So after nearly six weeks of living off chocolate danishes, bananas and Subway rolls it's time to start heading home. I left the rest of the posse at the hitching spot in Wanaka as they headed up to the Snowpark to ride with the Japanese pro team. It had snowed the night before and as I dragged my bags into town to catch my bus to Christchurch airport, the clouds disappeared and the sun came out. Lucky, lucky buggers. The flight from Christchurch to Auckland went smoothly - no weather problems this time, and eleven hours later the plane lands in [View Full Entry]

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Hey broo. Hey broo. Ha's it going?. Sweet iz broo. Hey broo, you want some chups? Chups? Yeah chups. You want some chups broo? Ah yeah, sweet iz broo. I love chups ey. Here yu go broo. Sweet iz broo. Yeah, sweet iz broo. Three weeks in NZ and as you can see I am now fluent in the native tongue. It seems as long as I end every sentence with "ey" and call everyone my "broo" I'll be fine. Anyway. Wanaka! At last! We finally arrive at our new house and Tim and I are greeted by a sheepish Lawrence... [View Full Entry]

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There are advantages and disadvantages to blagging a VIP pass to a high profile event. On the opening night of the Queenstown Festival my official photographer (er, Tim) and I were invited to the Festival Launch Party. All the official sponsors were present, suited and booted, and they all seemed to know each other. They politely shook each others' hands, introduced their glamorous wives / girlfriends, and delicately took individual canopays from a dolly bird's tray. And then there was us. We arrived at the purpose built pavilion in our smartest jeans, hoodies and trainers ('cos that's [View Full Entry]

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Queenstown. The self proclaimed adrenalin capital of the world, a party town for the adventurer. If you have the money (and you really do need the money) you can ride a jet boat through a canyon, be catapulted across a valley, do a seven second bungy jump, skydive 15,000 feet from a plane, and play crazy golf. The very idea of a bungy jump did not appeal to me, but on arriving in Queenstown it had already been organised. I was met by three guys I'd met in Canada; Tim, Lawrence and Jack. And it being Jacky Boy's birthday an' all, [View Full Entry]

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Oh my God, that's a long friggin' way! I arrived in Auckland at 5.30 in the morning, nearly fourteen hours after I left LA and had no idea what day it was. With my eyes sealed shut with crust I managed to catch my connecting flight to Christchurch at 8.30, but after an hour or so of circling in the air we turned around and went back to Auckland because of bad weather. So, in my zombie-like state I collected my bags, wheeled them back over to the domestic terminal, re-booked for another flight, and exactly the same thing happened again. [View Full Entry]

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Seven weeks at home and I was getting itchy feet. I'd spent quality time with the family, reminded my niece and nephew what I look like, politely nodded as my friends jealously abused me, but I just didn't feel settled. Three months in the mountains made coming home to the claustrophobia of England all the more uncomfortable. My time in Canada had only increased my craving for the outdoor lifestyle that comes with snowboarding, so after a few weeks freelance design to top up the funds, I packed up the snowboard again and set off for the winter of New Zealand. [View Full Entry]

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"I'm lovin' the terrain here at Lake Louise," I say. "Yeah me too," agrees Tom. "These wide open motorway groomers make a nice change from the steep and deep of Fernie". "And the views from this side of the mountain are superb!" exclaims Tim. We all agree, Lake Louise's nicknames of Rock Louise and Lake Lousy seem somewhat unfounded and we decide to head higher up the mountain. "Where too next? I ask, sliding to a stop. "Well," says Tim, "we've seen quite a lot of this side of the mountain. Why don't we try over there?" Tim points to the [View Full Entry]

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Hey y'all! I know I know - but things have been a little hectic around here these last few weeks. The season went from casually ripping up the slopes and drinking beer to full on revising and practicing. It's been like Snowboard University. I'll even go so far as to say that a little of the same kinda stress from my Uni days was present before exam day, but more of that in a bit. So, week 8 and we all went off to another resort called Red Mountain near the US border. This was a full on r&r weekend staying [View Full Entry]

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You know, you'd think that the longer I stay here and the more I learn from these pro's, the better my riding gets and the more seriously I take this snowboarding lark. But no my friends. It seems that as my riding gets better, the more I am expected to ride whilst hindered by big silly outfits and heavy gold chains. Just when we thought we were safe from dressing up and making tits of ourselves on the hill, Wednesday 5th of March arrives and with it comes "Bling day". For one day only, the Fernie posse invaded the slopes pimped [View Full Entry]

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As I write this, I've just received an email from my little sister Helen. My nephew Will was discovered the other day bouncing on the bed with his arms outstretched, calling himself "Uncle Pauly" and pretending to snowboard. He is two years old. I tell you, that's enough to weaken the eyes of any super cool, season hardened, international playboy Snowboard Instructor. I now feel as though I owe it to my wonderful nephew to raise the bar a little and give him something truly to look up to. So, one bottle of wine later and I have now enrolled on [View Full Entry]

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