from the top Mal is calling out from up top. I later learn that Mal is one of the "speed riders" here, and is about to launch from a slightly different area just around the corner. He's got a camera on his helmet and a small glider that is probably smaller than a parachute and is off the fast way down the mountain. He jumps off, drops like a lead balloon, and then immediately executes a barrel roll before skimming the contours of the mountain all the way down (in about 1-2 minutes). He makes what I'm about to do look like a past time for fairies. If he can do that I shouldn't have any concerns taking off from here.

In any case, I'm setting up the glider on a sloping ground, it's muddy, icy and slippery, and only two steps before walking over the edge. I'm double checking everything. I wait for a small bit anabatic air flow up the side of the mountain, pull on the risers, the glider comes up beautifully even overhead, I take another step and launch off into the air. Phew.. it worked, and glide around the sides of Treble Cone for the next 15 minutes. It's a one way glide down as expected as the air isn't thermalling, so I land down at the road entrance up to Treble Cone below.

I end up hitching back up the mountain with Mal another three times and repeating the process, as was Mal except he was doing three flights down the mountain for every one of mine. He speed rided 18 times that day, which means he had to hitch up 18 times as well!

Here's some of Mal's first person view of what it looks like Speed Riding down Treble Cone.

Snowpark at night

Its been a rest day around here for all concerned... long breakfasts, and an early pub session, as Phil is celebrating his last days of drinking forever in his life. Phil's been travelling for about 8 years and while applying for a residency he's been asked to do some medical tests, and one of which revealed that his diet of alcohol for breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon tea, early and late happy hour and every other hour in between has had some detrimental effects on his liver.. They say he might live for another two weeks, but two months is possible, and probably a lot more if he quits altogether very soon. The other reason Phil is celebrating is because it's his 31st birthday on Monday, and from that day forward he's going to be on a concoction of drugs, one of which will make hime immediatey sick if he consumes alcohol!

So its party mood fever and where else is better to continue on in the night than doing a cruise up to SnowPark to have a look at the snowboarders do their stuff at night. The action turns out to be non event, but the lounge at base is a great place to continue the theme of the day.

Wanaka snow bunnies

Arriving back at Matterhorn backpacker, things have changed since I was last here. The place has just been sold and the new owners are moving in at the same time as me. Not the usual hospitality going here, and nor is the rate. I check in anyway, but not staying for long. Fire doesn't work (its a pretend wood fire), and there are wide reports of the showers not being hot at various times of the day, so its time to scout out some of the places that were on the shortlist last time. I head on over to Wanaka Bakpaka - its the one that has probably the best location of all, including the 5 star motels nearby on the same street. It's got fabulous views looking back to the main town and is set high above the lake. It's cheaper, more comfy, and has the best showers yet seen in all the backpackers I've stayed at. No running out of hotwater here, as it's an "infinity" system, and the shower rose gives something akin to a spa. However there's only two or three of these ones here, and not everyone here even knows they are there! I take the last available spot here for the week, but may have to step out of Wanaka a bit sooner than expected as the ideal time frame is 10 days.

First up, I get in contact with Richard who is the local tandem paraglider operator here, and doubles as the driver of the Treble Cone ski field shuttle bus driver. I get the essential information from him about the nature of the mountain there, but end up getting my own way up there due to various misalignments of time, weather and seats available.

One of the better local pubs around here is Shooters. Nicely set on the main street overlooking the lake. It seems to be a good place to find out what's going on in town. I meet Phoebe here who offers to drive me up the mountain on Friday. We get there early in the morning, but there's an inversion layer (of cloud) that is hovering around just below the snow level on the mountain (which is also the take off area for paragliding), so this is a no go unless it clears. I wait around for a few hours but not looking good, so time to go onto plan B, and do some snow boarding. I grab a lift pass for the half day, and park the glider at the snowboard rental area and resume where I left off at Mt Hutt.

It's school holidays here, but Treble Cone isn't noticeably busy, and even a learner like me can find plenty of room here. I learn later that a good reason for this is that Treble Cone is more of an advanced ski field, so most of the kiddies are over at the nearby slope of Cardrona.

Hitchin back down south

Looks like everyone is heading out of town for the school holidays here, so not much point hanging about any further either. Time to get some experience flying in some other spots. Kuen is off with the family down to Fox Glacier, and Stew is taking his family off to Mt Hutt (skifield near Christchurch) Stew says "I'll give you ride down there", so I start making plans to find a place to stay at the busy ski fields. I give George a call at the Methven YHA and he says "all full, but don't worry we'll find a place for you somehow". Sensational, but moments later Stew says, someone else in the family who wasn't going to go has decided to hold their seat open. ok.. Intercity is going for a premium for the next few days and requires two legs to get south and I can't find a freebie hire car (relocate a hire car) from Nelson, but apparently there's one in Christchurch that needs to be taken to Queenstown. Plan B.. Hitch.

