So the time eventually came for me to move on
again. My time in Queenstown was short yet wonderfully sweet - but money was getting
extremely tight. Last year during winter, I worked in a restaurant in National
Park called Eivins. It supplemented my hours working on Mount Ruapehu and
luckily the owner was willing to give me my job back again this winter so time
to get back up North to the wonderful little village that was my first home in
New Zealand.
Lake Tekapo
But some fun first before I got back to work.
On Monday June 24th, after a few sad goodbyes to good friends, I got Nakedbus (ticket bought for 10 dollars on Grabone. Could be redeemed against any journey. So worth it!) up to Christchurch to meet my old campervan mate, Nadine. As the bus pulled out
of Queenstown the sun was rising, and I took in the sights of those beautiful
mountains one last time. I tried to sleep but to no avail, and when I gave up and
opened my eyes, I was amazed at how much snow there was on the mountains. It was
incredible and made me so excited for snow season again. I was so delighted to
hear we were stopping at Lake Tekapo for an hour. I really wanted to visit this
region but circumstances didn’t allow me so having this stop off was perfect.
As the bus arrived we were greeted by the most beautiful, blue, glistening lake
surrounded by pure white hills of snow. The sun was shining and yet again I’m
in awe at another incredible sight. I got off the bus, saw a mssive mound of
snow on the side of the road and decide to try stand on top of it. I
underestimated the lovely, fluffiness of the snow and ended up waist high in
the stuff. It was great! The snow had only fallen the night before and must
have been a metre deep. I had to trudge down to the lake through it all, not
wanting to miss out on a half hour sitting in bliss by Lake Tekapo. And bliss
it was.
Snowboarding at Mount Hutt
I arrived in Christchurch quite late. Nadine
was arriving a few hours after me so it was my job to find a hostel where off
street parking for campervans was allowed. After an hour or so of more trudging
with my suitcase I found Kiwi Basecamp Hostel. For 15 each, we could both sleep in the
campervan and use all of the facilities. There was also free fresh bread in the
morning so breakfast was sorted. Sweet! After a glass of wine, a catch up with
Nadine and some other guests – it was bedtime. Being so wrecked, I fell alseep
pretty fast. But no – I definitely had not missed living out of a campervan.
The reason I was meeting Nadine was to go snowboarding at Mount Hutt, a big
resort an hour and a half from Christchurch close to the town of Methven. I was broke so originally told Nadine
it wasn’t possible to meet her for a couple of days on the slopes, but as she was
learning and buying a season pass and of course wanting my wonderful company,
she most generally agreed to shout me the day and a half. Nadine – you rock and I owe you big-time. Serious appreciation girl!
We were both up early the next day, all
excited to get out to the snow. After a cold shower (if you book into this
hostel make sure you ask them the night before if the hot water is working!),
we had breakfast and hit the road. The journey there was lovely, and getting
closer and closer to the mountains on such a lovely sunny day after a massive dump
of snow was leaving me beyond excited. After lots of rigmaroll what with
getting set up with wheel chains for the drive up the mountain, gear and passes
– we got out onto the slopes soon after lunch for a half day. I was stoked to
get back snowboarding and had a great time. The view of the Canterbury plains
from the top of Mount Hutt is spectacular and as we drove home exhausted, we
admired the sun setting.
We found a very, very basic campsite in Methven,
(only stay if very necessary) showered, ate Nadines delicious home-made soup and went in search of some life
in the town. We had a drink and a boogie and went back to the campsite for a few zzzz’s. It was EXTREMELY cold that night and I began to wonder as I drifted off to sleep how Nadine was living out of her van for the whole year. Respect! The next
day was brilliant and Nadine was definitely showing an aptitude for snowboarding.
I went off on my own while Nadine had lessons. Soon I met a girl who was at a similar level to me so we had some fun cruising around together. Overall - it was a fantastic few days. Snowboarding on a three metre deep base so early in the season was a serious treat. With great weather and great company - what's there to complain about? The next morning I got a shuttle to the airport early to catch my flight to Auckland. I booked a week in advance and paid 60 dollars to fly Jetstar, a highly recommended airline with excellent value. My first and best friend in New Zealand, Aisling and her friends picked me up at the airport and we began our road-trip back to Ruapehu, where the dream began just over a year previously.
