The blog is evolving!

Stay tuned for new features including journey maps, some missing posts, linked photo albums, minor tweaks and ultimately... the earlier trips...

Monday, December 28, 2009

I have some news...



Julie and I are engaged! Yeah, that's right... who'd have thought!


So, Julie has given me the task of organising our honeymoon. Nothing is planned yet as it's just a myriad of ideas in my head at the moment but all she wants to know if it's going to be hot, cold, wet or dry.

Which means, for those loyal followers (I wonder if using the plural means I'm overestimating my fanbase?), I just hope that whatever we do is something that's going to be worthy of this travel blog.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

The big questions...

Okay, I have been slack but the wrap up is coming...

Friday, August 28, 2009

Day 12 - NZ

Cookie says...

Well, as they (who are 'they' anyway?) say; all good things come to an end. As with most trips, the last day is more a commuting process than anything. We woke, packed, checked out and headed to the airport where we had breakfast and waited for our flight.

Once onboard and in the air I couldn't help but try something. In the last few years there has been a question floating around the internet that has caused more forum closures, banned users and internet outages than the number of people who died from the black death in the middle ages. The origin is rumored to have been in an aeronautical engineering exam and is simply a question about whether a plan will take off or not. So I figured now was as good a time as any to send this question to the pilots as they are experts and surely have nothing better to do other than play cards and snooze whilst the autopilot does their dirty work.


I think some 'turbulance' was really a cockpit disturbance
while the pilots 'discussed' this question


Ten minutes later the air hostess returned with the question and said that the pilots agree that the plane would not take off. This was concerning as this was the wrong answer and I was on their plane. I think that the navigator was actually right but the pilot who figured that the navigator was wrong because it's his job to navigate the plane and not fly the plane so he pulled rank on him.

In reality, it's a trick question because the wheels and runway don't have any inpact on what the plane is doing because the engines push against the air to propel the plane forward and ultimately into the air once lift is generated at the wings.

I also discovered that while it nominally takes three hours to fly from Queenstown to Brisbane, it is also the amount of time it takes to educate 150 passengers on aviation theory and how I am right and the experts are not.


Sadly Gurti's, friend's, partner didn't make it through customs


Back to the commuting and we landed, picked up our gear, headed to my place and then I dropped people hoome.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Day 11 - NZ

Quote of the Day
"Benny and I are now exclusive" - Morgan

Cookie says...
Last full day today. Before sleeping we decided it would be a full day on the hill. After falling asleep, we must have agreed that we'd sleep in. Didn't matter, it was typical of every other day and besides, we're on holidays. Popped into Macca's / Subway for breaky just like yesterday and then made tracks for Remarks.

It was on hold till 8 but it was open. It was raining in QT, sleeting around the 6km mark and snowing shortly after that. The report said chains for 2WD's at the 12km mark which was why I get AWD's so we were waved on through. There were a few cars passing us in the way down and made it to the second last turn before discovering why. For three years running now I have seen a car in the ditch... and we nearly joined them. At the corner we'd slowed to avoid the car and lost traction and started slipping... backwards... down the road... all good though. We were on snow. Could have been a different story if it had been ice!


This makes it a hatrick of car-in-a-ditch photos!


After backing down the road slowly, one of the Remarkables guys came past and ended up towing us up to the carpark during which we watched another car sail past us into another ditch. It was puking snow and blowing everywhere which would have made it a positively crumby morning on the field. The carpark dude had a guy down to help us with the chains and we made our way back down the hill.


Beno and Morgs texting God for help


We made it back to the fort and Beno headed out to do a few things. We had some stuff to pick up, met up with Ben and headed to Winnies for a late lunch.