Stew drops me off near his place in Richmond (just west of Nelson), and says if you wait here, you'll get a ride to Christchurch, but if I've still got the spare seat and you're still waiting I'll pick you up. Buzz me if you get a ride. In minutes, a truck pulls on over. Jason says, throw your kit in the back, I'm heading to Christchurch. Wow! Jason is on this job for the 2nd day on this truck, and recons he's been conned - apparently next week he'll be looking for another route to drive. He's doing a triangular run from Christchurch -> Blenhiem -> Nelson - Christchurch which starts at 3am and finishes at 5pm. It's quite a nice truck, he's dropped off the load in Nelson so he's running with nothing now, which is great for negotiating the Lewis Pass (lots of sheer drops down to nowhere - and fully closed to traffic a few days ago due to snow). As we head out of the pass, we see a road train that didn't negotiate a corner very well and went straight where he should've went nicely around the bend. Lucky he did it here on the flats rather than a bit futher up around the pass where there is no second chances, and very often without any barriers. In fact as Jason points out a barrier which is now hanging off into the gorge below.. "one went off there last week - can't even see where it ended up down the bottom"

A few hours into the trip Jason is on the phone after he realises that my call to the hire car company falls flat (no relocate car to take). Says one of his mates does the Christchurch run to Wanaka tonight, so I'll see if he can take you on from where I drop you off.. wow he's a travel agant too. We get into Christchurch at 5pm, but unfortunately the timing wasn't quite right so I'll have to make my own way. He drops me off in Christchurch where Highway 1 heads south, and says, you'll have no problem from here. I grab a quick bite and head back onto the road. It's peak hour traffic, and I'm focussing mostly on trucks as I figure who else will be driving out of town as far away as Queenstown/Wanaka. I'm wrong, I'm looking far down the dark highway trying to see if a long haul truck is coming when a car pulls over that I didn't even notice. It turns out Kim is heading down to Oamaru (on the coast at about the same lattitude as Wanaka), and she's keen to have some company to keep her awake. She's a physio student who is burning the candle at both ends. Studying, working, and visiting friends from Christchurch, Dunedin and home in Oamaru. She says, "whenever I see hitchhikers my car is too full of stuff and I can't pick anyone up, or my car is empty and I never see any", but tonight...

Nice one, well I'm happy her stars lined up, because this takes me a long way down south. As we get close to our destination, the traffic really thins out, and she says, it doesn't look like you'll get another ride from here, and even the cafe where the trucks stop in Oamaru is closed. "How about you stay at my place?" Nice! On the way she notifies one of her friends that she's picked up a hitch hiker so if she goes missing everyone will know why! The comments back and forth were probably fairly obvious, but none so obvious as the one where she says, "and he's staying at my place tonight"... "He's what?!"

Kim drops me back up the other end of town. She reckons my best bet is to go South to Palmerston and head back to Queenstown that way, but I decide to go the other way (back north a few kms to get another highway that goes much closer to Wanaka). I check with the cafe owner which way she reckons is the best, and we get an overwhelming vote in the go back north a few kms, and next she proceeds to ask everyone coming in if they could drop me back at the last highway turnoff (the travel agents are really good around here heh?). I'm up at the turnoff, and I've even got a sign with "Wanaka" on it. I wait about 15min for a dairy farmer who lived in Perth for 5 years picks me up and takes me just a short way down the road. This bit wasn't one of the better efforts. This highway is really thin with traffic, but getting a fair bit up this road has sorted the local traffic from the ones that are going some distance. What little traffic there is, is filled with mums and dads and kids. It's looking so bad, I actually start walking the 200km trip. I get a few kms down the track and Bruce & Joyce are out for a cruisy drive down to Mt Cook (locals from Oamaru). Phew, this was one leg that wasn't looking good, so I'm saved, and drop me off at the T-junction at Omarama about 100km away, along with a quick sight seeing tour and history of all the hydro stations around here.

Time for a quick lunch break... fortunately this spot is hub of activity with the road from Wanaka to Mt Cook with at least a few cars cruising every minute. I wait here for about 30min before a truckie at the service station about 100m away notices my sign, and waves me on over. Pug (Steve) is going directly to Wanaka. He's on a good wicket when it comes to driving trucks. This is the latest and greatest.. super quiet, comfy, and he adds "first one in the country this one".. "it's got an engine that's so advanced you could breathe the air out of the exhaust pipe". No long hours here, no pressure to get anywhere quick (couldn't if he wanted too - the speedo wont let him go over 90k), and you can really tell by the way he drives it - super smooth and slow through the Lindis Pass. Boss owns a company that has practically no competition and he carts the goods, and in his spare time hangs off the ledge of helicopters shooting deer in and around Wanaka to Haast. He drops me off at the door of Matterhorn Backpackers.. I've got to say.. the service around here is sensational!

All in all I've waited longer for a scheduled bus than I waited to get a ride by standing on the side of the road, and I got there a lot quicker than any bus service!