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Published: August 17th 2009
A river runs through it
One of the many gorgeous views along the roadFriday, August 14th
Happy birthday boeda Konrad! We wish we could be there to share your 30th with you! May God bless you and grant you happiness and peace on this special day, and also in the years to come. We got up early, packed our van, had a quick breakfast, said goodbye to Nicol, Mel and little Keira, and then braved the morning traffic into Auckland city. It wasn't as bad as we’d expected (not to say that it was great). Emily took us right to our destination in Mt Eden where Ferdi had a meeting set up. We arrived early and after planning our route to Mt Ruapehu we enjoyed coffee and hot chocolate while we waited for the meeting time to arrive.
At 9am Ferdi met Jeff from Starfish Pictures and they had a great chat. Jeff was kind and friendly and was able to give Ferdi a lot of info about the NZ TV industry and who to speak to and who not. After 45mins they said goodbye, we got in our van, and Emily guided us south toward Mt Ruapehu.
After about four hours driving we finally spotted snow peaking from beneath the
clouds that covered Mt Ruapehu. There are three ski fields in the area and it looks a lot like Lesotho so we felt right at home. We arrived at the National Park Village at about 3pm and checked into Howards Lodge. Here we met up with Siubhan and Tony and after a bit of a chat they went for a drive while we unpacked.
We rented boots, boards, pants and goggles from the lodge and were really chuffed with the quality of the gear. We got clip-in bindings on the snowboards so we won't have to sit on our butts every time we want to strap in. We can just step on the binding and "click", we're in. It's great!
We had a few beers while chatting to other visitors, then prepared dinner. We had a huge meal of noodles and Indian curry and spent the rest of the evening chatting in the lounge.
Today's highlights:
1. Meeting Jeff and getting the low-down on NZ TV.
2. Arriving at the National Park.
3. Meeting up with Tony and Siubhan.
4. Getting good quality snowboard gear.
Thought for the day:
Wow! Two hundred days of traveling behind us! Looking back it's hard to believe that we've done all those things and been to all those places. It feels like a dream.
Impressions of NZ:
Possums are a plague here. In some areas you can't drive a kilometer without seeing at least one carcass. A guy we talked to claimed that people here intentionally swerve to hit them. Saturday, August 15th
We were very excited about our first day snowboarding in NZ. There are two main ski fields; Whakapapa - 25mins from the lodge, and Torua - 45mins away. According to the weather forecast there'd be snow on Torua and rain on Whakapapa, so after breakfast we headed to Torua. On the way we saw a bad single car accident, bringing home exactly how dangerous these wet and icy roads can be. After stopping for petrol in Ohakune we found that the whole Torua ski field was closed due to strong winds! Argh!
We drove back to Whakapapa. It was rainy and windy, but we'd already paid for our gear so we decided to see if we could put it to use. Because of the weather only the lower mountain was open so we got
full day ski passes for that area. The cool thing is we could return the passes before 12:30 for a partial refund if the weather worsened.
We took our first chair-lift ride down to the beginners slope, clipped on our boards and had a cautious first run. It's been more than a year since we last snowboarded, but it didn't take long to get a feel for the equipment. The beginner slope is as big as the entire slope in both Tiffindell and Afriski! There's just so much real-estate to board here, it's ridiculous!
We soon got bored with the beginner slope and moved to a higher and more technically part of the mountain. Because only the lower mountain was open, the weekend rush was cramped into a smaller ski area and the lifts had long queues. The chair lift took us about 10min up to the highest part of the lower mountain. During the ride we could see the many routes to ski and also the cliffs and steep down hills to avoid. Here the crowds were spread over a bigger area and the queues weren’t too long. We had a lot more fun on this part,
Ferdi, Tony & Siubhan
Happy Valley aka beginner slope but our legs soon tired. Just before 4pm we called it a day and headed home. On the way down we saw another single car accident. This one didn't look too serious though, just a car that didn't make the corner and ended up on some rocks.