Morgs and Ben sharing a quiet moment...
blisfully unaware that we were sharing the table with them


I hadn't done much time-lapse so I thought I'd give it a crack. Wasn't that great a location but that's okay, I stood out there freezing my bum of for a while before the others joined me. Once it was done we did a little souviner shopping and headed home to pack.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Day 10 - NZ

Cookie says...
First things first. It's Morgan's birthday today so to make sure he didn't feel left out (and knowing he loves making a big deal of his birthday), Gurti had acquired some party hats and some party poppers and he woke to the tune of the three of us serenading him with Happy Birthday.


Wake up old man!


Finally made it to Cardrona today although it wouldn't have been our first choice. Remarks was closed and we'd been to Coronet enough already so we went with Cardies. When we arrived we were nearly blown off the hill it was soo windy. Gale force winds smashed us for a few hours, no wonder heli operations were on hold. I checked out Captains Basin to see if it was protected from the wind but that was a big negative. Nowhere was safe. It was so windy that the resort was offering half day prices from the start of the day.


A windy, windy Cardrona. The photo doesn't really convey the amount of wind


The wind didn't stop the pipe finals for the Winter Games. We stopped doing out thang to watch the best of the best do their thang. No surprise that Shaun White took out the mens but there were some awesome displays of spins and air time. Managed to snap a few good pics and video. I was inspired and tried my hand at the pipe. I officially suck. Had a bit of fun though.


This guy is a 'little' better than me


We watched the presentation at the end and we almost got a photo of Shaun White with our crew. I say almost because while we deliberated about whether we should or shouldn't ask him, everyone else had asked and got the photo they wanted and by the time we decided what we were going to do, he had been ushered off elsewhere. Such a decisive bunch we are!


Shawn White: Snowboard Legend


A few days ago we got talking to some bird on a chairlift. Turned out she worked at a restaurant in town called Flame so we decided we'd check it out. Another big feed and another big bill. Going to have to address both those outcomes when we return.


Gurti is a steak and rib eating machine...
actually us guys finished her plate off : )


Good dinner and afterwards we turned into geeks and went to the interweb joint. Not as geeky as some though. We were kicked off to use other machines so some nerds could play games together. Nerds are so funny, they start gaming in a public internet place and seem to forget that others are around and carry on like... well... nerds. Must be their lack of social skills / etiquette which have been replace with the knowledge of what spells to use on what enemy or what abilities they should give their character.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Day 9 - NZ

Cookie says...
I decided to have a rest day so that I wasn't worn out for heli tomorrow. Morgs and Beno however are keen on getting to Remarks. It was raining in town which was equating to snow up top. We drove them to the top and then started driving them down again. They'd packed their boards, snow gear and skirts. They wanted to pull the pin. So we started driving down again and all of a sudden I started feeling like a yo-yo because they changed their mind. Beno was whinging about the cold and snow but I told them they will enjoy themselves and we left them behind.

Gurti and I made tracks fo Arrowtown again. We had a bit of a walk around and had lunch at the bakery. Did some more walking and then headed back to our apartments.


Gurti with some light reading on the throne


Gurti slept on the couch for a few hours and I did some nerd stuff and a little random time-lapse. I got the call for the pickup and I asked them to bus it down the hill. I'd already driven up and down it once today but also, it sucks going against the traffic on that road. We met them at the base and took them home. Morg's then tells us how two chicks had noticed him on the bus. We thought cool, he might get on the tune but it turned out that one was medical chick from Coronet who looked after him when he hurt himself and the other was the chick from the hospital that wrote up that he shouldn't do anything active for 6 weeks and then start rehab.

After showering and stuff, we decided to sort out some shorts and hoodies we had talked about everyday since arriving. This time we actually finalised the design and lodged the order. They'll be right to pick up on the Thursday before we leave. While the guys were sorting out the details, I popped into see the heli dudes. Sadly, with the weather turning for the worse, they don't expect to be flying until after the weekend. GUTTED!!! As it was, the Monday was epic and I missed out on a seat because I didn't take a seat straight away on the Sunday but at that time, they felt there was a window for Wednesday. I was soo ticked off with myself. TWIT! Oh well, I'll make up for it next year somehow.

