Winter's Here

Hello friends and blog readers :) It's been a while!

Winter has officially set in and I've been alternating  between sitting on the couch with my hot water bottle (Cam introduced me to this gem. Life changing!!), going on really cold site visits, and doing really cool stuff on weekends - if I do say so myself.

One of my favorite photos of our recent adventures taken from the slopes on Mount Lyford

My last post was on things that made me happy in June and our trip to Pauanui. Man that feels like a long time ago. Since then we've celebrated Half Christmas, the Fourth of July, my friend Jess's birthday, my friend Ruchika's birthday, and started enjoying the joys of winter - because believe it or not, those exist :)

I wrote about Half Christmas and the Fourth of July in a recap-of-holidays-spent-abroad post. (LINK HERE).

For Jess's birthday we went to Strawberry Fare for dessert, where I had the best dessert of my life. Thanks for the recommendation Kiki!

I forget what it was called but it was SO GOOD.

The following weekend we decided to try to go skiing. I was pretty nervous because I hadn't skied since the end of MIDDLE SCHOOL. Also, aside from a day in the  Swiss Alps (Thanks Mom and Dad!), I had only ever skiied in the beautiful mountains of Western Pennsylvania and New York. The mountains in New Zealand are real mountains, like you could potentially fall off the side of one and not be ok mountains. They're called the New Zealand Southern Alps, for goodness sake. But Cam was adamant I'd be fine, as long as I wore a helmet, so I rented some gear and off we went.

#tbt to when I climbed one of these mountains through a blizzard. #frolleaguesforever

Stop One: Hanmer Springs Amuri Ski Field:

Cam and I made a trip to Hanmer back in January when we were first starting to date. It was summer here, so we just stayed in the town center and explored the restaurants and the natural hot springs! Cam loves Hanmer Springs so we decided to go try their ski field. First we turned on google maps and it told us to go in to town, make a right and keep driving, then go up the hill. We go to the base of this hill and realized that there was over a foot of snow on the ground and not a road to the seen. We expected some rural roads and came prepared with chains for the tires but this was a bit too rural. Luckily, I still had service so I looked up the website and found human directions to the ski field. They described the road as "undulating with a few tight turns." Not too bad... We drove back to town, made a left, a right, another right, a u turn, and finally we were on our way up a normal road to the ski field.

Pretty normal views... nothing scary yet.

We stopped about a k (kilometer) in to the road and put on chains next to a bright orange sign that said chains required. About half an hour later, while still on a snow-less and ice-less road, we took them off.

Who said we needed chains for this?

Less than 5 minutes later we were sliding around in a foot of snow on an unpaved road. Just our luck. So we got a bit further to talk to a guy in a toyota truck. He asked us if we had chains, said it was gonna get pretty dicey ahead, but that we'd be fine if we had chains. So OK, sounds good to us, lets go.

Where did all the snow come from?!

:)

Finally, we got to the first sign for the ski field.We kept going.... We started up a really steep part of the road, next to a cliff, without a guard rail, covered in snow.. thought to ourselves "well this isn't really undulating" and kept going. Then we realized we were going up a series of steep switchbacks. We made it up the first two just fine and then going around the third one... we fishtailed. Oh my god I have never been so scared in my life. Cam gets the car under control. momentarily. tries again and we fishtailed further so we're now horizontal across the road -- again this is near a cliff with no guard rail. When I said I was never so scared a minute ago, I meant it. But now we were at whole new level. I was so scared. Cam was so scared. We were up a mountain and we didn't know how to get down. "How do we get ourselves in to these situatons?" Cam asked. "What are you talking about?" I replied. THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED TO US BEFORE. So while I tried to focus on breathing and not crying, Cam straightened out the car, reversed in to a flat part of the switchbacks and waited for our Toyota friend to pass us- tell us we weren't even close - and then drove down the hill. really. really. really. slowly. breathe in. breathe out.

On the way out we saw a few people who were about to try the impossible. One of them took to the inside of the road to pass us and ended up getting stuck in the snow bank on the side of the road. When he tried to accelerate out of it, he pressed the pedal way too hard and broke the chains on his tires. He was not too happy, but hey, we saved you from having a terrifying experience on the mountain, bud.

