Downtime in Queenstown

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The Remarkables today. Or The Remarks for those in the know. Or so we'd planned. We awoke to a dreary, rainy Queenstown. Probably not bad enough to deter the hardcore snowboarders but when the NZSki website lists The Remarks as "on hold" and with the road closed due to weather conditions, it's enough to deter us. We have two days left on our lift passes and 3 full days left in QT - we roll the dice based on the improving forecast and opt for a rest day. And while the kids have a few bumps and bruises - Milla named the egg on her bicep Betty Bruise - the oldies have some aches and pains that make opening car doors and putting on backpacks an ordeal. Here's hoping the rest day is better and not worse for those aching muscles we didn't even know we had.

While the rain clouds have obscured the snowcapped mountains, the view is still impressive. From the silence of our cosy apartment, the town and the pine covered hills beyond remind me of a Swiss town we stayed in back in 1998. Even the architecture of the rooflines is similar. It's an international city in another sense. Every interaction we've had (except for the shuttle bus driver Caitlin) has been with foreigners. Caitlin was the only Kiwi in QT we've met. AirBNB host Pete is a Pom, baristas French and Spanish, Ski Hire assistant German and English, check-out chicks and chaps south Asian and ski instructors Aussie and Scottish. The bar staff in Arrowtown were all Kiwis. No, one of the three was German or Dutch.

Arrowtown is a historic mining village 25 minutes drive from QT. It felt wrong to spend all day watching episodes of Mako Mermaids and Musketeers (BBC) on Netflix. Some felt more wrong than others - I'm looking at you Make Mermaids!

I must confess that the road closure to The Remarks did fill me with fear. "Black Ice and Snow". Jase and his family had a bad accident in Northern England when he was a kid and it was caused by BLACK ICE - an invisible killer! The RAV4 comes with compulsory (though not complimentary) tyre chains and there's nothing I'm avoiding more than having to attach and drive with them. Jules suggested I google how to attach them, but I argue why learn a skill I hope never ever to have to use?

The road to Arrowtown looks pretty flat - kind of in a valley. Driving out onto Gorge Rd we turn at Pedro's World of Lamb and I make a yummy sound. Milla is besotted with the SHEEP and disgusted that I would eat them. We argue that there are over 70 million of them and they taste so good. We pass the turn off to Coronet Peak and the chaining bay looks busier than yesterday. I'm not afraid to plead ignorance and ask for help if it comes to it - which I'm confident it won't!

We cross Arthur's Point on a single lane bridge that traverses a river gorge. Looks like prime shotover jet territory - sheer cliffs, rocky rapids flowing. More fields of sheep and horses and we turn into a quaint strip of single story old shops that you'd expect to see in an old wild west movie or a mining village in a gold rush. It's still raining but only lightly. We stroll up and down the high street, check out the souvenir shops and stop in at the pub for lunch. It's a Kiwi pub that feels like an Irish pub called the New Orleans Hotel. An open fire and hearty food - burgers for the kids, roast pork for me and seafood chowder for Jules. We saw a few chowders in Ireland! There are so many varieties of Montieths on tap it's intimidating. I try the Montieths Red IPA and think I've found a new favourite.

Milla delights in the froth to milk ratio of her hot chocolate and we dangle the carrot of a visit to The Remarkable Lolly Shop if she finishes her lunch. "I'm fulllll!" she says. She's not. But before we know it, the waitress has swooped in and taken her plate away. She smiles like the cat who got the cream and we head next door to Lollypolooza where the staff force samples of fudge and nougat down your throat. Even after I've paid and we're leaving the store they still offer more free samples. I'm not sure they get the purpose of the sample.

Still drizzling as we head home. We collect some supplies and watch some more Netflix. I need to change my ski boots. I could have sworn my big toenail was broken and bleeding after a day of snowboarding in too-tight boots. It wasn't, but I won't survive another minute boarding in those shoes. An Irish girl tries to talk me out getting bigger shoes and it might impede my boarding and tricks. Tricks!

The manager at Snowbiz is a Kiwi.

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