It was dinner time and we made our way to The Britannia. It was great. The inside of the building is decked (excuse the pun haha) out like you're on an English vessel. I ordered too much but being a Taurean, I stubbournly ate my way though my plates and went up a notch on my belt. Great food though.

Back to grand central where I wanted to drown my sorrows in ice cream and we called it a night.


How am I expected to drown my sorrows if
there's only one spoonful of ice cream left?

Monday, August 24, 2009

Day 8 - NZ

Cookie says...
Couldn't have asked for a nicer day for playing in the snow. Gurti decided to have a quiet one in so the boys went back up Remarks. Filled up at the Shell to find some guy had parked his car on the wrong side of the bowser. At some stage he had his foot on the car to help pull the hose closer to the car.


I call this: The Stubborness of Man


We arrived there 90 mins after first lift and we still managed to end up in the third line of cars in the second carpark. If we'd been on time we'd have had the hill to ourselves! We spent the day hanging around the Sugar Bowl lift doing a bunch of runs. Beno and Morgs had fun with the easier stuff while I enjoyed some quick ones.


Morgs motoring along




Here's a man on a mission... or a snowboard at least


I met up with them and had a crack at a jump a few times. I wanted to take it easy and five metres before the kicker on the first go 'What am I doing?' ran through my head.. I ended up getting more air than what I did after spending a day at the jumps last year.


Had to change my snowpants after this leap


We finished up with last lift, bailed and gave a hitcher a ride home. We found Gurti where we left her, in front of the TV. But she had been a busy body. Showers were in order and then we left for dinner.

The Cow was the destination and we were absolutely full afterwards.


The bar is a busy part of The Cow


Once again their bread didn't disappoint. We retreated to the batcave where we watched a 'quality' Segal movie before crashing for the night.


The Cow's bread is the bomb!

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Day 7 - NZ

Cookie says...
Another day off the slopes. Beno and Morgs were keen on trying the trout fishing. Originally they'd found some dude who was offering a full day for 800+ bucks who was also wondering why he wasn't getting many calls. They found someone else who'd do it for half that and went with him. Gurti and I weren't too interested so we headed out and around to Glenorchy instead.

It's a neat drive out there following the lakes edge. We passed three cyclists who seemed to be on their way Glenorchy. It's a sleepy town with one main street. When we arrived we popped down to the wharf (a jetty) for a few photos and then found somewhere to eat. Originally I had envisiged a pub lunch but we ended up in a cafe. They took their time to bring out Gurti's BLAT and my steak sandwich but it was worth it. Probably the best steak sandwhich (including a 250g bit of steak) I have ever had.


This is basically the town... it's huge!


Beno called to say they were home from their fly fishing trip and we were on our way back. Passed the cyclists again who had arrived and I think were so hungry after their ride that they'd consumed one rider as there were two left. Once back at the camp, we were about to play some cards when we decided to ride the shotover jet. They had room so we suited up and made tracks... or wakes I guess. Beno and I had done it before but it was new Morgs and Gurti. As always, it's a good fun ride but I still think it's funny to pay someone to spray freezing water into your face and pretend to crash into the sharp rock walls at every second turn.


Dan... it's a sign...


I spoke to Dave to get his thoughts on heli boarding and the current conditions. It was neat to hear while we're enjoying the snow, he's enjoying the surf up north. Dinner was Thai which was so-so, followed by the net and then bed time.

Gurti says...
Today was quite enjoyable and meant that I wasnt adding to the pile of bruises all over my body. As Cookie said we headed off on a road trip to Glenorchy and had a bit of a look around. I enjoyed taking a few shots cuz there hasnt been many other opportunities to take some decent photos.Maybe i'll have my chance when I move over here next year.. Our tummies started to grumble so we headed off to the main street for some lunch. After sussing a few places out we ended up at this little cafe. My thoughts whilst after ordering lead to "Hmmmm, if this food is crap its going to end my run of impressive New Zealand cuisine" but sure enough it was amazing and I left quite impressed with my fat BLAT. The drive to and from Glenorchy was gorgeous, a little like the road trip Mum and I took up in Cairns this time last year, but Id have to say this was a little more salubrious.

