In the land of the velcro glove · 2007-08-22 17:43
I knew it was going to be bad when my flight from Sydney to Brisbane was delayed by 2 hours. I'd have to rush to international to catch the connecting flight to Auckland.
I figured things were getting worse when, whilst still in Sydney, I received a call from Virgin Blue letting me know the flight to Auckland was delayed until 2:30am.
When that flight was cancelled, and the staff couldn't find a hotel for us stuck in Brisbane, I started to wonder if it could get any worse.
I had what might be called a "Zen moment" when they lost my bags, and after hours of waiting around the airport while they searched, finally gave up until the next day. I even had to pay for my own taxi to the hotel because the bus taking the unfortunates left while they were searching for the baggage.
By this stage I expected the damn thing to break down before we got there anyway.
I finally made it to Auckland at around 3pm the next day, not feeling exactly fresh, with no luggage and no idea what had happened to it. My mate the Kaptain picked me up and we headed back to his. On the way the airline called to say my stuff would be arriving at 5:30, so we sorted out the snowboarding gear we'd need, got the damn bags, headed to Mt Ruapehu, arriving finally at 1am.
I didn't lose my cool the entire time, which totally surprised me. I think it may have been the initial hangover which had mellowed me out a bit :-)
A few observations about New Zealand:
- Getting through customs is easier than getting into Arq on a Saturday night. I was basically waved through!
- The scenery is very beautiful
- Strangers talk to each other as if they've been friends for years
- It's farking freezing
- Female backpackers in NZ are unbelievably bitchy/have incredible attitude problems
- It's like a more expensive Australia with a funny "fush and chups" accent
So snowboarding. The second time I've ever done it, the first being in Kanazawa, Japan. I pretty much picked up from where I left off, that is not being very good at it. The trick is to go from "edge to edge"; keeping one edge of the board uphill and balancing on that edge until one is ready to turn in the other direction. I found it really easy on back edge, while the front edge, requiring one to lean forward is incredibly hard. I lost count of the number of times I did a face plant trying to do this. You need good calf muscles!
The first day I spent on the "bunny slope" trying to get a grip on it. Plenty of kids and rank amateurs such as myself, and 20 minute queues for the chair lift.
Afterwards we went back to the lodge and met a couple who were staying in the room next to ours. We were pumping trance out of the Kaptains car when we arrived, and the Pete happened to be a DJ at a club in Auckland, so it was natural that we party together. We checked out a local bar, talked to some absolute fucking princesses (I'm not using the phrase in a positive way) and a couple of locals. Overall the place was very much like any Aussie backpackers.
Next day, after getting over the expected hangover, I gave the upper mountain everything I had. It was sunny, plenty of snow, and I was gaining confidence. It didn't actually hurt that much stacking in those conditions. I had a spectacular crash in front of a line of skiing students. Applause and a red faced me. I thought I was finally getting the hang of it.
The final day there wasn't very much snow. The first time I came down was onto ice, and it hurt like a mofo. I still have a huge bruise on my arse as I type this, and I don't bruise very easily. This event set the scene for the entire day. I didn't wuss out, still tried to give it, but towards the end I had a couple of major spills (again, onto ice) and started to lose power in my arms and legs. This somehow affected my balance and I found I couldn't even stand up on the damn board. It was late in the day, and I ended up carrying the board back to the cafe halfway up the mountain. I seriously considered getting the chairlift back to the parking lot.
I couldn't bring myself to do it. After chilling out for about half an hour I felt I had the power to do it, and snowboarded back.
Sore as a motherfucker.
Pain and stiffness and bruises were the order of the day for the journey home. I'm sore in places I didn't even know I had places. But I think it's well deserved, and well worth it!
Actually, I can't wait to go again!
Photos of my little holiday to NZ can be found here
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