So after the world’s longest summer, we seemed to skip Autumn and move straight into winter with cold temps and frequent heavy rain, though being Christchurch still plenty of sunshine in between! We’ve never been big fans of busy indoor activities so persevered with a quick walk to Taylor’s Mistake between showers and probably the coldest and wettest trip to Bottle Lake for biking ever. In retrospect this would have been a far better swimming pool or climbing wall day! The weather then got even worse with an impending weather bomb forecast, this resulted in closed roads in all directions and lots of flash flooding, so even we finally ventured indoors! First up was the excellent New Brighton hot pools which are well situated right on the beach. Clip and climb continues to impress our keen little climbers and Em and I managed to remember how to put a harness on and did a few auto belay routes which we found very pumpy being more into 5-8m high boulder problems these days! The highlight of a mega rainy weekend was back to New Brighton for some great surfing with seals and if you timed it right, threading the pier was pretty fun too….
With the days drawing in Em and I were treated to some amazing sunrises and sunsets cycling to and from work but definitely time to dig the bike lights out and get the winter battle gear out to make the commute less of a suffer-fest. We finally lost the mini surf team to the cold water temps but Em and I continued surfing at a very flash flood affected Tumbledown Bay in the mist, and Ethan and I had a lot of fun doing a couple of laps of the adventure park while the girls went to yet another birthday party at Jeremy’s house. Ethan is great to ride with (compared to crazy Iona!) as he knows his limits and rides in control down some pretty technical blue courses. Charlift uphills all very civilised too!
After the busiest parents evening I’ve ever had with 45 five minute appointments nearly back to back I was ready for a quiet weekend but not to be! Em set off with her girlie gang for a biking and hotpool Hanmer weekend, and I fashioned a plan for me and the kids. We started with a midwinter swim in Cass Bay (no wetsuits allowed!) which was surprisingly pleasant and at 11 degrees or so much warmer than Scotland which would be more like 5 degrees in winter. Still you don’t want to stay in too long and we headed over to bottle lake for some great biking to warm up. Sunday was another wet one so we enjoyed a different swimming experience at Pioneer pool which had plenty to amuse the splashy gang and we rounded the weekend off with huge amounts of popcorn and a movie back at the ranch. Daddy daycare weekends are fun but always nice to get back to work on Monday for a well deserved rest!
The term ended with a fun soup and cake evening at Kindie, where Iona and her mates performed a couple of cute songs in Maori and I had my most fun lesson of the term at school taking my Yr 13s to the local Velodrome and cycling round while they crunched the numbers and worked out the max speed to stay on the track, friction on the slope etc before heading to a local coffee shop to buy them all a hot drink, cue lots of selfies! Book week also gave me the chance to dress as a character from Jurassic Park and serenade a dinosaur with “Wild Thing” much to the amusement of the students.
Finally after months of waiting the snow had arrived and along with the masses we set off to the ever reliable Mount Hutt with 4/5 of us armed with exciting new (or hand me down!) skis to test out! The backcountry powder was pretty good especially so early in the year and great to be up in the snowy hills again. Best of all the kids remembered how to ski instantly and carried on where they left off last year, even Iona who couldn’t remember skiing last year, like riding a bike it must be well programmed into your sub-conscious. Always fun to do the ski/surf double – so we went and checked out Waikuku beach the next day and I managed some impressive wipe-outs on the large inflatable SUP.
Ethan’s birthday week followed so he got to choose the activities for the week and weekend, we started with a Laser strike party mid week, a tasty burger meal out on Friday night, then back to an icier but still fun Mount Hutt for lots of jump park action and a great view on the very long Virgin Mile, Sara and Iona’s first red run, which they skied well despite some minor whimpering at times!
The winter weather alternates between still and sunny and wild and windy – our poor trampoline took a beating after one night of howling winds and we were lucky not to lose it over the fence! But when the storms blow through you are often left with alpine like frosty mornings and blue skies, which makes great skiing, biking and orienteering weather. Everyone was a bit rusty with the orienteering at Spencer Park but nice to get back into this technical sport and stretch the legs. I’m still loving my weekly commute over the Port hills, complete with ever more adventurous selfies, though definitely getting chilly (and dark!) at this time of year….
We’d been counting down the days till the winter holidays and finally they arrived, the holiday started with Em and I’s ten year wedding anniversary and our first “date night” in about 6 months, which almost didn’t happen as we booked a table at the Curator’s House (super tasty Spanish cuisine) for 5pm but Em got moved hospitals, held up at work and showed up closer to 7pm! I actually enjoyed 90 minutes of sitting, relaxing and people watching without any work or children to entertain, though I confess I may have tucked into an extra starter or two while waiting! The food didn’t disappoint, tapas starter and Seafood Paella washed down with a spanish white wine a winning combo. Ten years has gone by in a flash, the Scottish wedding and Bali honeymoon really don’t seem that long ago but we’ve certainly had plenty of other amazing adventures since then and I am truly looking forward to see what the next ten years will bring. So lucky to have married someone who shares my love of outdoor adventures and passion for living life to the full.
