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 was about this time last year that I visited Wellington for the first time. There was talk that a 30m long 8m tall ‘Wellywood’ sign would be erected on one of the hills of the city, so as you flew in you would see it. Yes, BRUTAL idea! It’s un-original, desperate, too try hard, cheapens the city’s image, and pretty lame. But the Wellington Airport has said it will be going ahead with the sign, even though it seems the majority of the city opposes it. There is a facebook page against the sign with a 140,000 members. There was a slow moving blockade at the airport last week to protest against the sign. It’s been bad press, for the airport so why continue with it??? Wellington is a original city that is creative, how can copying a US city be a good idea.
No doubt if the sign goes ahead it will be a target for vandal’s. In fact there is a Blenheim based brewery, Moa, who has offered 15 cases of beer to “anyone who knocks it down”. Ahaha How awesome it that! The CEO of the airport has said the sign will go ahead, though the Wellington city council opposes it. Hopefully they go back to the drawing table and come up with another idea or just leave the hill a hill. Yes, the film industry is huge in Wellington, but do you really need to copy the US with a huge sign. Lame as!
People have even started to come up with their own signs… see below. What would you suggest? Check out this Wellywood Sign Generator and create your own – http://wellywood.skullandbones.co.nz/
UPDATE: The airport has now agreed to review the sign and is not planning to go ahead with it. THANK GOD!
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.
The best time to visit Arrowtown is in the fall. The colour of the leaves reminds me of Canada.
After my bunge and canyon swing I met up with a mate from Auckland and we checked into the the Queenstown Nomads for the night. We grabbed a case of beer from the grocery store and sat on the balcony drinking and talking about the plans for the long weekend. For dinner we hit up Sombrero’s, a shitty mexican restaurant in the heart of the town. The service was shit, the food was average and the prices were outrageous. Never go to Sombrero’s! We had a couple more beers out on the town and then headed back to the hostel.
The alarm sounded at 7:30am and it was going to be a busy day. Michelle was flying in from Auckland at 8:30am so that gave us a enough time to pack up our bags and drive to the airport. A coffee at the airport later and Michelle had arrived. We loaded our packs into the trunk and headed back into Queenstown. We wondered around town and the lake front for a couple hours and then headed off to Arrowtown.
Arrowtown is an old gold mining town founded in the mid 1800’s. When the gold ran out it became a farm service town. Although the population declined after the gold rush it soon became a popular holiday destination. Now Arrowowtown is a popular tourist destination and one of the fastest growing communities if all of New Zealand.
This town is as pretty as they come. All of the buildings have kept the original style, so it really takes you back in time. The town is situated a long a river and is renowned for its Oaks, Sycamores, Cork Elms and Ashes trees. These trees are not native to the area, but were planted by the early English and Irish settlers who missed the landscape of home and planted trees in 1867. What is great about Arrowtown is that it experiences seasons! Fall here is amazing. All of the trees turn yellow and orange and the the hill sides look stunning. It is a beautiful town and definitely worth a stop on your travels in New Zealand.
Arrowtown Bakery... good eats and treats!
We wandered through town and chilled out by the river. It has to be one of my favourite little towns in New Zealand. You have to hit up the bakery for some great bake goods and pastry. They had really tasty pies and deserts which we snacked on for lunch before we hit the road to our next stop, Mossburn.
One of my mates spots.. great place to have beer and take in the beautiful day!
On our way to Mossburn we hit up some backroads and went to one of my mates favourite secret spots a long the shotover river. It was super picturesque and another great place to stop, take some photos, chillout and have a beer! Nothing beats travelling with a local! You get away from the tourists and see hidden gems like this.
Mossburn is a sleep country village with a pub, hotel, dairy and that is pretty much it. If you were to blink you would miss it. It is here where we would spend the night with my mates brother who works in the area. The reason for staying in Mossburn is that we had a cruise booked in Milford Sound the next morning and it is half way in between Queenstown and Milford, saving us 2 hour drive in the morning and of course the cost of a nights accommodation. The evening was filled with beers, rugby and and endless ribbing of being Jafa’s (just another fucking aucklander). It’s kind of like home where the rest of Canada hates on Toronto. NZ doesn’t like Auckland unless you live in Auckland.. something’s are universal I guess – hatred towards the ‘big city’. It was a fun and entertaining night with a bunch of kiwi’s taking the piss out of each other while watching rugby. There is nothing more of an authentic kiwi evening than that – it was a great!
Ive got a busy week ahead! On Tuesday I am off to Wellington for work and Wednesday I will be down in the south island in Christchurch. This will be my first time back in Christchurch since the earth quake. Just yesterday there was a 5.0 magnatiude aftershock 11km below the serface. There were no injuries thankfully, but from the photos it looks like there was a lot of liquifaction. Now that is nothing compared to what hit early this year, but it still makes me a bit nervous about heading there. Hopefully the earth remains motionless while I am down south.
