Loving Queenstown

We are loving the winter as we not only get to ski but we are also able to get cosy next to a fire with a beer or hot chocolate, or in the boys case an ice lolly?!

Oli is beginning to make friends and the great thing about kids around here is that they want to do stuff like scooter in skateparks! 

Occasionally we have to pinch ourselves as Queenstown is such a beautiful place.

One of the great things about skiing is that we do it as a family. Even though Alex is going on his own to explore the mountain we still spend heaps of quality time together which was the whole point of our adventure.

Here is a shot of the first time we left school and went straight up to the mountain for night skiing. Fran and I always had the dream that one day we would do that, and it finally happened. :)

GoPro biking around Arthurs Point with Tommy

Coronet Peak with the Hines

June/July

Alex continues to have a passion for cooking, his shortbread was particularly impressive. His bread was also a highlight.

Coronet has fantastic facilities and some cute mascots called Shred and Spike.

The earlier we get to the mountain the quieter it is initially and you can sneak in a couple of empty runs although it has been pretty quiet so far. After a big dump of snow it has been awhile and the snow is quickly disappearing. 

Whenever we get some snow the boys are up and out pretty earlier to get some sledging in. Living in Arthurs Point has it bonuses, we tend to get more snow as we are higher although it does it get colder. Freezing pipes once so far.

Even though we are much colder now we still get plenty of stunning days.

Skiing in July

As we become more proficient it opens the mountains up for us to explore. We can now go to intermediate/advanced runs which worked out really well as Shadow Basin turned out to be one of favourites except when it's icy and then it's impossible! 

Shadow Basin was a challenge but great fun.

The Remarkables adapt their terrain and on this day they built a very exciting tunnel! I lost count of how many times they went through it but it made up for some dodgy icy tracks.

Coronet Peak is still our favourite.  Greengates has some great runs and tends to be a lot quieter than the rest of the mountain. Score! Coronet is also a 15 min drive from our home which also makes it particularly attractive especially when Alex forgets his skis!

Riverton and Bluff

July iPhone photos

Alex has a pass to Cardrona as it was such a good deal so the lucky boy went with his friend Holly where he was shown the entire mountain and hasn't stopped talking about it! Cardrona is about an hour away and closer to Wanaka hence we have passes for Coronet and The Remarkables which is closer to us. 

The Hines popped down from Auckland for some skiing and we had a couple of great days on Coronet and a few nights out. 

We had a fantastic meal and a unique experience at Winnie's.  Every half an hour or so the roof opened which was very cool, would love to do that again as its snowing! The pizza was particularly good.

We had a stunning day on The Remarkables but the snow was icy and hideous to board/ski on. We will put this day down to experience. Got some great GoPro footage though, check out the video!

Skiing on The Remarkables