The shotover jet was great. I did expect it to be a little more heart pumping scary but that may have been because our driver had only been there for 3 years or so. My tail bone only gave me grief once during a 360, as it did earlier on in the day when I got Cookie to take a jumping pic of me...I didnt even get 5cms off the ground....hmmm..not looking good for work next week.

So after we got a little soaked we headed off to dinner..my favourite THAI FOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Although I wasnt really hungry after lunch it went down gradually. The boys got sick of me complaining about the snowboard id seem 30 mins earlier.....Cookie wouldnt let me get it, Beno wasnt too keen either but good old Morgs was on my side. But no, I still didnt get it :(

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Day 6 - NZ

Cookie says...
Late rise today. Morgan did his own thing (probably sleeping again) while the rest of us were half-day Harry's as we didn't make it onto the snow until after 12. Tried Remarks today for a change. The winter games had some events on there so the big jumps were busy but where they usually have three smaller kickers back to back, they had one and park stuff after that. Not to worry, Gurti pulled out the camera and snapped a few of me going over a small jump that was being smashed by others mucking around on it.

Gurti completed two back to back runs down the main green one with I think a total of three tumbles. It looks as though she's becoming more comfortable on her feet and was linking some turns and sliding 360's. Ben had headed up a second lift and was doing his own thing. He met up with me and we headed back up to where he was and he's progressing well too. Yesterday he bought a helmet and now he looks like a Lego man!


Is this guy SAS or something?


The plan was to finish up at 4 and head to Coronet for some night skiing before meeting up with Tim's crew at the Minus 5 bar but we figured we'd be short on time, especially seeing as though we need to sneak dinner in there somewhere. We left the field and once showered, we tried our luck at Winnies. Three pizzas, drinks and a game of pool later, we were feeling quite full and left for the ice bar.


Gurti pretending to be a bit of a pool shark
(she sank that shot and saved us from a pants down a few nights later)


When I was here a few years ago and staying with Gus, he warned me how it was a bit of a tourist trap. It is and it was a bit novel but when you're hanging out with friends, it doesn't really matter. Tim and Trish met us there however Henri and his girl had piked (soft I tell ya!). Tim and Trish and two cocktails while our group had flavoured vodka shots (mine was chilli) and a cocktail (I had yellow snow) which was yum.


I slipped on the ice and this is what I saw


They only allow 30 min bookings so after we had been ousted, we checked out another bar. They had NRL playing which was followed by AU vs NZ in the rugby while we sat around swapping stories of our exploits and travel tales. Trish bought us a round of Yagar bombs which proved popular however a few of us were getting a bit tired. We parted company and headed home for some rest.


The crew got sick of my driving and found another mode of transport



Gurti says...
Did I mention this place was amazing already?! There is so much to write about seeing as though this is my first entry in a few days but I'll just punch out some highlights. Taking the gondola up the mountain to our buffet dinnert the other night was fantastic. I realised that Im not such a fan of heights afterall and when the boys started to rock the gondola i nearly had a heart attack. The view from up there was so gorgeous but didnt last long as we had headed up late arvo. Seeing Cookie laugh so hard that he started crying was pretty memorable on that evening also.

Although im a bit of a softy on the slopes I have been making accomplishments everyday. It doesnt help when every bone and muscle in your body is aching and your knees are the colour of a rainbow. But I have managed to take the lift up with complete strangers.... yes it was an accident, managed to do one run with only one small stack, starting to link turns and do a few 360's, starting to master the art of falling gracefully and entering/exiting the lifts is not as scary as it used to be.


Slopes all to myself, yeah!


