Two Floridians + Two Snowboards = ???

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Well, it's official. Winter is here. Bust out the electric blankets, coal stoves, ice scrapers, and a whole host of other items that we've never even HEARD of (what the heck is a "Longjohn" anyway? Didn't those go out of fashion in the 1800's? I didn't know people actually still wear them!)

You all (I was tempted to go Texan and put "y'all" there) would be rolling on the floor laughing if you just witnessed us attempting to hand-wash the dishes in our new home. As there is apparently no hot-water hook-up in the kitchen, we were reduced to filling the electric tea kettle and dumping several batches of boiling water in the sink so we wouldn't get frostbite from washing the dishes out of the freezing cold tap water. Bet YOU wish you were here, huh?? Enjoy the beautiful summer weather for us, you North American jerks!! (I mean that nicely, by the way).

Anyway. Like I was saying, winter is here. Queenstown is slowly coming to life again with the opening of the two local ski fields. Two weeks ago we went up with our Swedish buddy Bjern, who kindly offered to teach us pathetic Floridians how to snowboard!! After investing in season passes, boards, boots, bindings, wrist guards, and a whole bunch of other stuff we'd never heard of, we were eager to see if we would actually even LIKE a sport that we'd never tried before. And the answer is...YES!!!! Jeremy, a skate-boarder in his youth, picked up on it in about 30 seconds and was off down the mountain like a pro in no time. My ungraceful self took just a LITTLE longer to get going, though I was nowhere near as terrible as I'd predicted I would be - ha!! Last week I lost my husband to the mountain nearly every day...he'd come home from work at 12pm, grab his board, say good-bye to me (optional), and hit the road! I've been up one other time, with a great group of guys Gabe, Larry, and Nick (from Brazil, England, and Tasmania, respectively)...it was BLIZZARDING up on Coronet Peak (is blizzarding a word? Oh well, it is now)...total white-out, couldn't see 10 feet in front of your face. It was so cool. Literally. Will be hitting the Remarkables Ski Field this week sometime hopefully (where I slid on ice a couple weeks back)...but don't worry, I will NOT be driving this time!!

On Tuesday we finally (drumroll please!) moved out of Rydges Hotel and into our buddy Andy's two-bedroom cottage, where we will be spending our first-ever winter. It's cozy and comfy and would be absolutely perfect if not for the fact that our sole source of heating is a little coal-burning fireplace and a tiny heat pump in the bedroom (which we run very sparingly, as massive power bills are the norm here this time of year)!! Our first two nights here it was -10C, and the house was just stupidly cold. I had six layers on and was still freezing. Luckily the past few nights have been warmer, and we're getting better at keeping the fire alive and figuring out when and how to use the heat pump efficiently...but we cannot believe the extra time it takes to do EVERYTHING in the cold. Waking up freezing, putting on freezing clothes, stoking the freezing fire, warming up the frozen car, scraping the frozen ice off the frozen windows...(yeah, keep on laughing, Canadians)...it is a shocking and annoying amount of extra work to two people who are used to throwing on a T-shirt and walking out the door. Talk about culture shock...

But it's good. We're liking it. Granted, I would not want to live like this for the rest of my life, but for a couple of months, it's going to be a lot of fun. (Or we'll get pneumonia. Whichever comes first!!) Work has really picked up again, too, with the arrival of skiers and boarders and lots and lots of conference people. Last weekend we worked a costume gala dinner for 400 builders from all over NZ (the highlights were Beauty and the Beast, Osama bin Laden, Batman, a pimp, and a walking Playboy calendar). They had a $15,000 bar tab and the party went on 'til 3am (that was a looooooooooooooooong night!). And last night we hosted a dinner for the Pony Club of NZ and watched geriatric equestrians dressed in white glittery gowns dance to really, really bad music. It was a great night, quite entertaining...and it even wrapped up by 2am! We figured the drunken builders would be the ones to break stuff, but no...the Pony Club somehow managed to break 2 large tables and 3 chairs (by dancing on them). And they weren't even drinking! It's conference after conference for the next couple of months, so all the hours we've missed at work during April and May are more than being made up for now!

Last week we did a quick overnight trip back to Balclutha to visit our lovely Kiwi parents, Steve and Katie. We'd been trying to get over to visit them for a while, but our work schedules and then some bad flooding in their area forced us to reschedule again and again. This time, though, we made it, just overnight, but it was great to see them and spend some time with them again (and have some of Katie's homemade cookin' - yum!!)

