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Part 2: Queenstown, New Zealand (3.5 weeks in AUS and NZ)
Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 10:01 pm
by Snow Nymph
Saturday, 10 August 2008 (day 10)
Snowboarding: The Remarkables Ski Resort, Queenstown, New Zealand
PHOTOS: http://snownymph.smugmug.com/gallery/57 ... 4446_4AYm4
After riding the groomers to warm up, we found some good runs that had untracked snow. At the end of the day we found runs we had to hike to. Fun day on the slopes!
The Remarkables
Last run, from 1/2 way down, got a photo of soft powder and SnowDude below waiting
Kea, alpine parrot
Elk is farmed here, saw a lot in NZ
Re: Part 2: Queenstown, New Zealand (3.5 weeks in AUS and NZ)
Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 3:26 am
by Snow Nymph
New Zealand is a fun place to go! We signed up for heli-boarding every day, and waited every morning to hear "We're on!". But the weather didn't always cooperate, so we found other things to do in case the heli-boarding fell thru.
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Monday, 11 August 2008 (day 11)
Skydiving and Bungy Sky Swing
PHOTOS: http://snownymph.smugmug.com/gallery/57 ... 6153_P4eZx
Skydiving in New Zealand! The views were awesome! Pix of SnowDude are in Australia and will be uploaded later. Got video and will try to post.
Open your eyes!
Can't ask for better scenery!
PJ said the pigtails were doing funny things up there
SnowDude went out in the afternoon for more fun. He was solo, but this is a photo of ssomeone else jumping.
Re: Part 2: Queenstown, New Zealand (3.5 weeks in AUS and NZ)
Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 3:58 pm
by hikerduane
What some people will do for a run. Geez!:)
Re: Part 2: Queenstown, New Zealand (3.5 weeks in AUS and NZ)
Posted: Thu Aug 28, 2008 2:26 am
by Snow Nymph
Tuesday, 12 August 2008 (day 12)
Treble Cone Ski Resort, Wanaka, New Zealand
PHOTOS: http://snownymph.smugmug.com/gallery/57 ... 0582_ZF5yu
Treble Cone is about 1.5 hrs from Queenstown. This was a fun resort with challenging slopes, but with whiteout it was hard to get the most of it. We'll have to go back again!
What a view!
We wanted to hike that ridge, but visibility was bad
This was a good run, til we lost visibility (I got vertigo)
How's this? We might have to do an album on the food we ate. We ate good while there!
Re: Part 2: Queenstown, New Zealand (3.5 weeks in AUS and NZ)
Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 2:45 am
by Snow Nymph
My body is still on Australia time! 2:44am here, 7:14am there. Gotta get sleep!
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Wednesday, 13 August 2008 (day 13)
Coronet Ski Resort, Queenstown, New Zealand
PHOTOS: http://snownymph.smugmug.com/gallery/57 ... Huh#P-3-15
Got the call from HMH, no heli-boarding today. So we went to Coronet Peak Ski Resort. It was a beautiful day on the slopes.
Hiked to the Back Bowls
did I mention great views?
The mountains in the background is where we went skydiving two days earlier
Re: Part 2: Queenstown, New Zealand (3.5 weeks in AUS and NZ)
Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 8:30 pm
by Snow Nymph
Re: Part 2: Queenstown, New Zealand (3.5 weeks in AUS and NZ)
Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 1:45 am
by Snow Nymph
Friday, 15 August 2008 (day 15)
Snowboarding at the Remarkables (2nd time)
PHOTOS: http://snownymph.smugmug.com/gallery/57 ... kc2#P-1-15
We signed up for heli-boarding again, but was on weather hold. We got another call 1/2 hr later saying weather was coming in, so we got a late start on our day. So we went snowboarding at the Remarkables again. We only rode the lifts a few times, and hiked for the rest of our turns. There weren't too many tracks ahead of us, and our last run above Gallipati Chutes only had 4 tracks, and 2 were ours. Awesome runs!
Untouched
Hiking for turns
that was a thumbs up run
sweet!
Moon over the Remarkables from Queenstown
Re: Part 2: Queenstown, New Zealand (3.5 weeks in AUS and NZ)
Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 9:01 pm
by Snow Nymph
Saturday, 16 August 2008 (Day 16)
Bungy Jumping and Skyline Swing
PHOTOS: http://snownymph.smugmug.com/gallery/57 ... nbE#P-1-15
We were scheduled to fly back to Australia, but due to weather all Qantas flights were cancelled. We tried to fly New Zealand Air, but there weren't any seats available til Tuesday. We already turned in our SUV, so we couldn't drive either (and no 4WD's available) so we were stuck! What a great place to be stuck!
SnowDude on the Bungy Jump
Wheee!
I did the Bungy Swing. Not sure how to post a video, but go to photo #38, enlarge and turn the sound up
Darn, stuck in NZ for 3 more days!
Re: Part 2: Queenstown, New Zealand (3.5 weeks in AUS and NZ)
Posted: Fri Sep 12, 2008 4:55 pm
by Snow Nymph
Sunday, 17 August 2008
Heli-boarding in Wanaka, New Zealand
PHOTOS: http://snownymph.smugmug.com/gallery/57 ... 8572_HiZeq
Signed up for heli-boarding before dinner last night, and got a call in the morning that it was happening. The van picked us up, and we drove out of the overcast conditions and into blue skies and perfect conditions. We got 6 out of 7 runs, with the 5 run being in white out, and the last run set off 2 slides. Awesome day!
Lake Wanaka
tracks and a small slide
last run, Richard lost a ski in a slide (found it), and right after Michael set one off
ADDED 2 videos to the album (#54 & 55, I think) but don't know how to post here
Re: Part 2: Queenstown, New Zealand (3.5 weeks in AUS and NZ)
Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 7:35 pm
by Snow Nymph
Monday, 18 August 2008 (day 18)
Skyline Track Hike, Queenstown, New Zealand
PHOTOS: http://snownymph.smugmug.com/gallery/57 ... 0786_Kcm45
We slept in, we deserved it. We were getting up at 6am every day til now. SnowDude was on the internet and phone trying to make sure we were set for the Tuesday trip home. We finally got out around 2:30pm, got a late lunch, then started our short hike at 4pm. We got sidetracked when we saw a sign that said "summit 3 hrs", and took that trail even though it was late. We saw the next sign, and realized it was 3 hrs one way (NZ walks usually post round trip walking time). We were doing good, but the summit wasn't going to happen. It was snowing, and we couldn't see where the summit was (til the next day, from the plane). We turned around, and took another trail to the Skyline Gondola (our original goal), and had a drink before heading to town for dinner.
hike starts off in the trees
finally out of the trees, Lake Wakatipu in the distance
the summit was somewhere out there
time to turn back, can't see anything anyway
hiked to the top of the Gondola, watched the Olympics, then took the easy way down before going to dinner