I think our Toyota friend made it all the way up, We also saw another guy in the same car as Cam speeding up the road, fishtailing the whole way. I presume he, from pure determination, made it up. However, we did see another group of people who we had driven past later that day and they said they didn't get too far and other people had gotten stuck. Glad that didn't happen to us. Needless to say, we won't be going back,


After a tense ride back to town, we made a trip to the hot pools! I've never worn a bathing suit in zero degree (celcius) weather, but I think that's about what the temperature was that day. Check that off the bucket list. After a nice soak in the 40 degrees C sulfur pool, (with some way-too-loud kiwi women) we decided to head back to Christchurch.

We were a bit discouraged from the day because I had rented equipment that I didn't want to return unused, so Cam said we could go to Mount Hutt the next day. Mount Hutt is the nicest ski field within driving distance from Christchurch. Supposedly the road was maintained and hardly ever icy.I didn't believe that for a second but said ok.

Sunday morning on the way to Mt, Hutt

Stop Two: Mount Hutt

The road to Mount Hutt was incredibly more maintained than the Amuri Ski Field Road. Before I go any further, I wanted to explain what a ski field is, and how you get there. I didn't quite get it before this weekend, but since the ground temperature in a place like Christchurch isn't cold enough to get consistent snow and maintain it, the ski fields are patches of snow on the tops of mountains. The only way to access these is to drive up an "access road" which loops around mountains, typically along a cliff, to get to the top. Each access road is maintained to a different degree and only some have guard rails. It's really different from what I was used to in western PA, so this access road concept is very new to me.

Mount Hutt Ski Field is that sunny patch up there

The road to Mount Hutt was really nice. Each bend had a name and a kilometer countdown to the end of the ride. The road was really well traveled and we drove up in a line of cars to the top.

Finally we made it, got our gear on, and went for a quick run down the bunny hill. I maintain the thought that the hardest part of the bunny hill is the amount of people who have fallen down and  are then serving as obstacles. HOWEVER, with the views that Mount Hutt gives, Chinese tourists who walked up the hill to take photos are the second hardest part of the bunny hill.

Turns out, skiing is like riding a bike and by the time I made it to the bottom of the bunny hill (successfully, without hitting any fallen children) I was ready to hit the slopes.

At first we stuck to the small 4-man lift, which went half way up the mountain.  Even at that point, I was amazed by the length of the runs. Not having used those muscles in a long time, I was shocked at how much I could feel my quads by the end of the run. Go up to the top and have the run be twice as long? No way, Jose. 

But Cam (again) convinced me and we got on the big lift and went up. OH. MY. GOODNESS. When you get off the chairlift at the top the view in front of you is an unobstructed view from one peak in the alps of ALL. THE. OTHERS. It was so incredible. Worth it. And the trip down? It was long. But the runs were fun and I made it to the bottom without too much screaming from my legs. :)

stop it right now.

We left the mountain on a high note. Feeling like we had rediscovered a sport we both loved and vowing to do it again as soon as possible.

Views on the way down weren't bad either.

Post -ski doritos. Essential end to every good day of skiing.

Stay tuned for Stop 3.

The following weekend was Ruchika's birthday and we rented a bus to take us wine tasting in the Waipara Valley north of Christchurch. I spent the day chatting and drinking wine and failed to take many pictures, but here are a few.

Just some cool kids enjoying some wine

And let me just say, the wine was excellent. If you ever see Terrace Edge, Muddy Waters, or Black Estate in the grocery store, I highly recommend them. Especially the last two - the lady was Terrace Edge wasn't that nice. :)

And finally Stop Three: Mount Lyford

My workmate, Kiki, decided to organize a ski trip for the office she chose a club field near Hanmer Springs, Mount Lyford. Another ski term I learned recently, a club field is (and this is not a real definition so don't quote me on it) a field that is not as well maintained as Mount Hutt. It doesn't necessary have chair lifts, or snow makers, or any of the amenities that a field like Mount Hutt has. Still, club fields are really nice and having less people on the mountain is never a bad thing, So many people from the office decided to attend that Kiki had to get us TWO houses. Cam and I ended up in an adorable log cabin down the road from the main house with four other work mates. The other house had 11 people in it!