The drive up to the Remarkables yesterday was scary as anything but on the same token it was pretty exciting and breath taking.I think I prefer it to Coronet Peak although I have found my little prayer mountain there:) I got to pull out cookies camera on the slopes yesterday and take a few shots of him hitting a jump..and felt like i was in my element. I could have stayed there all day!!!!

The food has been amazing, Cookie really does know the good joints to eat out at but my plans of sheading some kgs on this trip is so not happening. I havent eaten so much pizza, chips and burgers in my life!

Today is just going to be a lazy one. I wouldnt mind going for a bit of a road trip like the other day to Cardrona and taking a few snaps cuz when you are driving at 100km an hour, it really doesnt make for a good photo.

5 more days to go....and I really dont want to come home....

Hey guys, how bout a game of cards tonight?

Friday, August 21, 2009

Day 5 - NZ

Cookie says...
With Morgan having to stay off the slopes, Beno, Gurti and I headed up the hill again today. It turned out to be a bitsa day. Beno did a bit of the main drag and after lunch did a bit of the beginner slopes working on his turns. Gurti did a bit of a run before lunch and a bit of a run after lunch and I did a bit of helping Gurti, a bit of fast runs, a bit of jumps and got a bit out of control.

We met just after 3 and headed back to the ranch to see what Morgan had been doing. Surprise, surprise, he's been doing some more back bashing... no... not more damage, he'd slept most of the day!


Gurti needs another fashion item but at least it's functional


Dinner was on the cards and we were off to make the pilgrimage to Fergburger. True to form, it was busy but we secured some seats and waited for our orders to be filled. Fifteen minutes later our bellies had been filled.


Big burgers to fill big mouths and big appetites


On the way out I bumped into Brooksie (from work) and Henri. They'd been pushing Cardronian snow down the hill but were staying in Queenstown. I had been hoping that we'd meet up with them later tonight but although my crew were keen on checking out the Minus 5 bar, they seem to fall asleep at the drop of a hat!


I tell thee... they don't make young whipper-snappers like they used to!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Day 4 - NZ

Quote of the Day
"My bum's too wide for the slide, I have to go sideways!" - Cookie

Cookie says...
As we had 4 of 5 day passes and Morgan had modified his L3, we took the day off and went on a road trip instead. First stop was Arrowtown where I think we spent more time skimming stones than looking around.


Dad... here's a replacement van for you and mum!


After finishing with the main drag, we made tracks for Cardrona via the Crown Range. It's a bit of a windy road and Ben was feeling a little green around the gills by the time we'd arrived at our destination.

I have only ever driven through Cardrona but it's soo small that if you blink, you will miss it. We stopped there for lunch at the hotel and we all had a good feed. Shortly after finishing we piled back into the car and were off to Wanaka.


Morgan reckons there are similarities between the sound of a bellow
and my breathing while asleep


The others agreed that Wanaka is wonderful. It's not as big or busy as QT and probably even prettier.


Wanaka is nice from any angle


Several decades ago (according to Sarah) when I was 11 we passed through here on a family trip and there was a park with a dinosaur slide. My mission was to have a go on it, just like the good ol' days. I think they must have replaced it with a smaller one because I didn't quite fit in the slide and had to slide down sideways.


Oh, I'm stuck...


There were also some shenanigans to be had on some of the other playground equipment, much to the amusement of the mothers that were there.


Ben tried getting even for making him feel sick
by spinning me on this seat thing but I had a blast!


It was getting late in the day so we left to complete a big tough lap by driving through Cromwell to get back to QT. It was fairly uneventful apart from the pretend screaming accident that Gurti and I simulated which attracted a memorable facial expression from a sleeping Morgan. Ben slept through it.


Ben was gobsmacked by the beauty of the views we drove past


Beno and I cooked up taco's and enchilada's and we had another quite night in.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Day 3 - NZ

Quote of the Day
"I love this bottle, it's my new best friend" - Gurti

Cookie says...
Well... we have a first for the blog and one of my trips: a proper injury. Previously Mikey and John had sore bums but not so in this case, more about that later. Back up Coronet yesterday and no new snow but an awesome clear day. The four of us made it to the top and we set off.