After Christchurch I am off to Queenstown for Easter. Michelle and my mate Tim will be meeting me down there where we plan to do a bit of a tour. We’ve got a car rented and accommodation booked for a couple nights. The rest of the time we will be staying with Tim’s brother. Im looking forward to touring around down south with a local, as they always know the best spots. We will be hitting up Milford Sound, which im pretty stoked about. The place looks prestine and Ive only heard good things. We will also be visiting Wanaka, Arrowtown, Glenorchy, Cromwell and Alexandra. Unlike my last trip to Queenstown, this is a non-riding trip.
This time of year brings a lot of travel through work. Ill be heading off in May as well to Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington and Palmerston North. On the road again…
Here is a short video from my gopro helmet cam from Grundy’s Track in Queenstown, New Zealand. This track is basically a link between a couple other trails. Fun track.. enjoy!
I can’t believe I have been in New Zealand for one year now! The time has gone by so quickly. Looking back it is just one big fun ride! Ive enjoyed myself so much that I am looking to extend my stay in NZ for another year! Ill keep everyone posted on how that goes… at the moment it’s trying & stressful, but I am just trying to keep in positive spirits.
So I figure it is a goodtime to look at my to-do list and see what exactly I have or have not accomplished from it.
1. Heli-Bike – I cant say I have done this. I did push my bike up a mountain that is commonly heli-biked and hussed down, but no heli ride as of yet.
2. Bungee Jump – Done. Though I would still like to do the Nevis in Queenstown as it is much bigger than the Auckland Harbour Bridge Bungee.
3. Sky Dive – Nope.. still keen, just haven’t gotten around to it.
Learn to surf – Done… well I did a lesson and did ride a couple waves, but I am no surfer.
5. Abseil Waitomo – Done. I actually did this twice, so double check mark!
6. Hike Tangario – Half-done.. so I guess not done. Last year we hiked to summit but had to turn back because of a snow storm and 60km gust.. that was awesome!
7. Work in Bakery – hasn’t happened. I was luckily enough to secure a job a couple weeks before I arrived in NZ and it has been great. Working within the travel industry means discounts and freebies!
8. Learn Yoga – Nope.. didn’t realize how bloody expensive a class is.. yikes!
9. Go Whale Watching – haven’t made it out yet. I could go out in Auckland, but want to save it for Kaikoura as it is the best spot to see whales.
10. Scuba Dive – snorkel – nope.
11. Ride in Moa Beer race – nope. I totally forgot about this race and missed it. Ah well.. im not super keen. But I have drank my share of Moa.. half done ahah
12. WOOF – nope. Been working and had no time to woof.. maybe some other time.
13. Couch surf – haven’t done this, but have managed to meet locals and crash out at their place. So I consider it accomplished.
14. See All Blacks play. Done.. I watched them demolish Wales.
15. Kite-board – this came in as a suggestion and I am still keen. Just been lazy I guess. Being so mountain bike obsessed means that I pretty much ride in my spare time rather than trying some new things… must work on that!
Wow.. still have quite a few things to do! If I wasn’t so addicted to riding tracks over here Im sure I would have more checked off!
A lot of my motivation in NZ has been to ride mountain bike tracks all over this country and I would have to say ive been pretty successful at this. Ive rode tracks all over both the north and south islands and had a couple weeklong bike trips to some wild places. Ive met some amazing locals that have shown me tracks that I would have never had a chance to ride without their knowledge. Do I more tracks to ride and see… HELL YES! I have a few things in the works for riding this year and you will have to stay tuned to learn more.. but if it works out should be big epic rides!
Now what have I missed about home.. family. This was my first Christmas away from everyone and it was toughest time I had in NZ. My family is always in my thoughts and Im always thinking about what I am missing: my nephew and niece getting older, family get togethers, partying and getting way to carried away with my brother, the cottage, my mates and I could carry on with this list for ages, but who really wants to hear about.
So what is to come? First thing first I need to sort this visa out or I will be deported. At Easter I will be heading back down to Queenstown with Michelle and my mate Time (who is a Queenstown local) to see the sites. This is a none bike riding trip – so we plan to do Milford Sounds, Wanaka, Te Anau, Cromwell, Alexander, Glenorchy and whatever else comes a long. Ive got a couple work trips, where I will be taking my bike a long (of course) to ride. And like I wrote earlier, hopefully some big epic rides to come.
My advice to anyone who is thinking of heading to NZ or anywhere else in the world to work and travel… do it! It will most likely be the best experience of your life! Don’t just think about it, make a plan, pick a departure date and go!
