CJ and Me

We are clinging together as it's windy!

Springfield from the Hills

You can't quite see the donut from here, but this is where I have lived for the last 3 months! Big isn't it!

Our Vehicle

There were 11 of us in this in surprising comfort and great views as we were so high up. Shame I had to go in the front!

4x4 Tour to Torlesse Station above Springfield

Having been meaning to do this since I arrived in Springfield Jeff and me actually had the timing right and we got to go on an early evening ride to one of the sheep stations above Springfield. This is the view looking down towards the Port Hills with the Waimak River in the distance. This is all part of the Alpine Safari Experience

Go Karting - marcus Birthday Cont:-

After Heli-skiing it was a mad dash back to Christchurch via Jason dads in Glentunnel for a quick shower and change - well the boys just changed - smelly- and suited up in our delightful racing suits. I was teamed up with Claire and were sponsored by Cookie time, a last ditch attempt by them as share prices have fallen drastically to reduced turnover since she left NZ. We came last in speed - no surprise there but ended up 4th do to my near faultless driving - shame that Claire kept actually stopping on the course! Great experience though.

Heli skiing Mark II

Marcus started off his 30th with just a quick trip in the Helicopters again as we went for our second trip to the Arrowsmith Range Heliskiing. This time we were in 2 groups which meant we got excellent birds eye views of Jason and dan stacking it BIG time! 5 quick runs with no break - lunch and then a mad dash to Christchurch for the next acitvity

View from the top of Porters

As the season draws to a close and we had our last day at Porters before our Stage 1 exam I took the chance to take some photos from the top. Lake Coleridge can be seen in the middle and Mount Cook and tasman are in the distance. The snow covered mountains that you can see are part of the Arrowsmith Range where we Heli-skied.

West Coast -the end of the world

This is a bit out of time order, but just got this photo of me at Jacksons Bay (pop 23) from when I went to the West coast on the 11th August. A delightful little residence for sale.

Teaching the Pickles

I know a few of you will be amazed, so I thought it best to get photographic evidence of me actually doing my new job. For all of you that don't know I will now be off to Bear Valley in California for the 07-08 winter season as a fully paid up instructor! Meanwhile I have been gaining experience at Porters with the lovely Kiwi kids.

Surfing at Taylors Mistake

I wish I could say this was me, but it's not!

Sumner Beach

To hot to ski today, and a great way to recover from Saturday night, we went to the beach at Sumner followed by a quick trip to Taylors Mistake to check out the surf.

Cookie Time

Somewhat of a Kiwi institution, the Cookie time cookies have become a staple food group for certain members of our group, so a trip to the home of the cookie was in order today.

Sumner Beach from the cliffs

Driving around to Taylors mistake gave us some great views of the coast and Christchurch

Final Buzz

I got to go in the front of the heli on the way back to the farm! The advantages of being a girl!

After the final run

This was an amazing experience and if I win the lottery I will never use a ski lift again. This is me with the guide Chuck and the two Japanese guys who were a bit bemused by me, but I kept them amused!

Penultimate run

Probably my best run of the day, one because the drop off was so extreme - we were perched on an arret, the helicopter didn't land as much hovered, but the snow was amazing and I managed to keep in the guides tracks so felt cool too! (except for the whooping and hollering!). It was so good, we got the chance to add an extra run in down this same pitch - but to the skiers right for more freshies.

Run after lunch

This was our first run after lunch

Slight disaster before lunch

I decided to have my one fall of the day, but as always picked a beautiful spot. You can just see the splat mark half way down this pitch ( the one near the bottom was Marcus). Not too bad, except there were the 2 other groups, guide and pilot waiting at the bottom watching - well I had to do it in style!

Shadows in the snow

Just to reassure us that we still had all 4 blades as we banked over the glacier we had just skied

Relief at the bottom of the Sunshine Bowl

Phew, me and Marcus breathing a BIG sigh of relief as we made some not too shabby turns on the soft powder. Although we got fresh tracks, here was used for the "test" run to make sure we were up to scratch - I think we passed muster - off to the fresh powder now!

First Drop

This is just after we have been left on the mountain for the first time and I was a bit apprehensive, what it a stacked it all the way down, no patrollers here! Also we were with 2 Japanese guys what had very fat skis, so they were obviously good!

View over the Pilots shoulder

I have millions of pictures from the Helicopter, but thought this one was added a bit of realism, even more so when you know that the pilot only did this part time in the winter, in the summer he is a farmer, nice work if you can get it!

Copter in motion

The guide briefed us that "the bag was safe", in other words, when the copter was coming into land we had to huddle around the guides rucksac, OK here, but when on the top of a snowy peak, you had to literally cling to it to stay on the mountain!

Heliskiing

Definitely a once in a life time experience, today the 4 of us set off to go Heli-skiing in the Arrowsmith range. We arrived at the farm where the helicopters where based after a 40 min drive up the Rakaia river, briefed on how to get into and out of the helis and then off!

Broken River

Monday and Broken River, a wicked hangover and our first attempt at the infamous nutcracker lift tows! The harness around our waists hold a ring to which the nutcracker is tied, this clips over the fast moving rope and drags you up the hill. Fine so long as you can grab with the cracker before the first pulley, otherwise goodbye fingers! We all had sore arms the next day. This is a typical example of the fine NZ health and safety rules! (ie there are none) A challenging day but I managed it in the end! Note the black clouds, these gave lots of snow that night.

Akaroa

A relaxing Sunday drive over the Port hills to Akaroa, a lovely town by the sea. A long lunch and a scenic drive back - am I getting too old?