Thank you.
When you set out to accomplish a goal obstacles can be frustrating. But, sometimes the obstacles can be glorious. Like being stuck in New Zealand unable to ski. Here we are on the other side of the world, together, friends. How couldn't we be having fun?! So, we set out to Queenstown, drove over the Crown Range Pass as snow was accumulating on the mountains above. We took in the gorgeous hillsides- they are so green this time of year! Normally we are here in the heart of winter and everything is brown, but not this time. We walked around Queenstown and took in the sites. Even managed to check out the fish viewing area that is built into Lake Wakitipu. Ducks, eels, rainbow trout and other slimy guys were all there for the show! We drove the long way back to Wanaka and stopped to see the river and waterfalls. At this point we really began to see how lucky we were. In a beautiful place with no agenda- free to explore.
The next day Colby, Matt and I went exploring. We drove out past Treble Cone, past the Mt. Aspiring Heli Operation until the road ended, passed cows, sheep, and deer- all farmed here, and saw the occasional bunny hop its way to safety. From there we went for quite the hike to an incredible waterfall. Since we were all adrenaline deprived from not skiing for 4 days, we decided to take a dunk in the river, which was melted snow from the mountains above. Brrrr. But it sure got our blood pumping!
The last two days we've gotten to ski and it's been bluebird. Matt stomped his double cork 12 and the rest of us watched in pure amazement. This kid is coming back from knee surgery?! Yep, and he's fired up! The rest of us have managed to get some things done on the airbag and are trying to find the spark that Matt had to go do it in the pipe. I guess it shouldn't be hard since we were all whining about not skiing for 4 days!
