Well here at last is a start to the report on the best trip that the Noclass Mac snow bunnies have ever had!
Day 1 was the Slow and the weather man seems to have remembered how it was one year ago and thought we loved it so much he would give us another dose! The day started out not to bad but a southerly change was forecast and it arrived a little later that last year but lucky for us we managed to get through without getting as cold or wet as last year but not by much.
The day was a success thanks
to the Christchurch modelers and the BBQ at Doug's was up to last years standard.
The combat was pretty darn good to with the return of our combat Guru Bryce
Gibson who had just placed 4th at the recent World Champs in Sebnitz, but that
counted for very little!
Bryce and Glen Lewis were ripping through the field unbeaten and then finally
they met in round 5. Glen took out the first bout and as they were the last
remaining contestants, they had to fly again as both had 2 lives going into
the bout. Bryce took the second bout which then took us to the last and final
bout.
And the winner is................ Glen took out the final bout, it was a hard fought battle but at the end of the day it was the power of the new Russian combat motor that Bryce had sold to Glen (and his skill of course!) just a week before that held Bryce off.
Day 1 (Snow bound). Straight
after we had our dinner at Doug's after flying we headed back to Jon's place
to swap toy planes for ski gear and we picked up Tim and his friend Fred who
had just arrived from the Arctic / Canada. Fred turned out to be one of the
real 'characters' of the trip and a new friend to us all.
The first night we stayed on the river bed at the foot of Mt Dobson in the same
spot as last year, this was the prelude to the most exciting day and one that
we will all remember for the rest of our lives!
Day 2, Sun 18th August. We woke to a glorious day, clear blue sky with a little wind. A good breakfast was the order of the day so we headed into Farlie, Alistair and I found a nice cafe and had the 'Works' and there must have been half a pig worth of bacon between us as well as every other breakfast fry up item you could imagine! This was the breakfast of champions.
We got up the hill without
drama having to put the chains on about half way up, meanwhile Shaun got lost
in town and went house hunting instead. The morning was great but the wind was
getting up a little and by about 12pm there were rumors that they were going
to close the lifts! Al and I went all over to find the last ride up the hill
but were cut off by the rope as it was closed in front of us, we were told to
get off the mountain as fast as we could and we were just gutted we missed the
last T-Bar.
The weather soon closed in as we got our half day ticket refund for the next
day, we hurried into the van with Jon at the wheel we started the trip of a
life time. We had not gotten 100m down the road when Tim had to get out and
run in front of the van so Jon could see where to go, the wind was howling and
the snow was horizontal and covering the road fast. We were slipping a bit but
were making good progress, however, we passed a Subaru with just it's rear end
poking up as it was perched on the cliff edge so we knew we were in for a rough
time. A few bends later and all hell broke loose, 4WD's, buses were sliding
out of control and progress was slow, most of us were out of the van at this
stage to try and help guide the van down and keep it from sliding into the bank.
I was the only one in the back of the van and Jon driving and then all of a
sudden the rear end of the van started to slide out towards the cliff side of
the road and all I can remember is running to the door and Jon yelling "Oh
gosh, it's going round" and out the corner of my eye I saw Al fall over
as the van swung round towards him. I was out the door just as the van hit the
bank and stopped.
We were all in a state of
shock and Jon was as white as the snow (See Video clips!) Tim drove from here
and we backed down a we way but then got firmly lodged into the bank and it
was all over.
The next thing we saw was a bus out of control full of people and the driver
was almost ready to bail and just stopped beside us, Al then calmly says, "Last
Stop" and we all cracked up!
We did get pulled out and
safely down the hill as the salt took effect and we met Shaun coming up the
road on his Motor bike wondering what had happened. We got to the bottom and
I helped Shaun with the bikes while the rest headed back into Farlie. Shaun
and I then went for a ride back up the snow line at high speed!!! now that was
a hell of a day.
We met up with the others in the pub and had a drink before heading back to
our camp spot and getting a huge fire going with an old washing machine drum
in the middle with a grill plate on top to cook the biggest steaks I have ever
seen, roast spuds and mushrooms, onions and an awesome sauce made by Olly, our
trip chef. We eat and drank fine red wine and reminisced over the days events
before having a well deserved sleep.
Day 3, Mon 19th August
The morning was just as clear as the day before but no wind and this
time we were in for a great day, again we headed into town for a full breakfast
and onto the slopes we went.