We were rather wet from our day playing in the frozen water and were delighted to discover the "dry-room" at the lodge. We stashed all our wet gear, had a hot shower, and met in the kitchen where Tony served hot port while Talita and Siubhan brew mulled wine (aka gluwein). It was divine and the alcohol went straight to our heads.
The Irish left to go get take-aways while we prepared a quick egg-fried rice dish. Talita went to get something in the van and left the keys on the seat when she locked the van. Luckily we'd left one of the sliding windows open just a crack to help dry the inside, so Ferdi could just reach in and get them. Phew! That could have sucked...
Once dinner was done we took the mulled wine to the lounge for a night-cap, then dragged our tired (but satisfied) bodies
to bed.
Today's highlights:
1. Our first day snowboarding in NZ.
2. Discovering the "dry-room".
3. Enjoying warm Port and mulled wine with our friends.
Impressions of NZ:
Most Kiwis are very friendly and relaxed and we're growing rather fond of them. Sunday, August 16th
After a great night sleep and a big egg and toast breakfast we drove up to Whakapapa ski field once more. Tony didn't join us today because he found that he didn't like the skiing much. Ferdi dropped Talita, Siubhan and our gear off at the top, then went in search of parking.
The whole ski field was open so we got full day “All Mountain” passes and proceeded up the various chair-lifts and T-bars all the way to the top. It was an unforgettable ride. On our first try using the T-bar we both fell down just after getting on, so we had to go back and try again. Once at the top we clipped in, gathered our courage then set off down the slope, sticking mostly to the blue (easy) route.
We really missed our snowboard friends back in SA. We had such a cool group and it's
just not the same without them. We miss you guys! Hopefully it won't be long before we all snowboard together again.
Our legs got tired quite often so we had a lot of breaks on the way down. On these breaks we enjoyed sitting together while small snowflakes fell around us. At one spot we stopped at what looked like quite a steep downhill. A guy sitting there said it wasn't too steep and we'd be okay. All thoughts of “it’ll be okay” disappeared from Talita and Siubhan's heads when they went over the edge. It was very very steep. Talita cautiously made her way down, but when Siubhan tried it she ended on her butt. She slid down as slowly as she was able to and eventually made it to the bottom. A friendly member of staff retrieved her lost ski and helped her up.
Halfway down we had a break at a make-shift little cafe. Inside we read that it used to be a nice restaurant but an arsonist burned it and another building to the ground in February. The damage is estimated at between $11 million and $13 million. Ouch! Ferdi headed back to the
top for another run while Talita and Siubhan continued down. We met Tony at the bottom and had some hot drinks to warm us up. Afterwards we enjoyed another run from the top. The weather turned ugly, so once we made it to the bottom we gave in our passes for a refund.
We enjoyed a big plate of veggie nachos for lunch, then rented a couple of sleds and raced each other down the sledding slope. We had some good laughs and after 45mins we were soaked to the bone and exhausted from walking up the steep slope. We drove back to the lodge to return our gear and say goodbye to our Irish friends.
We found a camping spot close by and decided to stay there for the evening. We hung all our wet stuff in the dry-room, had a shower, then walked to a ski shop where we spent three hours trying on every pair of snowboard boots in the shop. Our initial intention was only to see what was on offer and what the prices were. Somehow it went from exploring to almost buying. Luckily we didn't succumb to the buying fever because we
Bye bye Happy Valley
Hello Lower Mountain slopes didn't want to “schlep” that bulky gear all over the south island with us. At least now we'll know what to look for when the time comes to buy.
Today's highlights:
1. Snowboarding from the top.
2. Sitting in the falling snow.
3. Cheesy nachos for lunch.
4. Crazy sled races.
5. Three hour boot fitting session.
Impressions of NZ:
The ski field at Whakapapa is amazing.
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Konnie
Konrad de Lange
Thanx!
Thanx vir die b'day wishes en die e-card, ek wardeer dit! Ek het 'n awesome B'day party gehad, niks soos Go-karts en 'n kinderpartydjie om 'n mens jonk te laat voel nie! Lus is ek nou vir koud kry, sherry en snowboarding! Julle is werklik Lucky en geseend om so te kan travel, geniet elke oomblik en God BLESS!!!