This Friday kicks off Queenstown's "Winter Festival" (which culminates on July 4th - go wrap your brain around that one), which from what we hear is tons of fun and brings swarms of people into town. Two weeks from now we'll be performing our swing dance to "Zoot Suit Riot" - lots of photos to come from that, not to worry! We've been taking dance lessons twice a week in preparation, and it's coming along quite nicely! We're going to crack everybody up with a surprise lift at the end - except instead of Jeremy lifting me, I'm going to be lifting him. It will be a riot. A zoot suit riot - ha ha. Bad joke. Sigh...what the cold weather does to your brain!! So enjoy the warmth, everybody, and think of us the next time you wipe a trickle of sweat off your forehead...

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Comments

[Joe Smuin]

CCCCCCooold house!!
Amy (and Jeremy): Well, I sort of laughed. I've railroaded at minus 42 degrees celcius out in the railyard and at minus 35 degrees celcius in snow up to my armpits at a derailment site. So, you ain't seen anything so far. Having said that, it is bloody miserable when it's cold in a home. There is no escaping that fact and it isn't funny to live with. Just be careful your water pipes don't freeze up on you. If that happens, then you WILL find out what what trouble can be!! You might try leaving a candle lit at night, someplace where it is safe and guaranteed not to fall over and set things alight. You'd be surprised how much a slow burning candle can help sometimes. I don't know what it is about the English (be they NZ, OZ or Limey), but the concept of proper insulation and central heating seems to have escaped them. One trick to keeping warm at all times is to learn to dress in layers. A good undershirt, a good shirt and a good sweater are the traditional English answer to cold habitats and because this is an effective way of keeping warm, perhaps that's why they never figured out how to keep places warm. Warm socks don't hurt either. Even here in Vancouver, when the weather is cold, I routinely wear socks to bed. The other trick is to learn the ancient routine of rural Americans and Canadians in winter country ... about 3.30-4 a.m., you get up and stoke the fire. I grew up with a wood burning furnace in our old farm house. Every night when it was cold, dad was out of bed and downstairs around 4 a.m. You'll probably have to learn to do likewise. It's really not good for the house to get minus 10 below inside. I can see that husband of yours is going to have to be trained some more!!! :>) Still ... what an education and adventure you kids are having. Your photos, as usual, are wonderful. Can't wait to see how your winter progresses. So far it's as tame (in terms of weather severity) as it is picturesque. Just be careful with those snow boards. Busted bones are no joke. What a beautiful little home. Can nothing be done about that hot water supply??? cheers and hugs from Vancouver Joe

[carol powers]

Fernhill Road - hmmmmmmmm?
sounds like a place right out of Lord of the Rings. It is really a cute place and cooking should be the order of the day after living for four months in a hotel (sigh). Oh well, you can't have everything - but looks as if you two are close to it. Glad you are having such a great time (along with freezing, only occasionaly though) - you'll look back on this as a really wonderful adventure. Miss you two - love, Mom

[Aerogers]

Response to Joe
Hi Joe, yes, you are so right about the English and their lack of properly insulating/warming their homes!! The past few nights have been much better, and we've definitely gotten the whole concept of dressing in layers down...so we're getting there!! Our landlord says frozen pipes have never happened in this house (knock on wood), so hopefully we won't have to worry about that. As far as hot water, we have plenty of it in the bathroom, but for whatever reason, none in the kitchen. Oh well. You can't have everything, can you? :-)

[Jeana]

Cute cottage! Stay warm. It was 97 degrees here the other day in the ministry. Yeah, lots of beads of sweat!

[Joe]

Another winter trick.
Hi Amy and Jeremy: Another handy little trick ... you probably haven't yet had to deal with the phenomenon of snow soaked shoes/boots. Wet shoes left to dry in a warm place overnight can be helped along with newspaper or paper towel stuffed inside them. Helps to absorb moisture faster. (Also ... not a good idea to lick cold metal. You'd be surprised how many people do - once!) Hugs, Joe

[Aerogers]

You rock Joe!!
Joe, we have just decided that if we ever make it to your area, we're coming to visit. Thanks so much for all your fun comments and advice!! We are resisting the urge to lick cold metal, I promise. Ha!!!

[Edward Mallen]

Sweating your socks off
Yes, that is what is happening to us for the last three weeks. Temperatures in the mid 90's with a heat index of well over 100. That is Farenheit for you Kiwis. I wish I was snowboarding!