Cam and my room had two beds. This is where Cam slept :)

Cam and I drove up on a warm Saturday morning and got to the access road before any of my workmates ventured up. After our experience at Hanmer Springs we waited at the bottom and asked two separate cars on their way up if a) the road was bad and b) if they had been up to the field and if there was snow up there. They both said they had been the day before and it would be ok. OK THEN. LETS DO IT.

On the way up- able to see all the way to the ocean!

I have to admit I held the on to the door the whole way up, but other than that I don't think I was that bad of a passenger. We did swear half way up that we would never do this ever again. We cursed Kiki a few times for organizing a trip at another ski field with a moderately terrifying access road, but after passing a car at the ABSOLUTE worst spot (next to a cliff without a guard rail... luckily we got to hug the inside) we got to the top and found that the mountain had pretty much no snow. Well maybe a little snow, but it looked pretty bleak.

Mount Lyford in all it's glory

The rest of our work mates caught up and most of them decided that skiing on the little snow that there was wouldn't be worth it. They took over the bunny hill was seven rented tubes and had a blast. A bit jealous I missed out.

Meanwhile, Cam, our friend Chris, and I set off to explore the mountain. We made it over to the side where the snow was best and the views were INCREDIBLE. A couple had even taken their skis off and were having a picnic on the flat part. That was definitely the right idea. We just kept skiing though. And once again, we had the best time! I felt really good on the slopes and Cam was doing great too. I was proud of us for picking up the sport again after so many years.

Love that view.

Our boss, the brazen Texan that he is, climbed to the top of the mountain on the other side where no mechanical lifts (note there were no chairlifts anyway, just rope toes and T-bars) would take you, and snowboarded down it. His wife has a video that I cannot wait to see.

At the end of the day, we all retired to the bigger holiday house and had a delicious roast cooked by the aforementioned brazen Texan, played games, and hung out until it was time to go back to the small log cabin down the road (can you tell I love it?).

And the next morning, after a delicious breakfast cooked by Kiki we drove back to Christchurch. It was 70 DEGREES AND SUNNY, and I went for a run in shorts and a tshirt. Perfect weekend if you ask me :)

For now, we still have another month of winter and I'm so excited to see what else we get up to. We have tickets for the Christchurch movie festival, an observatory tour at Lake Tekapo, and a GrabOne deal (kiwi equivalent of Groupon/Living Social) to go skiing at least one more time.

Until then,
E

Winter, you're alright.

Happy Holidays from Down Under

It’s a nearly daily occurrence that I log on to Instagram and see someone in a bathing suit, or at most, a tank top. Based on my current can’t-feel-my-fingers-or-toes-status, I get instantly cold for them and wonder why on earth they don’t look freezing. In fact they look quite happy and relaxed in their limited attire. That’s when I remember, it’s not winter in the northern hemisphere.

It’s finally winter in New Zealand, and while it’s much more mild than I’m used to, you have to keep in mind that I haven’t experienced winter since the ORIGINAL polar vortex in January 2014. It’s been 18 months since I’ve been this cold (with the exception of the second night of the Routeburn). 

But really... I can't feel my hands

Since you now understand my daily confusion on the weather, you might understand why every holiday this year has felt just a little bit… different. Since I've been in the country for NINE MONTHS, I’ve been here for pretty much all of the major holidays. I haven’t talked much about them, so I thought I’d do a brief recap.

It all started with…..

Halloween

Halloween was the end of my 3^rd week in New Zealand. Also the night I met Cam. I think the first thing I said to him was “Why don’t you celebrate Halloween here?” How very cultured of you, Erin. New Zealand does celebrate Halloween, he told me, but without all the fan-fare of the American celebration. I did miss the fun of dressing up for Halloween thing, but since I still assumed I’d be home in two months, I didn’t think much more about it. Additionally, spring/fall weather is essentially the same in both hemispheres, so I wasn’t too put off.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving wasn’t a major shock either though. Since my family’s tradition is to celebrate Thanksgiving in Florida, I merely substituted Pelican Bay for Manly Beach in Sydney, when I was visiting my friend Charlie. I was in absolute heaven and remember thinking on my last morning in Sydney, “It’s December 1^st and I’m kayaking in the Sydney Harbour. Life is good.” I got to see my mom that day , have her visit New Zealand for two weeks, and then it would only be a week before I was home for good. And because of all that, I wasn’t terribly homesick for that one either.

