August 21-23, 2011
Sunday morning we woke early to catch a taxi for our Milford Sound coach/cruise/coach tower. We had been advised by others and the Internet that the road to Milford Sound is as dodgy as they come, complete with multiple avalanche no stopping zones and a tunnel carved through mountain, still bare, jagged rock along the inner walls with no lights inside. And though we're plenty adventurous, we opted to let someone else steer us toward our death, which we'd have a spectacular view of from our angled seats and glass ceiling coach.
Our driver Ben was a hoot. He had AJ laughing along each mountain pass. "You know in New Zealand, the sheep have two teats, one for strawberry milk and the other for chocolate." And "the water in Lake Wakatipu is 98% pure. The 2% is fish."
He navigated the hills and vales, steep inclines, windy gard rail-less curves and slowed or stopped at various scenic spots. We exited the coach a few times; once to walk along an ice covered walkway (that would have been closed in the states, or heavily salted) to view and photograph mirror lake. It was stunning. The huge snow capped mountains shimmered in the water. And young and old gripped at the metal railing skating across the footpath.
When we arrived at Milford Sound we boarded a large ship. There were two floors accessible to passengers and a main and top deck. We quickly scarfed part of our picnic lunch and raced to the ship's bow. The sky was as clear as the water and there was a light breeze. We honestly could not have requested better weather. We learned that Milford Sound is actually a fiord, carved by a massive glacier a super long time ago. There were four permanent waterfalls, and lots of smaller streams down the towering mountain walls due to snow melt. We saw a bunch of juvenile fur seals sunning on the rocks and we saw two fiord land penguins!!! They did appear until the end of our cruise around the fiord, and I had almost given up hope. Even thought when we were out at the end of the fiord on the open seas, please just swim by! But these two came through and the one was a real showman, flipping around. The boat pulled right beneath the last waterfall, which the guide said was twice the size of Niagara Falls.
The scale here is astounding and every drive is a scenic postcard. This country is picturesque and the people value their natural treasures. The ride home was more purple mountain majesty, sparkling lakes, rolling pasture, flocks of squeezable sheep, intelligent looking cows nodding as we pass, and more of Ben's banter interspersed with a history of the area.
Back in Queenstown, we picked up AJ's board. He was f'n happy. The p-tex and rail surgery were successful. His split board was tip top again. We returned his board to the camper and decided to splurge a second night. We tried a little Thai restaurant that AJ scoped out the day before. At was after 10 when we arrived home, and we planned to pull out of the holiday park around 6-6:30am the next morning to make our way to Treble Cone Ski Area in Wanaka.
True to form, we pulled out of Queenstown at 6:30am. And the adventure began. The first mountain pass of Crown Range Road (the name itself implies its majestic, mountainy nature) was all ice and grit. Our humble camper van was spinning and grunting up the pass. We weren't sure we were going to make it. AJ said, "We might not be making this one. Hold on tight."
I sent out a little prayer to the universe that we would slide backwards down the pass and crush the car behind us. Grunting and heaving up the pass we made it, and the roads improved with the emerging sun. We drove through Cardrona and then Wanaka, and we arrived at Treble Cone a few minutes after 8am. As usual the ominous drive at your own risk/carry chains signs were posted everywhere. This camper van was not going to even attempt the 7km climb.
I had read on the website that the mountain offered a shuttle from the base to the carpark through the morning and a return shuttle in the evening. AJ was so freaked at the signs and the looks of the access road (you can see it snaking up the mountain from the base) that he almost drove us back to Cardrona because he was sure he'd seen something about camper vans there. I protested and pulled up Treble Cone's website, thankfully we had service!
"See. Let's at least wait until 8:30. We're here now and might as well see."
And the shuttle arrived promptly at 8:30. We were on our way up the pass with a few other folks who opted not to drive their camper van or rental cars up. We'd learn on the return trip that a few years ago a carload of folks went right off the cliff. They all died. Not terribly surprising. And the mountain put a guard rail up after that, but as anyone traveling NZ knows, those things are more for looks, not safety.
Treble Cone is a beaut. So much open terrain. It was a bit hard packed in a the early morning but by midday, the snow had softened up quite a bit. AJ and I stuck to one side of the mountain for most of the day but ventured to some of the steeper chutes later on. And of course ended up exactly where we didn't want to be...that one rutty chute near the lift with some exposed rock and a slick narrow part. We found our way through and around and were really just stunned at the range of terrain, the lack of trees, the sheer cliff drops on the other side of a knoll, and the 360 postcard view. Overall, a fantastic day of riding at a new mountain.
We drove back to Wanaka to dump and fill the camper, pick up a few groceries, and find a place to camp up. Wanaka, like Queenstown, has very strict camping rules. We stopped at the local I-site and found out there's a Department of Conservation site in Albert Town, a few minutes outside of Wanaka. We found our way there and decided to fill out the registration and pay the $14 fee for three nights.
This morning we woke, ate, and made our way back to the mountain for the 8:30am shuttle. It was supposed to be as warm as yesterday but with a bit more wind in the afternoon. It felt like a spring day at Killington. We were boiling after our first run and rode with all of our vents open. The snow was so soft but midday, the only thing better would have been powder. We charged all over the mountain, riding through gullies and gorges, along ridges, and even ventured into one of the large bowls on the edge of the mountain. It was a toe side screamer to get out of there, as in not proceed all the way to the bottom and have to hike back to the lift area. Just smooth, buttery turns all over. My two favorites included a gulley that was like a half pipe and a narrow chute that was carved so steeply and cleanly by everyone riding it, you could rip through there like a pinball (I will admit it took three tries to not land on my ass after being launched out of it, but it was so much fun, I didn't mind falling).
We rode until we were shot out. Even AJ was spent, so spent he's fast asleep now. It's only 8pm here :-). And I was hoping we could play a game of backgammon before bed.
Back to Treble Cone tomorrow for our last day of riding before our five day back country split board tour. This whole trip has been incredible. I could not have imagined the landscape, the adventure, the laughter, the love I'm experiencing.
I asked AJ if he thought the people who live here forget about the postcard views, the way I might dismiss the scenic sunset over the inner coastal waterway on my drive home from work or the ocean at the end of my street. I want to make sure I celebrate these things and I want to get more involved in preserving what we have and in supporting those initiatives. Of course I recycle, but I don't even know about Ventnor City's policies. And we could and should buy a more water efficient shower head and start collecting rainwater. And I keep attempting to compost but am afraid I might be doing it wrong. I am sure that I know someone who can give me some tips.
It's all about living mindfully, whether one has compassion for a person or the ecosystem. I can do a little better. I suppose we all could.
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