Winter Break in Wanaka (Part 2)

Cycling

When we loaded the car in Christchurch, we even packed our road bikes! So on Wednesday we pumped up the tyres, got comfortable with the cleats (Chantal) and set off for a ride. The route was planned by Pete, so it was no surprise that our bike ride would incorporate a visit to a pub!

A great pub, it is, too! The Cardrona Hotel is truly old, and has got a great feel to it. The barman was not at all taken aback by seeing lycra clad people entering the pub, with their bikes in hand (we forgot to take a bike lock!). He even asked if we were going on to Queenstown. Now, we might be active, but that would be really crazy. We had a couple of beers and a bowl of wedges, and then made our way back to Wanaka. The return journey was much quicker. Not sure whether that was because of the fuel in our belly (alcohol can do wonders, don’t you know?) or the knowledge that at home more beer could be had or even the fact that the return journey was downhill? Anyway, the journey to the Cardrona Hotel took us one hour and fifteen minutes, whereas the ride home only took us forty five minutes. Cycling on empty roads is lovely – it was a good place to practice clicking in and out of cleats and the scenery was wonderful!

Another Day on the Snow

We had planned to go back up to Cardrona on Thursday, but on the drive there Pete changed his mind and we found ourselves back at Waiourau Snow Farm. The reason for this change of mind was that Pete did not want to be by himself on the slopes again (Chantal does not really like alpine skiing so planned to sit inside the restaurant again, drinking lots of hot chocolate and reading a book). So Nordic skiing it was instead! Once again it was beautiful weather: a clear blue sky and the sun shining – what a great day to be in the outdoors! Today we decided to follow the trail to the Bob Lee hut. This intermediate trail would take us past Meadow Hut, so we were familiar with the start of the route. This time, though, we took the quicker route there, which knocked off quite a bit of time.

Anyway, the scenery was spectacular and the empty trail was superb!

When we got to the Bob Lee hut, Pete had to have a cup of tea! Yep, the hut is fully kitted out, with gas burners, tea bags and all! Again, this hut is also accessible by mountain bike, so we might be back one day.

A Walk in the Park?

On Friday we felt we needed to do something we had not yet done that week, so we went for a walk. We chose a 5-6 hour walk, and from the description we worked out that we would be rewarded with some amazing views. Little did we know that the entire walk consisted of a steep climb up a mountain and the way down would follow the exact same path. Anyway, we tramped our way up, dodging the cow pats and rabbit droppings, until we hit the snow line. This proved to be slippery business, and then the snow cloud started to close in on us. We got so close to the top, but realised that there would be no shelter at the top. As we would not be able to hide from the snow, we did not really want to wait around for the cloud to clear. Nor did we want to become another statistic: a person that needs to be helicoptered down, so with probably only 15 more minutes to climb we decided that it would be in our best interest if we turned around. Of course, as we were making our way to the car, the snow clouds cleared and the views at the top would have been amazing, but we will have to make do with seeing that on postcards instead!

One Last Go

On Saturday, we left our accommodation and our stay in Wanaka was officially over. However, Pete still wanted to hit the slopes, so up we went to Cardrona. And what a difference the weather makes! From the café, I had a great view of the slopes, and finally could see what Cardrona looked like! Pete got himself a half day lift pass, and must have had a great time as I did not see him at all! And what did I do? I read my book, wrote a blog about our holiday, did a lot of people watching and had to have the obligatory hot chocolate!

Winter break in Wanaka

What do most people want to do in the middle of a cold and wet winter? Yes, exactly, escape to a sunny place. Lots of people in New Zealand will book a break in Fiji, the Cook Islands and even the Western Isle (Australia), but not us. No, we wanted to see snow. So a week in Wanaka it will be. A long drive it is too, about 6 hours, but well worth it. We have had a blast on our holiday so far! A Photo Stop at the Lindis Pass

What have we been getting up to? Although the start to our holiday was slow as Pete suffered from a self inflicted illness with Sunday being written off, we have packed in many activities and have some more planned.

Anyway, let's start from the beginning. On Saturday, we drove down, straight to Wanaka. We arrived just after 5 pm, and settled into our accommodation.

View From Our Breakfast Table

Darren and Stephen had also driven down from Christchurch, just for the night, so after a beer at home we set off to explore Wanaka town! And it has grown, since Pete was here last (in 1998!!). Yes, it now has a Subway, a Shooters pub and even a Speights Ale House. As it was a rugby evening – the All Blacks were playing Australia, the pub was packed. We managed to ‘claim’ the fire place and see the game, which was just as well seeing as the All Blacks won! After the match and dinner, we visited a few other establishments including a visit to a bar named The Local (which really was not worth our custom). The following day Darren and Stephen drove all the way back up to Christchurch and Pete suffered a slow death on the sofa before arising for a late afternoon walk.

Cardona Ski Field
On Monday we drove up to Cardrona for a day's skiing, but on the drive up the mountain Chantal’s enthusiasm faded when she saw the snow clouds moving in. Pete still was keen so bought himself a lift pass, and went off on his snowboard. Chantal was still contemplating getting out and onto some skis but as the sky never cleared she stayed inside, read her book and drank lots of hot chocolate. Not a bad thing, being stuck inside! Pete had a good time but decided to call it a day mid-afternoon as the snow had moved in making the visibility poor and resulting in a few wrong turns (and falls0 down some rather difficult terrain!

Nordic skiing
On Tuesday we decided to try something new so drove up to Waiourau Snow Farm: the only commercial place in New Zealand where you can go Nordic skiing. When we arrived we were surprised by the sight of an empty car park, but soon realised that that meant there were few people about – which was great. Anyway, we signed ourselves up for a lesson, got kitted out and were greeted by Lesley (a Snow Friend - a person who shows newbies what to do, so that you can get out on the snow. Lesley took us around Mary’s Run where we learned the basics, including how to fall and get up. When it came to our lesson, Lucy showed us the correct technique, how to stop, etc. She also took us around the Highlander, a slightly longer run than Mary’s Run. If you have a reasonable sense of balance from alpine skiing, skating or some other sport then nordic skiing is not that difficult, particularly the classic style which use grooves to ski in.

After the lesson we had lunch, in the comfortable lodge bar and nearly did not want to leave. It was so cosy and nice (and being sat next to a radiator made us feel as if we were back home). Anyway, we did go back out again and put into practise what we had learned that day. We took the easy, but long route to Meadow Hut. This is a back country hut, with lots of bunks, so people can stay overnight.

Leaving Meadow Hut to Return to the Lodge

We had no intention to stay but just wanted to see what it was like. You can reach this hut by bike, in the summer, so who knows, we might attempt that one day. The return from Meadow Hut to the lodge was quite tiring, and we were both glad to get back to base.

That night we slept like little babies, tired from a great day out on the mountain!