This past weekend was Michelle’s Birthday weekend, so we headed down to Raglan for a little R&R! We scored a deal from grabone, which is an online discount site where you can get deals on everything from clothing to weekend getaways. For $150 we got 2 nights accommodation at Solscape and surf lesson (board and wetsuit included)… pretty good deal.
Upon arrival to Raglan we had some fish and chips and then headed out to check out Bridal Falls – a 60-meter waterfall just outside of Raglan. There are three viewing decks; top, middle and bottom. It only takes about 10 mins to walk to the waterfall and another 10 to walk to the bottom. Very picturesque, def worth the walk. It is here I realized that I didn’t charge my battery for my camera, even though I had thought I did… oops! After Bridal Falls went back into Raglan to get some food and pick up a disposable camera – who knew they still made them! Finished shopping we headed out of Raglan to Solscape an eco hostel part of the YHA chain.
Solscape is nestled in the hills mount Karioi which over looks the tasman sea. They have a variety of accommodation 1) Cabooses – 12 NZ rail cars that have been fitted out for a good nights sleep, which offer singles, double and dorms. 2) Tipis – 3 different sized tipis that are outfitted with beds and are located a short 5 minute walk into the bush – def want to go back and stay in them 3) Camping – 6 camper van and 8 tent sites that overlook the ocean. All of the accommodation have access to the two kitchens and lots of shower facilities and we cannot forget an eco reading room… yup this place is run by hippies! It is a great little hostel and I would totally recommend it to anyone looking for a unique hostel in Raglan. The staff was very friendly and helpful and even provided a bit about the history of the hostel.
We stayed in the caboose which was a new experience for both Michelle and I. It was outfitted with a double bed, a couple shelves and a heater to keep that tin can warm! It was really cozy! After settling in there we went into Raglan for a nice birthday dinner at the hotel. There isn’t a lot of choices for restaurants in Raglan but the hotel did put on a mean feed! After dinner we picked up some beers and chilled back in our caboose ahaha that just sounds funny eh! The next morning we went to the beach, collected sea shells and drift wood (michelle’s choice) and then toured the touristy shops of Raglan where we scored some sweet xmas presents from some family back home.
Our surf lesson was at 2pm so we had a quick lunch and headed back to the hostel to chill before our lesson. There were only 4 people in the lesson, which was way better than the last one I had at another hostel in Raglan (40 ppl in that) We did a bit of a briefing at the hostel and then squeezed into our wetsuits and headed down to the beach. Once at the beach we did a couple more practice paddles on the sand and then it was straight into the water. I did so much better this time around! I got up the majority of the time.. I loved it! Michelle on the other hand wasn’t enjoying it as much as me. After a few attempts she decided it wasn’t for her and called it a day.
Once back at the hostel it was a quick shower and then off to a mates place down the road for a BBQ. Their batch was sick! It had a hot tub and nice private deck – super chill! Here we had a couple beers and a good feed. I didn’t get carried away as i usually do since i was driving..yup i had to behave. We were sitting around on the deck when we heard a rustle in the bush. At first we thought it was a Tui bird, but it seemed a bit loud for that. All of a sudden a shadow emerged and started coming towards the table. I thought it must be a possum and as soon as i said that one of the girls at the table screamed. Just after the scream emerged a dog. Im guessing it smelt BBQ and was hoping for a treat. It hung around for a while and then wandered off. We stuck around a couple more hours and then headed off to our caboose to call it a night.
Michelle getting ready to unload on some poor bastard!
This past weekend we hit up Action Paintball with a group of friends to celebrate Michelle’s birthday. When Michelle told me she wanted to go paintballing for her birthday I was a little taken back. Ive been before and didn’t think it would be something she would have been keen to try being that it does leave a little bruise/welt when your struck. But she surprised me and booked a game so we rounded up our mates and off we went.
Blasting away!
We arrived just past noon where we had our debrief on what the rules were and how to play and then it was go time! We broke into two teams and started blasting at one another. The adrenalin really starts pumping when you are running around and paintballs are whizzing by your head. It was a blast. Everyone was really into it!
Afterwards we had a BBQ and a couple beers on site where we showed off our war wounds and recounted the shots and hits we had taken to all parts of the body. Yes there were bruises and some welts, but in the end everyone was smiling and had a great time.
Saturday was my last day in Queenstown for riding on this trip and I wanted to make the most of it. We planned Friday night to get up early and try and get in as many runs before I had to head to the airport at mid afternoon.
I awoke to bird chirping, sunshine and blue skies at 8:30am it was straight to breaking down camp. No time to laze around. I packed up all my gear; tear down tent, prep bike for day of riding, find some clean clothes for flight and pack it into the car. Then it was into Bob’s Weigh for breakfast to charge the fuel tanks for a fun fuelled day of downhilling. After some eggs benny and a couple coffee’s it was off to the skyline for some riding.
We were first riders up on the day! Just like the other days it was non-stop action. We managed to squeak in 12 runs in just 4 hours. I wanted to hit each track at least once more and we easily did so. No crashes on the day either, which is always good for the last day of a bike trip. The bike gods were taking care of me!