After a night of heavy rain I knew that it would be mid afternoon before we got on to the trails at the skyline. Up at 9 am there was plenty of time to make breakie and have a couple coffees. On the way to Queenstown my mate tire blew so we went to a local shop to get that fixed. We had a couple hours to kill as the afternoon riding starts at 3pm. See for the lift passes you can buy a morning, afternoon or all day pass. The morning was a washout since it rained so hard lastnight. From what we heard the only track that was open was Hammy’s and we wanted the black runs, so we decided to wait until later to go ride.
By 3pm the sun was out and there was a cool breaze drying the wet tracks. As we went up the gonola Mark kept telling me how much I was going to love these tracks. Steep, rooty, muddy, jumps, drops, northshore they had it all!
First track down we hit up Hammy’s. It’s a green track, so it is fairly easy and wide open. This is the trail that all the beginners and bike rental folk ride and it is heaps of fun. It’s flowy, with huge bermed corners, some wide open spots, cool north shore sections and a couple table tops for jumps. This is a great track to just let it all hang out!
Now that we were warmed up it was time to hit something a little more challenging. On too Vertigo which is a blue rated track that was steep, fast, had some drops and more challenging bits. Great track!!
After that we hit up Ants track which was pretty much all mud! It is rated a black track and it was a little more technical sketchy in spots. There were lots of roots and mud to deal with, plus the steepness of it made it extremely fun to ride.
Then there was Rock Garden, which had some good drops plus of course a rock garden section to cruise through. Another great trail that is rated black.
We would usually tie a bunch of different trails together as we bombed down. Start on Hammy’s, hit up Vertigo, on to Rock Garden and then back on to Vertigo. There were so many ways to tie the trails together that no run was the same. We would just ride one section of one track and then tack it together with another. So much fun!
Im pretty sure we rode another couple tracks but I cant remember which ones. I was just concentrating on staying on the bike and trying to keep up with Mark! After 8 runs my forearms were burning and my hands were cramping. This was definitely some of the best downhill Ive ridden in New Zealand. Some of the tracks had some serious breaking bumps making the arm pump massive. It was like doing 200 pushups while riding down the hills.. intense!
After riding we headed down town to grab a bite to eat. We settled on Indian and then headed off to a mates place for a catch up. By 10pm I was beat and we were back home. I pushed off to bed as the plan was for a full day of downhilling the next day. I wasn’t sure how my body was going to handle that, has a half-day owned me. Day one on the gondola was epic!
I recently scored a FREE HD video camera from Tourism New Zealand, so I could capture some of the things I get up to while in NZ. I will be posting them on their website new interactive site! I did take some footage at a rugby game a couple weeks back and recently I took it out to Woodhill Bike Park and took a little video of a short track called ‘The Lightening’. It’s a short, flowy, fun track that isn’t too technical, but is a lot of fun to ride. I never realized how much work went into shooting a film. I was filming all by myself so it was pretty much ride a section, move the camera, ride another section and so on. It is more work than I thought. I guess if I had someone to work with it would be easier, but I don’t have that luxury. So here is my first edit from that shoot.
What is going on with the world? Japan has just been hit by an 8.9 earthquake. It was only 2 days ago that the teams from all over the world that had come to NZ to help in the Christchurch earthquake was on their way home. Now, they must be heading to Japan to assist with their search and rescue. I know that there is a team from NZ heading over now to help.
Watching the video of the tsunami is just larger than life! To see a boat caught in a whirlpool and then to disappear is something straight out of the movies. Entire towns/cities have been swept away in a wave of dark water. Overnight there has been an explosion at one of the nuclear plants, but the government is saying that no radiation has been leaked. I find that hard to believe, though I hope it is true. This is all so un-fuck’n-believable!
I believe they are saying the death toll will be in the 1000’s. Even though Japan is one of the most prepared countries for earthquakes, you cant not have casualties in a quake of this size. Luckily their buildings have strict building codes that allow them to sway and withstand earthquakes.. pretty unreal! If it wasn’t for their foresight/planning the death toll would have been much larger.
There were tsunami warnings everywhere: Canada, US, South America, Australia and here in NZ. I was planning on heading to the beach this weekend, but everyone has been told to stay off the water, don’t go sight seeing and stay away from beaches. Ive read that in the US 5 people have been swept away by large waves while trying to take photos – seriously!! Is a photo of a wave that important to you? They had to postpone the national surf championships because of the warnings. I saw a photo of a guy in the US jumping off some rocks to boogie board – WTF?
Ive never really gave much thought into having an emergency kit: water, canned food, medical supplies, matches ect. I guess I didn’t ever think I would really need one. But with the way world has been going lately it may just be time to put something together. YIKES!
