Mt. Hutt Bunkhouse Methven

We were up early to have breakfast at the Hermitage. When we first got up the sun was shining on Mount Cook and it looked like we would have a nice day but by the time we packed up and drove to the start point of a trek to the Hooker Glacier the clouds had moved in and we could no longer see Mt Cook. At least it wasn't raining. To reach the viewing point of the glacier it is estimated to take 3-4 hours but of course it took us about 5 hours there and back. This glacier ...

... auf zur MTV Snow Jam in der Naehe von Methven. Das Konzert war umsonst, dafuer waren uns aber auch alle Bands unbekannt. Zuerst mussten wir allerdings eine halbe Stunde einen total matschigen Weg entlanglaufen, aber Backpacker haben ja matschfeste Schuhe! Dort war es dann echt cool, eine riesige Leinwand und im Hintergrund die schneebedeckten Berge, einfach eine geniale Szenerie! Dann kamen ein paar durchnittsmaessige Bands ...

... If you had good winter tires you would not have had problems. But most people around here are not used to winter driving and NZ does not know what winter tires are. We got to the top and found the gear rental area and sorted that out and were ready to go at 9:00. Our lessons started 10:20. Not really sure what we were doing we took our snowboards up the learning slope and decided to give it a go. We took one attempt down and after numerous falls in various ...

... which was joined to the Springfield hotel.. I had pictured something very different to what it actually turned out to be but as usual it reminded me to leave all expectations at home and leave reality to drive the senses!! It was a pretty run down place not to different to farm lodgings but there were a few of the porters crew checked in and within 1 minute i was sat down chatting over a cup of tea.. It wasnt too long before the rest of the liftys etc were ...

... was wellicht nog een luiere dag dan gisteren. Heerlijk de hele dag kerst gevierd. En wat doe je dan? juist: zitten in de tuin, eten, (soms een beetje opruimen, maar Stef is zo'n ontzettend goede gastvrouw dat heel veel hulp geven niet mogelijk is)... nog meer eten en tja, je kent het wel. Het gaat hier hetzelfde als in Nederland. Behalve dat je in de tuin zit met 30 graden. Ik heb heerlijk in mijn boek (reisverhalen; CVZ collega's bedankt ...

... him for a minute. Until I realised he was too tall to be Kieran. On the bus at 6.45, I took the opportunity to get some more sleep, waking as we neared the access road for the mountain. If I hadn't woken then, I soon would have - the road was of the unsealed variety, and completely abysmal - the bus jumped around, in and out of pot holes and veered dangerously near the edge, so that I could only close my eyes and hold on to the seat for the most part ...

... and decided to try and sort out a campervan for the following day to start our road trip. We headed back to the house to look into prices and organised to pick one up the next day. We then spent the evening playing Monopoly and went to the cinema to watch I now pronounce you Chuck and Larry.

... Gewonnen haben wir leider nichts, obwohl wir beim Schafgewichts-Ratespiel mitgemacht haben... Haben echt nicht gewusst, dass so ein neuseelaendisches Schaf echt 86 Kilo wiegt!!! Auch bei der Doughnut-Ziehung sind wir leer ausgegangen. Dafuer haben wir einen "Krusty-Burger" verdrueckt (mit echt allem drin, was man sich vorstellen kann). Homer und Homer haben in der Zwischenzeit Slowmotion Billard gespielt (siehe Video ...

... J They were uncomfortable but it was a small price to pay to be safe. When our harnesses were on we took off on the rest of the hike UP! This was the worst part of the hike as we went up really steep hills and through tress. The stairs to the platform were really steep too. I was one of the second three to go over the edge. The first step was the hardest. When you are 100 ft. in the air you don't know whether to feel safe, happy ...

... 14C. meanwhile. Mom & dad toured about Kaikoura and enjoyed a full 360 degree of the area from their lookout - plus a visit to another cute little park - entire area is actually a peninsula, almost totally surrounded by water. After some lunch we reluctantly had to move on and enjoyed more scenic views as we headed towards Methven - a ski-town about 95 km west of Christchurch and near Mt ...