Just lazing about in the sun


I cracked out the helmet cam and pretended I was Chris Patterson (director of photography for Warren Miller movies).


Okay, once a nerd, always a nerd...


Gurti slowly made her way down and was adding more bruising to her knees, Beno was doing alright but still adding bruises to his bum and Morgs was trying to break the land speed record. When I caught up with Morgs, I found him lying down with his head pointing downhill.


Morgan attention seeking... medically


Once the others had found us at the bottom, Gurti sat out for a bit while the three of us checked out Greengates side of the hill. There's some good terrain over there but as with the rest of the mountain, it's crusty and icy between runs were no one is going. I hit the jumps with success and they were better than what they had last year.

We met up with Gurti and Beno and Morgs went to check out his bum (I don't want to know!). Morgan ended heading to the first aid patrol hut and scored a free ambulance ride down the hill. Three hours later when we picked him up with his new broken back.

As with last year we booked in for the banquet up at Skyline and it proved to be a hit. I think we all consumed enough food to survive the rest of the winter.


Before and after the banquet

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Day 2 - NZ

Quote of the Day
"I'm so jetlagged" - Beno

Cookie says......
First morning here and time to get down to business. Coronet was the venue where we hung out on the beginner slopes so we could warm uo. Morgs found his feet, Beno found the ground and Gurti found out why this place is called Concrete Peak. Gurti got talking to a photog who then took a swag of photos of us which as good tourists, we bought some.


The Team



Morgs and Beno were keen for some steeper stuff so while Gurti had a break (sore toosh). Gurti joined us for the next run and she made her way down with Beno while Morgs and I fanged it down and caught up with them again.


Ben had everyone ducking for cover
(look at the kid in the background)



The clouds closed in and we called it a day which one of my feet appreciated which I think might have been due to new boots (although Julie would say old age). I could barely walk afterwards which is quite concerning seeing as though this was the first day.

Morgs and Gurti cooked up some good spag bog and we had a quiet night in.

Gurti says......
Well apart from my butt being a little sore and getting a knock to the head I feel quite good about the first day... Im starting to realise Im more of a girl than i have thought....or should i say chicken??. I kinda spent most of the day on my butt and knees but im so glad the guys encouraged me to head up the very top of the mountain to do at least one decent run. Although it wasnt a clean run without any spills, im pretty happy with the fact i didnt stack it coming off the lift and that i actually made it down to the bottom in one piece.
The scenery is amazing here, its so gorgeous! I really am going to dread leaving, I think I should have chatted up the photographers a bit more today..lol
Anyway, retirement here would be bliss although i dont think grannies are into skydiving and stuff....oh hang on...sorry mum :)
Looking forward to tomorrow and adding more bruises to the body.
Hope all is well back home.


Decisions, decisions...
do I fall on my butt, face or knees?



Morgs says......
Today was a good day, however at the start I was a bit worried. I didn't pick it back up as quickly as anticipated, but wonderfully I picked up pretty quickly, literally! I ended up falling head over heels for a girl today, but all she did was scream... No, I 'hit' a skiier. Or didn't hit her, thanks to my evasion techniques. I ended up launching over her skies and landing directly on my precious lungs. To the other guys though, Captain Cookie is a gun, only had two stacks all day, but Gurti takes the cake with her ass/head combo hit. Beno has had some good stacks and is hitting it hard. Of the 4 of us, 3 have pulled up lame, with Beno and his unco ankle remaining unscathed. We (Gurti and I) cooked dinner up tonight, and the plans are to head back up to Coronet tomoz to do it all over again. I think Captain Cookie is taking his vid camera tomoz, so I will take mine and we should have some good footage. The others are reluctant but I'm confident by the end of tomoz we will all be pulling sick airs and hitting the terrain park.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Day 1 - NZ

Quote of the day
"The first time I spooned a guy..." - Morgan

Cookie says...
The crew stayed at my place last night and we woke to the tune of Cotton Eye Joe courtesy of Morgan's alarm. Before we knew it, we'd packed, jumped into a maxi-taxi and were queuing up for check-in.