At 2pm I had to get ready for my flight, so we went downtown to grab some lunch and then I went to the park to break down my bike and get myself ready for my flight. My mate left me at the park and he returned back up the hill to ride – lucky bastard. I broke down my bike for the airplane, changed out of dirty/stinky riding gear and into jeans and a t-shirt for my flight home and then caught a bus to the airport.
Once at the airport I checked my bags, had a celebratory beer, read my book and then it was time to board the plane. On board I easily fell asleep dreaming of returning back to Queenstown to ride once again. I should be back in Jan or Feb to ride again… it cant come soon enough.
With this trip now done it is time to start planning the next. So what is next on the ride radar? Of course there will be a tonne of rides around Auckland; Woodhill, Riverhead, Maraetai and hopefully Dome Valley. But I really want to make a long weekend trip to Rotorua and Taupo in the near future. Ive ridden Rotorua heaps, but Taupo is completely new to me so it’s on my ride radar!
I took some time off this week to head down to Queenstown and do some downhill mountain biking on the skyline. As usual it was an early flight, I like to make the most of my time off so I usually fly really freak’n early to maximise my time riding. Well this time it didn’t quite pan out! I flew into some real shit weather. We are talking about a southerly that has just covered the entire country – cold, wet and windy. Not ideal for riding. When it rains hard and the ground is muddy and soft it is best to stay off the tracks since you just end up destroying! So my day was a wash. The skyline wasn’t taking bikers up, so what was I supposed to do with my time?
Yes Queenstown is the adventure capital of the world and there is heaps to do, but when you don’t want to do a bungy, jump in a speed boat or get drunk there isn’t a lot going on especially on shit weather days. So what do I do? I go the library and read. I spent 3 hours at the library and then another two at a café reading and chilling. It’s like when people go to tropical spots to rest on the beach and read… Well I didn’t have the nice weather, but I read.
By mid avro I checked into my hostel and continued reading. I’ve pretty much polished off my book, which is – ‘two seats left’ the story of contiki travel. Good read! I also hit up the local book shop to read and cruise through some magazines. Also I sent a couple post cards… I didn’t bring my lap top so jumping online isn’t readily available. Now I am just praying for blue skies, sun and dry trails!
I guess my question to you is – what do you do when you are travelling and the weather has gone to hell? Also got any good books you can recommend?
Work has been great! I just got back from a trip down to Wellington and Christchurch. Any time you get out of the office is nice.Wellingtonwas pretty average, grey, windy and cold – the usual for Welly.Christchurchthough was bluebird skies, sunny and fairly warm. The flight down was impressive and looking back I wish I had my camera. The mountains were stunning. After the dumping of snow we had earlier in the month they are all covered and looking amazing. The best I’ve ever seen them. Super scenic.
September is looking good for work travel too! I’ve got heaps on the go and spring starts, so no complaints here. I’m off , to Wellington and Christchurch again. I’m loving it! Just found out that I will be heading to Queenstown mid September, so I have tacked a couple days on that trip to do some riding!
I maybe getting to GoldenBayfor some back country riding near the end of the month.. fingers crossed! It all depends on timing and funds!
The Rugby World Cup is only a week or so away and I’ve just scored some tickets too the Canada Vs Tonga game.Ill be going with another Canadian and a couple of Kiwis. STOKED!!! Life is good.
It’s been pretty wet in NZ lately! All this rain has kept me inside, meaning I can work a some new videos. I recently took the video camera out to Woodhill Bike Park to shoot one of my favorite trails, Afterglow. It’s a 2 min downish single track ride packed with lots of berms… sweet!
Have you heard of Shrek the awol sheep? Back in 2004 he was found in a mountain cave after six years on the run. He sported a fleece of that was 27 kilo’s, that is six times the average from a merino and enough to make 20 men’s large suits. He evaded capture for six years, disappearing into the mountains hiding during the annual sheep round-ups.
Once found he became an instant celebrity. He was shorn on national television on an iceberg off the coast of Otago, traveled the world promoting New Zealand merino and raising money for charity. He commanded $16,000 as an appearance fee. Overall he raised $150,000 for charity and they estimated $100 million in publicity for wool exports.
Shrek passed away recently at the age of 16 years. His ashes will be spread over Mt Cook, New Zealand’s tallest peak. He was a national celebrity here in New Zealand and will be missed. RIP Shrek.
This past week I hit up the Banff Film Festival in Auckland with Michelle and some work mates. This is the 2nd year I have attend the festival and I found the films not as good as last year, but still enjoyable. They split the festival into two days, rather the one night. Personally I feel it would have been better if they kept it one night as the film selection was a little week. I felt that half of the films were good, while the other half were something I would have seen on TV of on youtube.
The longest and I guess feature film of the nights was ‘Miracle in the Sky’ and it was about a paraglider who got stuck in a massive thunderstorm during a race. A lot of it was renacted, which to me is what a festival film shouldnt be, but still pretty crazy. She was sucked up into the clouds to about 10000 meters, which is pretty much the stratosphere. No one should survive such an event, but luckily enough she did.
