Snowboarding and Skiing!

We arrived in Wanaka mid afternoon, giving us enough time to settle in at our hostel - The Purple Cow and to book transport and hire gear for our trip up onto the slopes of Cardrona the following day.

Wanaka is a beautiful place, framed by amazing, snow-capped mountains  and a stunning lake whch is right in the heart of the town.

The first evening, we took a trip to the local cinema - we'd heard about this place and were told that it wasn't to be missed...and we weren't disappointed! This quirky cinema was filled with old sofas and even a VW car to make yourself comfy in. We watched The Da Vinci Code which we both enjoyed and we pigged out on the home-made cakes and cookies on offer!

The next day, we caught a shuttle bus up to The Cardrona Alpine Resort, hoping to make it on time for a 10:30am snow boarding lesson. However, this wasn't to be, after an hour of queuing (it was the 1st day of the school holidays in NZ) we just about made it to the 11:30am lesson. The day was filled with manu ups and downs.....literally!!  We both got a feel for boarding though......and more so for the snow on our butts!!

The next day we got an earlier shuttle in the hope of catching the 10:30am ski lessons. We only just made it, as due to heavy snow fall the night before, our bus was required to put chains on before going up the mountain. 3km from the top of the mountain, one of the chains slipped off and we tipped into a snow filled ditch on a very narrow road! After about 40 mins we were towed out by a JCB and made it to the top just in time for the lesson!

Vicki went for a 1st timers lesson and Jenn booked into an Achievement class. We both stuck to the beginners slopes and slow-zones as it was freezing cold and blizzard-like conditions had set in for the day! It was a great couple of days though! That evening, we were both pretty shattered so we made the most of the movie being played at the hostel and then crashed out!!

The following day, we took a walk around the edge of Lake Wanaka - its about 57km to get the whole way around (too much of a hike in one day - even for us!) Nonetheless, the views were beautiful and it was a lovely walk. That evening we went out for food and watched the movie at the hostel (are you seeing a pattern yet?!)

We were due to leave Wanaka for Queenstown the next day, but not before a visit to Stuart Landsborough's Puzzling World!! We walked 2km out of town to get to it and then had a go at the maze. It was freezing and being the stubborn mules that we are, we refused to give up until we had completed it - (particularly as there were 2 German guys in competition with us!).....and that's what we did! We lost all feeling in our fingers and never really warmed up for the rest of the day but at least we can say we did it!

We then had heaps of fun in the Puzzle room and Illusion room (that one really messed with our heads!) Then we wandered back into Wanaka, leaving just enough time for a few final pics before jumping on the Magic Bus to Queenstown!