Three hours later and we had arrived in the centre of the known adventure universe. The car was ready to be picked up but I'm not sure we were ready for it. We thought Karis had left a surprise for us as it smelt like a babies nappy! We found The Whistler and we have ended up with two linked adjacent rooms.


The all important coin toss to determine who slept where



Ben and Gurti needed boards so we headed off for a quick walk around town and then found a rental place for them. After dropping the boards back at the fort and a quick shop for breaky we were off for dinner at the Beefeater. Mikey and I ate at here a few years ago and I noticed that the wagu I ordered then was no longer available. I didn't think too much of my rump (my meal that is) but Morgan rated his feed quite highly. I think Ben and Kylie felt a little let down by the place too.


I think I'll be needing their expertise soon!




Mikey, I have found you another outfit!



Gurti says...
Baaaaa..... Ok so Captain Cookie-Time has warned me I must keep this short and sweet. So here goes my attempt at both of those.
Sleep last night at Cookies = so comfy yet so short (thanks guys for the chivalry...and sorry you missed out on a good nights sleep)
Cab ride to airport= note to self...always wear a seatbelt because you never know when the attentive indian cab driver is going to pull up all sudden like
Plane food = Who calls a bowl of beans a salad anyway?
Company on the flight = Sat next to some random who thought my shoulder was comfy enough to be a pillow
Landing = smooth as...I hope the pilot gets paid well
First thought of Queenstown = 'i cant believe its taken 5years to get me here.....its so gorgeous and so not cold!!'
Rental car = 2 words ... Subaru...Nappies!
Accomodation = GOOD WORK COOKIE!!!
Dinner = here come the kilos
Excitement level for hitting the slopes for the firt time = um ...a little scared.....BUT TOTALLY EXCITED!!!
homesickmeter = nil


Funnily enough, I found a zoo for models



Morgs says...
Today has been a bit of a nothing day really. After a rotten night's sleep at Captain Cookie's where, due to my stubbornness I slept under a beanbag for warmth, we woke at sparrow's fart and choofed off to the airport. The flight was uneventful (for everyone else at least, I snapped awake at one point certain I was drooling and snoring loudly - I wasn't yeow!) and we arrive in Queenstown to see the sun and uninterrupted expanses of white snow at the Remarkables and Coronet (very psyched for tomoz!). After a few coin tosses Cookie and I have the pleasure of sleeping together in the same room, with Gurti and Beno sharing the other. Excellentily (?) we can open a door between the two rooms and have a shared living space.

There's really not too much else to report (I had a fillet stuffed with fetta and sun-dried tomatoes for dinner, freakin' brilliant) but I imagine that will be short-lived, as we head up to Coronet tomoz to begin our adventures. Never fear folks at home, you won't miss any of the epic stacks, as we have three vid cameras and two gun photogs, so you'll get to see all the tears in stunning quality soon.

Until then though, peace out!!

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Queenstown '09

Okay people, here's the lowdown...

Queenstown + four hills * 12 days = one hell ova trip

That's mathematical music to my ears! Housemate Ben, Morgan and Kylie are coming this year. What's that you say? Kylie? Yes... believe it or not... it might have taken me four years to do it but she is coming.

Once again it's the tried and tested formula. Fly to QT, pick the hills and have some fun. This will be the longest ski trip to date so a big test for this aging and broken body. The extended time also means that the planets have aligned and it overlaps with two different groups from work (Brooksie's and Major's) who will be in QT at the same time as us and in different weeks.

Brilliant lead up to the season, 110cm base at Remarks as of late May. I just hope it stays and lets the good times roll!

Cookie