Speaking of which enough with the soppy romantic stuff, back to the adventures! Em still had a few more days of work so we had a normal weekend with some excellent Bottle Lake biking and a cool fireworks display for Matariki (Maori New Year) on the beach at New Brighton with the impressive fireworks launched off the pier for dramatic effect! In usual fashion I scored a couple of daddy day’s off and landed some great sunshine for a trip up to Porters Pass for my backcountry fix. Skinning up through the very lean and icy ski resort it seemed unlikely to be my day but the snow got better higher and softened (slightly!) in the afternoon sun making for some great scenic skiing and a long bone shattering icy descent back to the pistes and the car. Still not too shabby skiing from and back to your car this early in the season! Day 2 I went back to a rainy Magnet Bay for some more great point break waves and for once I didn’t get bashed around on the rocks. Little River cafe a perfect end to two days of daddy time and it was nice to hang out with the kids the following day and do some mini golf and biking while Em finished her last day of work for the term….
So excitedly we set off on our road trip south in yet more miserable weather, stopping in Geraldine to visit the interesting and quirky car museum to avoid the rain. First stop was Ohau Lodge on the banks of the very Scottish looking Lake Ohau. The weather was very Scottish too with a fine mizzle (mist/drizzle) and low cloud, but we all enjoyed settling into our luxury accommodation for the night Ohau Lodge, complete with outside hot pools, games room, a roaring fire and lots of families and guests. We normally self-cater so the hotel/ski chalet setup is quite different. Dinner was a long drawn out affair which the mini team turned their nose up at so I ended up stubbornly eating three meals worth of food so we got our money’s worth! Great to chat with other enthusiastic adults over dinner but Ethan was unwell most of the evening and night and the girls have developed awful coughs with all the cold and wet weather so not the best night’s sleep. We awoke to news there was actually too much snow and the nearby ski resort was shut for the day which was probably a good thing with three ill children in tow! Instead we limped on further south stopping regularly for children to be sick, go to the toilet etc etc. A quick lunch break on Lake Wanaka brightened spirits as it always does and Puzzling World was worth a return visit though the maze defeated us all this time!
So we pitched up in quirky and quaint little Arrowtown which looks like something from a Disney wild west frontier ride with it’s super retro high street. In fact it makes a perfect base for a ski week being much quieter than nearby Queenstown and nicely situated between three of the four ski resorts in the area. Also staying in the holiday park in a two bedroom tourist flat was about half the price of the lakeside apartments on offer nearer to Queenstown for those who like to save money for pricy lift passes! First up for skiing was the Remarkables which had plenty of new snow to play in and great weather for playing in the mountains. The lift queues weren’t too bad for school holidays and we got plenty of laps in and a few fun adventures in the backcountry too including a rather steep couloir down to Lake Alta from high on the ridge which certainly got the adrenaline pumping. Bad weather dictated a rest day the following day and the swimming pool and hot pools were calling. After 20 lengths, many laps on the hydroslides and a long soak in the hot tub, Em suggested I go for a run in the afternoon so she could do one later in the week and I set off for a “couple of hours” of exploring the hills behind the house. First two hills were a slog through sopping wet tussocks very reminiscent of the LAMM/OMM/KIMM mountain marathons with freezing feet and lots of cloud rolling in and out. I tried to take a shortcut down a steep slope to the final hill to save time and got very stuck in the thickest, spikiest vegetation imaginable. After eventually giving up and finding a long way round it had already reached 4pm and I had a decision to make, sensibly turn left and head downhill back to town in time for dinner or turn right as originally planned and try to make it over the well named “Big Hill” before it got dark. (Bear in mind I was ill-prepared with no headtorch, no food and only a waterproof for extra layers!) Of course being me, I turned right which started with a tricky thigh deep fast flowing icy river crossing followed by a meandering indistinct path through the bushes. Luckily it got better as I gained height and I made it to the summit at about 5pm with the sun just setting, all downhill from here luckily. The descent was the best part of the whole run with a great runnable mountain path followed by an amazing steep scrambly ridge back to the valley. I got lost in town trying to find the holiday park and finished finally after 25km and four and a half hours of highs and lows! Some rest day!
Ski centre number two was Coronet Peak and it was a lot icier then the Remarks being lower in altitude and south facing (ie shady) which scared some of the mini team and I finally got to test the new skis on a short ski de combat off the back. What it lacked in snow it made up for with a stunning cloud inversion. The next day we headed up to the larger scale, alpine feeling Cardrona resort and Ethan had his first ski lessons all day which he seemed to really enjoy, he’s stopped listening to Em and I’s advice so probably for the best! Cardrona has brilliant green and blue runs for cruising complete with jumps, tunnels and wide pistes for lots of turns. Em and I did a mini ski tour to the true summit of Mount Cardrona which had great views and was fun despite the awful snow conditions! Everyone agreed it was probably our favourite of the three but the longest drive, limited backcountry and worst lift queues so once probably enough for this week!