There was 10cm of fresh snow and we made the most of it and Al in an attempt
to cut me off on an approach to a jump came off second best and gave his leg
a good wrench and had to take it easy for the rest of the day. After a full
days boarding / skiing we headed off down the mountain and headed towards Wanaka.
The Lindis pass was covered in snow but the road was not too bad and we got
through just fine, as we got into Wanaka we could see a massive bush fire and
the closer we got to the foot of Treble Cone Ski Resort we saw that it was a
scrub burn off that seemed to be along the access road.
We parked up and Olly went to work on another masterpiece, tonight we dined
out on wild pork with sweet and sour sauce.
Day 4, Tues 20th August
Jon, Shaun and Olly went out for an early morning ride on the bikes
while the rest of us had a few more Z's.
Today we skied / boarded at Treble Cone, they had a 6 seater Express chair and
most of us made it on the first chair of the day. Again more clear blue sky
and no wind and average to good snow, we got around most of the mountain and
had some great runs and the best thing was it took longer to ski down than it
took to get back up on the chair! Awesome day.
This afternoon we headed to the river near the foot of Cardrona, here we found
a great play ground for the bikes and a massive wood supply that Al and I gathered
up and again we set up the grill plate and had New York rump steaks, each one
covering around 80% of the plate! So yet again a great bon fire, great food
and wine. This is how winter is meant to be enjoyed.
Day 5, Wed 21st August.
Well you guessed it, yet another fine and clear day and there was Olly
and Jon in there sleeping bags and a light frost covered them. We had a slow
start today and did some riding on the bikes and finally got Shaun's van started
so we could get the jumper leads out for the Camper van! the music was played
long and load last night!
We headed into Wanaka for brunch before heading to Cardrona, Jon, Shaun and
I went up the mountain road on the bikes while the others took the camper van
up. We had a good solid half day on the snow and it has to be said, it was great
snow and awesome terrain but the lifts sucked. This field needs a 6 seater express
chair!
We drove to Queenstown and slummed it with a feed
of Fish 'N' Chips after which we headed for a spot we picked out while it was
still light and we all pretty much went straight to sleep.
Day 6, Thurs 22nd August.Today
we took on the Remarkable's and as has been the case for the last few days,
clear blue sky and no wind. Again we had a great day and I managed to score
some cheap lift tickets for an Aussie guy who was getting ride of some extras
he had so that was a good score! full day for half day rate. Well the terrain
park was again where Al and I headed and later joined by Shaun and we managed
to get in some big 'Airs' and I managed to clear the BIG one! Wahoo!!!!!
Some low passing cloud bought poor visibility and a slightly early finish to
the day but that was fine as we were heading out on the town tonight.
We found a spot round the lake to freshen up and cook dinner before we headed
into town and really let loose, some of us did not make it back till well after
4am!
Day 7, Fri 23rd August. We
had a short sleep in as we were still parked on the water front in downtown
Queenstown so we drove back to the spot we found the night before and had a
rest, well almost!
Out came the bikes once more and we had a real blast, there was a table top
all set up for us so Jon and Shaun got stuck in and got a few "Airs"
and most of us had a go on the bikes and as it was sand and some shingle it
was a soft landing if you got it wrong.
After another amazing lunch from Olly we thought about driving up to Coronet
Peak for a late afternoon play in the snow but this was only possible for the
lucky few who had a season pass as we were a little late, this meant that most
of us just sat in the car park for a while playing 500 until 4pm when we got
our night pass. The snow was a little rough but usable and there was some good
hits here and there and time enough in the daylight to sort out the trails as
darkness fell and the spot lights took over. The night riding was awesome! not
being able to see all the bumps made it more exciting and at times faster than
when you could see.
The night was capped off by a mid winter Xmas bash with a great show of formation
skiing down the trail with fire torches only and then a fireworks display. After
this we were all completely stuffed and retired to the camper van to be greeted
by the best chicken curry you could imagine.
Tim drew the short straw and drove us back to our camping spot in Farlie for the hop home to Christchurch the next morning.
This was the best snow trip ever and many thanks to Jon for organising it and to Olly for the most awesome camper van food that would put many restaurants to shame. Look forward to seeing you all next year. (Hmmmm it's already next year! hehehehe well see you soon guys (:-) )
Glen