Nelson

We really liked this area, it would be a good spot to live.  Rolling hills with mountains in the background, vineyards, the ocean, the sunniest area in NZ and they grow apples here.

Abel Tasman

 This morning we took a water taxi from Marahau out to the Abel Tasman National Park and were dropped off in Bark Bay.  We then hiked 21 km back out along the Abel Tasman Coast Track to our car.  We took a short cut across Torrent Bay at low tide only to find out that there was still a river running through the bay, which Laura can be seen crossing in the picture.  It was a great hike.

Marlborough

 After skiing we drove up to the Northern end of the South Island.  We saw this fur seal along the way and we stopped in the Marlborough wine region to taste some wine.  This picture is from Cloudy Bay winery.  Try their Sauvignon Blanc or Te Koko Sauvignon which are both exported to the states.

Ice Skate NZ

 

Another day on the Mt Hutt ski fields, we were both a tad sore from yesterday.  It may have had something to do with not skiing for 15 months.  Or maybe it was the spills Laura and I took while skiing yesterday.  We awoke early to try and make the first chair in the morning.  We were close, they had only been running for one half an hour by the time we skied into the lift lines.  Our hope was that after grooming the snow would be a nice mix of the new snow from yesterday and some machine groomed granular (east coast slang for chopped up ice.)  It turned out that the winds had blown most of the snow away, but at least there was little wind in the morning and the skiing was pretty good if you picked your lines correctly. 

After lunch, things turned a bit nasty, the wind really picked up and this scored off the layer of snow leaving some icy patches.  Not to mention that the snow whipped up in the wind was painful on your face and cold.  We called it quits a bit after 3pm and headed back down the mountain towards the warm fire at the lodge and a hot cup of tea and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon.  One cool thing about Mt Hutt is they have an electric pass system, which logs how many times you ride up each lift.  On their web site you can check the meters you have skied, we logged 15,288 meters over 2 days.

Ski New Zealand

We were living the dream today...my dream at least.  For a long while now I have wanted to go skiing in New Zealand, not exactly sure why, but it has always intrigued me.  We flew into Christchurch yesterday from Sydney and drove up to Methvan last night.  This morning we rented skies and boots from town, Laura lucked out and received brand new Volkl Tierras for her rentals, and headed for the mountain.  It was an 25K drive up from the Canterbury plains, once we hit the mountain road, we had to chain up because it was snowing.   They had a nice set up, you give them the rental fee and they put the chains on for you.  No fussing in the wet mud with cold chains.

To get to Mt Hutt we had to drive 14km up a steep and twisty road with shear drops on the edges and no guard rails.  We were happy to make the parking lot at the end.  I will let the pictures speak for the mountain and the skiing.  There were no crowds on the slopes and the morning snowfall provided a nice cover over the hard-pack underneath.  Mt Hutt is the highest ski slope in the Southern Alps and had decent coverage for this early in the season.  There is some really awesome expert terrain that needed some more snow and I will have to wait for next time to experience these chutes.