Thanksgiving Day on the Beach in Sydney

Count on Sydney to make you forget it's Thanksgiving in America

Christmas  

I did get to spend Christmas in the States with my family, but the build up to Christmas, that whole “holiday season” feeling was completely different in New Zealand. I was longing for snow, those snowflake lights by Columbus circle, wearing a hat, gloves, and a scarf while browsing the Columbus circle tents with my sisters. But in New Zealand none of that was part of the deal. One thing I had never considered, was that when there's dayling until most people are getting ready for bed, there’s no need for Christmas lights. They're just not part of the holiday culture here. I didn’t realize what a big part of the holiday season Christmas lights could be, but without them, listening to Christmas music felt very out of place.

Can't complain about the temperature though
TTNZ Girls at the TT Christmas Party

Luckily I wasn’t the only person who missed mid-winter Christmas..

Fast forward six months, and it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas (everrrrrywhere you go..). The temperatures are dropping and people are starting to moan of a long winter ahead – must be Christmas, right? Well it’s June, so I couldn’t be more wrong. Luckily I work almost exclusively with Americans, so my workmates and I did what all good Americans, living deep in the southern hemisphere would do – throw a half Christmas party.

Christmas tree complete with presents, lights, ornaments AND snow! Well done, Kiki

James is still Scrooge - even in June

Just like our first Christmas party (in December) we had a white elephant gift exchange, and we all enjoyed some mulled cider and a fine Christmas feast. Kiki, one of the hosts, got a Christmas tree with decorated lights and made beautiful paper snowflakes. Kiki and I even got dressed up for the occasion! It was the perfect time of year to celebrate Christmas, until I turned on facebook to see photos of friends in bikinis (always confusing).

Just two girls celebrating a mid winter Christmas. Everything's normal here.

4^th of July – And that brings us to our most recent holiday. Possibly the last major holiday I’ll spend abroad. 

The Fourth of July really hit home for me. I knew going in to this season (summer/winter – it’s all very confusing) that I was going to get really sad once people started going to beach houses on the shore and having barbeques with their families and friends.

Missing this guy and his love of the grill and the Pittsburgh Pirates

The Fourth of July is probably THE weekend of the year, where I should’ve stayed off facebook, but I also wanted to see what everyone was doing. I wanted to see my parents’ quiet weekend with Sophie puppy, my oldest sister’s weekend in Charleston with her friends, and my other sisters weekend at the beach with her boyfriend. It all sounded like so much fun and I wanted, if only through social media, to be a part of it.

Luckily, a workmate gave me the kick in the butt that I needed to survive my first Fourth of July away from home. He nudged me towards the idea that I was the one, who needed to take initiative and do something, and “hey you know what? there are free barbeque stations in Hagley Park”. Well I looked it up and my workmate was right- there are free bbq stations, first come first serve (very convenient because no one else wants to barbeque in the middle of winter). Kiki said she would bring an assortment of outdoor games, and I remembered that someone had received a bocce ball set during the half-Christmas gift exchange, so I asked them to bring that. Cam agreed to barbeque and before I knew it, I had organized a Fourth of July party.

This makes me happy. Thank you, Cam!

4th of July in the Park!

And the verdict is... he loves his hotdog with HEINZ ketchup and YELLOW mustard.

The day of the Fourth ended up being really fun! About 10 people showed up to the barbeque station- Cam made a beautiful American feast, Leo brought KFC covered in buffalo wing sauce so that we could have buffalo wings, and Domingo, our resident office Hondoran, brought rice and beans (which ended up being eated on Doritos due to lack of cutlery and because America). We all ate, played games, and enjoyed being in the company of other Americans on such a big holiday. It was really special to me to have such a successful American holiday all the way over here.

So, while the feeling hasn’t always been what I’m used to for each holiday, the holidays here have been a success. Though the weather tried its best to confuse me, the people around me have made this (three-quarters-of-a)-year incredibly special to me. Big thanks to everyone near and far who have kept me sane for the last nine months :)