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Published: August 25th 2008
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Wanaka
Wanaka Greets the Kids! What a perfect ski weekend! We spent 4 days at the Top 10 Holiday Resort near Lake Wanaka. Weatherwise, we could not have timed this trip more perfectly. We left Timaru on a sunny Thursday afternoon and arrived in Wanaka with a good 3 hours of daylight left. After checking into our room, and checking out the resort, we headed into Wanaka to take a walk by the lake and have dinner. We are always in awe of the wonderful playgrounds in New Zealand - even older kids and adults can have fun. After a great deal of wandering around and realizing that we had waited too long to choose a restaurant, we ended up dining at Speight's Ale House at around 8pm. It was a great meal and a fun place to have dinner and enjoy some of the Olympics.
On Friday we could hear the rain begin at around 2am and it poured straight through the morning. We went to "Puzzling World" and had fun going through the illusion rooms and playing with puzzles. We have decided to save the outdoor maze for another trip. At noon Gregg was convinced that the weather would clear and we would be
Wanaka Playground
There are such great playgrounds in New Zealand!
Fun for ALL ages! able to ski. We opted to head up to Treble Cone as our goal is to experience as many NZ ski fields as possible and we knew we would be skiing at Cardrona on Saturday. Treble Cone was a great choice. Although the drive up was a bit hairy (I do think I am getting more use to these drives), it was at least below the snow line. Treble Cone sits right on the snow line. The lower part of the mountain was a tad slushy, very spring skiing like, but once we got up to the upper area of Treble Cone, there was amazing powder. I don't think I have skied in powder like that for 20 years. Sydney opted to not ski, but instead hung out in the cafe and watched people, Kea birds, and read. We had heard about the bold Kea birds in many locations we have visited, but this was our first opportunity to see and experience them. They were everywhere and not one bit shy. They like to peck on rubber and often damage cars, tents, ski racks, backpacks, etc... I can see why. We thought they were beautiful and really fun to watch
Puzzling World
Lots of Fun Here! as long as it wasn't our stuff they were ruining. They are part of the parrot family and quite large. We got quite a few good photos of them. It was a great afternoon of really challenging skiing. The boys did amazingly well in such heavy powder.
On Friday night, our friends, the Houghtons (Mark, Sarah and Bryn), arrived and we all had dinner together and played Scrabble. Gregg, Sydney, and I got killed in this game by our Kiwi friends. Mark is a high school math teacher and Sydney's tutor. We knew we couldn't beat him in a math orientated game, but we were hopeful that we would do well in Scrabble - wrong.
Saturday was a perfectly sunny day. It was also our first full day of skiing in NZ. We arranged to meet Mark and Bryn (Sarah doesn't ski) up at Cardrona and put the boys, Avery and Bryn, in ski school for the morning. We had to get out of bed early as it was about a 45 minute drive to the mountain. It was another perfect day of skiing. Cardrona is a very popular resort for Kiwis and Aussies and probably the most similar to
Lake Wanaka
Kids Posing in Tree. American ski resorts. Lots of wide, well groomed runs with a variety of terrain, including shutes and snow bowls. Because it was such a nice day, and a Saturday, it was packed. But still, the longest wait was about 15 minutes to get on the high speed lifts. We all had a great day of skiing and Avery actually loved his lesson, and is ready to start perfecting the parallel turn.
Saturday night we went out for Mexican food and actually had really good food (17,000 Kilometers south of the MEXICAN border)! And, I have to say the margaritas were quite good as well. This was a first for Mexican food and Margaritas for our friends and they really enjoyed the new food and drink as well.
On Sunday we opted for a new experience, at least for everyone but me and Gregg. We packed up and drove to Snow Park, New Zealand's only dedicated cross country ski area. There are perfectly groomed tracks meandering across endless fields of snow. Gregg and I tried out skate skis - Gregg was a natural, I gave up after 15 minutes. I prefer the more traditional cross country skiing - less work, but
Treble Cone
Lisa and the Boys.
Perfect Weather, Perfect Conditions! still a very good workout! Those new to the sport were treated to a comprehensive and effective 1 hour lesson. The kids were quick learners as were our friends, Mark, Sarah and Bryn. Sarah was determined to find a snow sport that she would like. After a few hours the kids decided to give sledding a go on the huge sledding tracks. I should have been concerned when I heard they had to wear helmuts. After an hour, the adults went to watch the kids. It was like a giant luge run, in fact, Avery fell off his sled and lost it over the mountain! I was too chicken to give it a try, but Gregg and Avery raced. Sydney and Graham decided to follow them down on one sled, but only made it half way before they flipped over and lost their sled. Luckily, this time the sled ended up at the bottom with Gregg and Avery. We are sad that we don't have another free weekend to come back to Snow Park. We would love to try the hut to hut skiing.
On the way back we stopped by "Puzzling World" for some outdoor shots before our 3
Puzzling World
More Illusions... 1/2 hour drive home to Timaru.
All and all, it was a perfect weekend...and our sore muscles are a reminder of all the fun we had!
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