My favorite film of the night was ‘Man vs Eiger.’ The film documents Dean Potter as he attemps to climb the north face of the Eiger, which is revered amoung climbers. What makes his attempt uniques is that he scales this face with no ropes, but with just a backpack containing a parachute. Think base jumping combined with free climbing. Yah.. bat shit crazy!
The funniest film of the night was ‘Cross-country Snowboarding’. Follow Joel & Tate as they event a new xtreme sport and try to take it too new levels! Funny as hell!
Another great film was called ‘ As it Happens.’ Here you follow two mates as they climbMount Everest, but what makes this unique is that they film, edit and update there website as they climb. This has never been done, as usually all the film is edited by a third party once the climb is over. Pretty cool! Think mountaineering and social media.
The best water film of the night was ‘Dream Result’. It’s a white water kayaking film about some friends who travel aroundNorwayriding some gnarly white water, with some very huge drops. I have no idea where these guys get such big balls!
Another cute film was called Parking Garage: Beyond the Limit. Here you watch the trails and tribulations as one man takes on the north face of the parking garage
There was also a long boarding film, where a bunch of crazies rip down a mountain road inCalifornia, dodging cars and passing the camera off to each other.
Here are a couple of the films I wished were played inAuckland, but were played else where on the tour around NZ.
Life Cycles.. epic mountain bike film.
LastParadise, which is a kiwi film.
Follow-me, another crazy, fast paced mountain bike movie
For the final day in the Southern Lakes district we would take a bit of a tour to Wanaka. Up early as usual we hit up Bob’s Weigh for breakie. It’s a great little place downtown Queenstown that great food and coffee. After a good feed we loaded into the car and headed through Crown range, which I believe is the highest range in New Zealand. Once again, stunning scenery everywhere. This is the kind of road that buses aren’t allowed on as it is windy, narrow and steep!
The first stop of the day was for a beer at the Cardrona Hotel, located in the Cardrona Valley. It is one of New Zealand’s first hotels as it was established in 1863 because of the gold rush. Now a popular tourist stop, it’s a great place to have a drink and take a break while driving through the crown ranges.
After a beer it was back into the car and 45 mins to Wanaka. Wanaka is a small town that started because of the gold rush. Now it is your typical tourist town, with a huge number of people moving their over the winter months because of its close proximity to the ski hills. It’s located on the southern end of the Lake Wanaka, so it is busy in the summer with many locals visiting during their holidays. We didn’t spend too much time in Wanaka, as there isn’t much to do. Pubs, cafes, tourists shops pretty much own the town center.
From Wanaka we headed to puzzle world. Here you can find your way through a maze, (which completely frustrated me) visit the optical illusion rooms and try to figure you more puzzles from all over the world. We spent about two hours here and that was enough. I’m not one for puzzles, so not really my kind of stop, but when you are in the area.. why not!
Done with all of the games it was into Queenstown to head up the Gondola to watch the sunset. We managed to time this perfectly. Some photos on the viewing deck and beers in the pub. From here we had dinner at the speight’s ale house, where you can always count on a hardy meal. That pretty much sums up the last day of our southern trip. I love it down south and hope try life in the south sometime in the future.
For the third day of the trip we planned to visit Glenorchy. Early morning we packed our bags as we stayed another night in Mossburn and headed back towards Queenstown to check into our hotel room. We were back in Queenstown by mid day so we visited the most famous burger joint in New Zealand. Ferg Burger! I know Ive written about about how awesome the burgers are, so I wont go there again. Ill just say.. visit Fergberger and don’t bother with the chips as the burger is big enough to fill your belly! After a mean feed of prime NZ beef, we headed to our hotel to drop our bags.
Once we unloaded all of our stuff it was back on the to road towards Glenorchy. The drive is stunning. There is this one corner you come around and all you see is blue skies, a lake and the all of the surrounding mountain ranges. It was pretty amazing.
Glenorchy is a small town on the northern end of Lake Wakatipu and is a pretty popular tourist stop. A lot of tramping tracks start here as it lies on the boarder of Mount Aspiring National Park and Fiorland National Park. You will find cafes, pub, fur trading post, hotel/motel, petrol station, jet boat and kayaking companies, and horse trekking too. There isnt a lot happening in Glenorchy, it is a very small quiet community, but it is still worth the trip out. If you visit Glenorchy make sure to take a drive out to Paradise. Many people will recongize the scenery from the Lord of the Rings.. so if you are a Lord of the Rings geek… this is a place you would want to go. We chilled out here for a while just taking in being surrounded by the mountains!
After a while it was time to head back to Queenstown where we would spend the night drinking beers and watching the finals of the ABL (australian Basketball League) where New Zealand’s only team would loose a hard fought game 2 in a double overtime thriller. Then it was off to bed, as we would be up early to get out and see Wanaka and Cromwell.
The stunning surrounds you in Glenorchy, New Zealand.
