Spring has Sprung!

This past week was by far the best weather week we have had yet, with lots of sunshine and warm temps. We were able to get outside quite a bit to enjoy it, with runs or walks on our lunch breaks and after work.
The warmth has also apparently brought out some loonie tunes. Last weekend was the annual Undie 500. This is a tradition that is now unofficial due to outlaw last year. It starts with some students in Christchurch who put out a challenge for which you have to buy a car for under $500, decorate it, and drive from Christchurch to Dunedin (about 4 hours). On the way, the caravan of cars stops at pubs and bars where everyone but the supposed sober driver have a drink before heading to the next pub. This all ends in Dunedin. As you can imagine, there are some pretty drunk and rowdy teenagers (drinking age is 18) at this point. Until this past weekend, there has been little history of trouble associated with this event, other than the usual (couch burning is a popular Kiwi pastime). However, on Saturday, drunk students took the Unide 500 to a whole new level, adding riots, fights, and various other forms of stupidity to the usual couch burnings. The end result was the entire Dunedin police force out in riot gear, making over 30 arrests. Fortunately, Craig and I live just far enough up the road from the excitement that our sleep wasn't affected!

Undie 500

That was the most exciting thing that happened this past week. Second runner up is the delivery of my new mountain bike to work. The receptionist that had to sign for it was intrigued by the large box with Craig's name on it.
This weekend, we decided to head to Wanaka for some skiing. We had heard that the best skiing in all of New Zealand is at Treble Cone, so we took advantage before the little snow is gone. Saturday morning, we set out, stopping of course at the Farmers Market. Side note: tried something new at the market-Taiwanese Wheel Cakes. These are little, flattened cupcake looking things made out of pancake-ish batter and filled with custard or mince and onion, or beans. The custard ones were the best, especially chocolate.



Okay, so after those and Craig's now regular bacon butte sandwich, we hit the road. It was a beautiful day for a drive and we made it to Wanaka around 2pm. On the way, we saw lots of sheep, some cows, and a sign announcing "Horse Poo 50 cents." After checking into our hotel, we walked into town. The town is right on the shores of Lake Wanaka, with the mountains surrounding. Most notable is Mount Aspiring. Town consists of a bunch of hotels, bars and restaurants, not much else. But it is absolutely beautiful and I think you could sit on the tiny pebbly beach all day, just taking in the scenery.
After hanging out and eating an ice cream cone, we drove along the lake and found another little beachy area with some big rocks sticking out into the water. We walked out and sat on a rock with our frosty beverages and watched the sun set behind the snow-capped mountains. It was awesome.





Next morning, Sunday, we loaded up Shaggy and drove up a very steep, windy, gravel road to the ski resort, Treble Cone. The first thing we saw when we got out of the car was a large parrot-like bird called a Kea hanging out in the parking lot. As we hiked up to the lodge, we noticed them scattered all about, especially wherever there was likely to be food.

Kea Birds

The skiing was awesome, way better than our last ski experience here. There was a light coating of powder and the temps were just freezing, with lots of sun. Also, the slopes weren't crowded like they are back home. Some of the trails were goodly challenging for us, but there were also a few that were just long cruisers. One thing though, they don't mess around with their black diamonds. Back home, I'd say it might not be pretty, but I could probably get down most black diamonds. Here, I didn't even want to get close to the edge of one! It was like jumping off a cliff to start, and getting scarier from there. So, we stuck to the blues. We had a great day skiing, and a fun weekend in Wanaka.





Wanaka Pictures