Another rest day was needed after two full days skiing and the weather also looked better to stay low, with lots of cloud on the higher hills. Arrowtown has a great network of easy cycle tracks so despite the freezing temps we wrapped up well and set out on the classic Arrowtown bridges trail, which has lovely riding, great views of snowy hills and occasional suspension bridges to keep you entertained. After lots of snack and lunch stops to keep the energy levels up, we reached scenic Lake Hayes which was a great finale starting through the swamplands and finishing with an airy path above the lake down to a great rope swing at the north end. After 25km the mini team were done for the day so we sent mummy up the hilly last 6km to get the car to pick us up! I clearly hadn’t learned my lesson properly earlier in the week, and after all this great riding I fancied something a bit harder on the way home and got dropped off at the bottom of Coronet Peak for some late night muddy single track action. You’ve guessed it, again no head torch, light and fast was the order of the day (/night!). A long slog up Dan O’Connell Climb leads to the scenic Coronet Face Water Race which eventually led to the last downhill of Bush Creek, which started okay but got very dark and technical in the trees and I was somewhat relieved to finally see the lights of Arrowtown in the near pitch black and enjoyed the victory cruise down the high street, not getting lost in town this time!!
Sadly our time in lovely Arrowtown was drawing to a close but we had one day left and all decided that with recent fresh snow and oodles of sunshine another trip to the Remarkables was called for. Facing North it gets all the sun going and was much better second time around with loads of cool backcountry lines to go at, steep powdery gullies and faces off ridges and the mini team cruising down the jump parks and easier gullies too. Nothing like fresh snow rather than icy pistes to get your confidence back. We rounded the day off nicely meeting old friends from Auckland for a slap up pizza dinner at the authentic Italian in town (Terra Mia). The next day was also super sunny and seemed silly to leave too early so Em set out for a mountain run up the impressive looking Brow Peak and the mini team and I went on our own mountain adventure up the ridge I’d descended earlier in the week. This started following the windy Motatapu River gorge and then breaks up the rocky scramble to a great mini summit with views in all directions, the team did really well despite some slippy hoar frost covered grass in places and all agreed that hill walking is a worthy pastime, which is great news for the future – 8km and 400m of climb pretty good for those aged 4! We were all rewarded with tasty treats at the excellent Arrowtown bakery and Em showed up shortly after having had a great run up the impressive hills behind our mini mountain.
Somewhat reluctantly we did manage to drag ourself away from the delights of Arrowtown and headed to our final destination of the trip – Lake Tekapo. We stayed in the YHA again right on the shores of the lake and with yet more sunshine and powder snow everywhere it would be foolish not to ski, so we headed over to Roundhill for our last ski day of the trip and we certainly saved the best till last. The wide cruisy pistes and nearby off-piste were great for the mini team to learn to ski powder and Em and I got to jump on the impressive Heritage Express Rope Tow which whizzes you up to nearly 2000m for some very long off-piste descents back to base. My harness broke on my first attempt requiring a second go but Em styled it on her very first attempt which was a good effort as it’s really not that easy riding a nutcracker lift especially one this long! The south face off the ridge was in amazing condition with deep, light powder on a nice steep face, intimidating to start but brilliant skiing. It was a tough skin back out in the deep snow but so worth it and much better than the long sun affected descent back to the resort that followed. Em enjoyed following my tracks both down the face and having a skin track in place makes it a lot easier. Almost like skiing together – a virtual version! The views of the ridge take some beating too with Lake Tekapo far below and epic views the other way of the Two Thumbs ranges. Just time for some sledging before we left and then off to town for some burgers and beer after a great week’s skiing. The last morning we enjoyed the Dark Skies Project next to the YHA learning about Maori and western astronomy and Ethan impressed everyone with his scientific and space knowledge.
As they say all good things come to an end, so back to school and work we went with big smiles on our faces from a great week away, much better than last year’s Wanaka trip with kinder weather and better snow, planning lots of local ski adventures in the Craigieburn Ranges next and maybe a quiet few weekends first! After all that skiing it was nice to do some different activities and we enjoyed some great waves at either end of Sumner beach the following two weeks and did some Rogaining (Score Orienteering) at Orton Bradley Park which Zack and I certainly got our money’s worth out of. We were the fastest team and ran about 30km and 2000m vertical in six hours but our route choice wasn’t the best so came 10th out of 80 teams, felt like we won it when we crossed the finish line which was the main thing! Great homemade soup and cake at the finish too. Sounds like the mini team enjoyed the playpark more than the orienteering on their 1 hour course! A lovely evening was spent post surfing at the Ferrymead Heritage Park’s Night Market where you get to have your face painted, ride on the tram and train and eat plenty of tasty food from the street vendors, feeling spring-like at times in the warm sun but frosty overnight so winter is not done with us yet! The storms keep rolling in and pounding the house, with it’s minimal insulation, lots of single glazing and rattly doors and windows it’s almost like camping in a tent at times in Cannon Hill Crescent! Enjoy the rest of your summer/winter wherever you are in the world and we’ll see you in the Spring for some more NZ road trip action, hopefully Covid will start to be getting under control and the world can open up again, missing Scotland and UK friends and family, NZ is great but the grass is always greener on the other side as they say! Who knows what the next year will bring?! Kia Ora koutou katoa!
Harrison Family Adventures Down Under 