Part 2: Queenstown, New Zealand (3.5 weeks in AUS and NZ)

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Snow Nymph
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Part 2: Queenstown, New Zealand (3.5 weeks in AUS and NZ)

Post 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
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Last run, from 1/2 way down, got a photo of soft powder and SnowDude below waiting
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Kea, alpine parrot
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Elk is farmed here, saw a lot in NZ
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Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free . . . . Jim Morrison


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Snow Nymph
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Re: Part 2: Queenstown, New Zealand (3.5 weeks in AUS and NZ)

Post 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.

-------------------


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!
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Can't ask for better scenery!
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PJ said the pigtails were doing funny things up there
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SnowDude went out in the afternoon for more fun. He was solo, but this is a photo of ssomeone else jumping.
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Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free . . . . Jim Morrison


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Re: Part 2: Queenstown, New Zealand (3.5 weeks in AUS and NZ)

Post by hikerduane »

What some people will do for a run. Geez!:)
Piece of cake.
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Re: Part 2: Queenstown, New Zealand (3.5 weeks in AUS and NZ)

Post by Snow Nymph »

:nod:



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!
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We wanted to hike that ridge, but visibility was bad
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This was a good run, til we lost visibility (I got vertigo)
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How's this? We might have to do an album on the food we ate. We ate good while there!
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Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free . . . . Jim Morrison


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Snow Nymph
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Re: Part 2: Queenstown, New Zealand (3.5 weeks in AUS and NZ)

Post by Snow Nymph »

My body is still on Australia time! 2:44am here, 7:14am there. Gotta get sleep!

---------------

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
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did I mention great views?
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The mountains in the background is where we went skydiving two days earlier
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Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free . . . . Jim Morrison


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Re: Part 2: Queenstown, New Zealand (3.5 weeks in AUS and NZ)

Post by Snow Nymph »

Thursday, 14 August 2008 (day 14)
Heli-boarding by the Motatapu River, Wanaka, New Zealand and a drive to Glenorchy in a snowstorm

PHOTOS: http://snownymph.smugmug.com/gallery/57 ... Jfx#P-1-15


Finally, after 4 days of waiting we got the ok! Whoohooo! My first heli-boarding experience was awesome! We only got 3 out of the 7 runs before the weather chased us out, but it was fun and the snow was great! I'm hooked!


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More next week!
Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free . . . . Jim Morrison


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Re: Part 2: Queenstown, New Zealand (3.5 weeks in AUS and NZ)

Post 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
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Hiking for turns
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that was a thumbs up run
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sweet!
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Moon over the Remarkables from Queenstown
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Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free . . . . Jim Morrison


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Re: Part 2: Queenstown, New Zealand (3.5 weeks in AUS and NZ)

Post 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
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Wheee!
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I did the Bungy Swing. Not sure how to post a video, but go to photo #38, enlarge and turn the sound up
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Darn, stuck in NZ for 3 more days!
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Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free . . . . Jim Morrison


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Re: Part 2: Queenstown, New Zealand (3.5 weeks in AUS and NZ)

Post 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
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tracks and a small slide
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last run, Richard lost a ski in a slide (found it), and right after Michael set one off
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ADDED 2 videos to the album (#54 & 55, I think) but don't know how to post here
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Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free . . . . Jim Morrison


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Re: Part 2: Queenstown, New Zealand (3.5 weeks in AUS and NZ)

Post 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
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finally out of the trees, Lake Wakatipu in the distance
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the summit was somewhere out there
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time to turn back, can't see anything anyway
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hiked to the top of the Gondola, watched the Olympics, then took the easy way down before going to dinner
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Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free . . . . Jim Morrison


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