We arrived in New Zealand on Tuesday, after a very quick (2 ½ hours) flight to Christchurch. Mum & I, being the two that don’t particularly enjoy flying, were certainly grateful that it was a smooth flight with not much turbulence, as normally Christchurch is renowned for being a “bumpy” destination because it’s so windy when the plane goes to land. I wasn’t feeling well for much of the flight, and I was worried they would realize I was sick because they made an announcement about Swine Flu and the symptoms they mentioned matched some of mine! Nevertheless we got off the plane and after picking up our rental car, we were on our way to Mt Cook (after a stop at Couplands Bakery which was conveniently located five minutes away from the airport!)
Mt Cook was about four hours away, so we spent two hours driving in late daylight and two hours driving in the dark. Towards the end of the journey, it started to snow! (You might have seen me twitter about this) I’ve never really seen snow fall from the sky as much as it did while were nearing Mt Cook. I’ve only ever seen the occasional flutter of snow in places like Canberra and the Snowy Mountains back in Australia. But this was the cover-a-car, shins deep kind of snow! It was awesome. We made it to our hotel in Mt Cook (The Hermitage, which was very nice. It even had a heated bathroom floor in our room!) and then decided we wanted to go out for dinner, since the only options at the hotel were a bar and a ridiculously overpriced buffet restaurant.
Well, Mother Nature had other plans. We tried to walk to a café nearby but didn’t make it ten steps before I was slipping all over the place in my boots in the ice and snow. We retreated back to the hotel, only to find out this café was “half a mile” away. Now, I’m strictly a Metric girl, but even I could acknowledge that half a mile was way too far for me to make it, especially considering the boots with no grip/ icy roads situation that faced us. So, our next option was to try and drive there, but one look at the roads and we knew we’d never make it without snow chains on our tyres. And snow chains we did not have. On top of that, by this point we were pretty much snowed in. Cars were covered in snow, and the roads weren’t going to be ploughed until the next morning. Fun.
So what to do? Well, since it was such a fancy hotel, the room didn’t come with a kitchenette or even appliances such as a toaster, so our only option was to raid the shelf of grocery items that was in the small store near the lobby. Given our hotel room only had a jug and cutlery (no bowls or plates) I had to settle for a cup of noodles and a bar of chocolate for dinner! I went upstairs, boiled the jug, poured the water into the cup of noodles, took a spoon and went back downstairs to sit by the fireplace! How very classy.We spent the evening drinking by the fire and watching it snow. Later we discovered a cupboard full of board games that the hotel kept for guests, and we all played Yahtzee and toasted marshmallows in the fireplace.
The next morning we were up bright and early only to find it had snowed even more! (You might have seen the photo I posted on Twitter of what it looked like outside our hotel window) We were wondering if it would even be safe to drive, but the guy at reception shoveled the snow off our car and told us “you’ll be right!” Okay then.
Off we went on our journey to Queenstown. We stopped at some nice places, like Old Cromwell Town, where there were these beautiful antiques and knick-knacks stores in this village that had been replicated to look like an old historic town. I bought half a metre of this beautiful pink and white damask (that’s a pattern) fabric that I’m going to use as the background for a pinboard. I loved exploring all the little shops in the towns we’ve stopped at, even though Mum and Neil make fun of me for the way I pronounce the names of the towns. Seriously, you try pronouncing Twizel and Pukaki. (I said it like Twizzle and Poo-cark-ee.)
Another thing I love about New Zealand (apart from Maori pronounciation!) is the food, and the little towns we visited didn’t disappoint when it came to this. Apart from Couplands, we’ve enjoyed all kinds of savouries and biscuits and slices that are uniquely Kiwi. And they are so good.
We got to Queenstown about three hours later after leaving Mt Cook. And even though it looked like it would, it didn’t snow. But man, was it cold! I wouldn’t be exaggerating if I said I was the coldest I’ve ever been the first night we were in Queenstown. As soon as we got to our room, I sat down in front of the (ridiculously small) heater and wrapped myself in a blanket. Later on, I had to buy myself one of those huge big puffer jackets to keep me warm. Even with scarves and jackets and beanies and boots on, the wind is icy and bitter and it cuts right through you as it seems to come fresh off the snowy mountains that loom above us. That night, we had fish and chips for dinner with some of Neil’s family at one of the restaurants in town. Even inside, I kept my puffer jacket on! It is just unbelievably cold here once the sun goes down (or even when it’s still up, really!) As soon as we got here, my allergies flared up and for the past few days I’ve been a snuffly, sneezing mess.
Nevertheless, we have done a bit of sightseeing, and enjoyed looking around all the shops in the main part of Queenstown. Yesterday we went up to Coronet Peak to go skiing, and the views up there were a sight to behold. We were literally skiing on top of the mountain! We started at about twelve-thirty, but by the afternoon it had gotten bitterly cold again so we only made it up and down the slopes a few times before packing it in at about three-thirty. Today, my legs are sore. I feel like I have used muscles I didn’t even know I had! Which should be interesting, really, because today is the day of Neil’s nephew’s wedding (the whole reason why we are here) and I have to stand all day in high heels. Not to mention that the afternoon ceremony is outdoors, and have I mentioned how cold it is? We didn’t come prepared for snow weather, so my outfit for the wedding consists of a sleeveless dress I bought in New York, a thin trench coat and a scarf. Maybe enough for Sydney winter, but definitely not for a New Zealand winter like this! I’ll let you know how it goes. Keep an eye on my Twitter for updates throughout the day, as it’s hard to find free wi-fi access to blog around here; they all want you to pay for it!
