Coronet Peak and...we can no longer walk

Today was an early rise at our extremely comfortable caravan park. The alarm went off at 6:30am and after a small snooze I lovingly shook Jo awake and it was adventure time. James joined us a few moments later and we hit the road, leaving Jess and Hudson to explore Queenstown. We were headed for Coronet Peak Ski Fields.

We left early in order to beat any traffic heading up to Coronet Peak, about 25 minutes out of Queenstown. And beat the traffic we did! We braved the darkness before sunrise (8am), the sleet, and the icy winding road and made it to the slopes before everyone but 5 people. But as James went searching for coffee and Jo and I ate our breaky while we waited for the slopes to open, we kind of lost track of time. We completely misjudge how long it would take us to get all our layers and gear on, and some us completely forgot how difficult ski boots are to walk in up an icy hill. So it wasn't until well after 8am, following a coffee stop and planning meeting, we were on the Meadow Express chairlift heading for the beginner green runs to get our confidence back.

We were greeted with incredible weather at the top of Coronet Peak, views of Queenstown and all the incredible surrounding mountains. It was such an incredible experience to be able to look out for miles around at the vastness of God's creation. New Zealand seems so small on a map but it's really absolutely huge, with such a variety of scenery. There was something about sliding down a mountain surrounded but such amazing things.

So a few easy runs later we were completely exhausted...... and it'd only been 30 minutes, a true testimony to our supreme unfitness. We pushed on, hitting the various slopes and runs that Coronet Peak had to offer. It had been a while since any of us had been to the snow, so it didn't take long for our feet and legs to start wearing down. I was the first to take a tumble and continued on to win the most amount of crashes for the day. I simply put it down to the snowboard vs ski argument and how it's "impossible to stack on skis". But it wasn't long before James hit the ice, and soon after Jo too.

We thoroughly enjoy our time at Coronet Peak. The slopes were a little steeper and unfamiliar to what we're used to back in Australia, but all in all it was a great time. We made sure we paced ourselves with plenty of rest stops but still to this moment our bodies are truly in a world of pain. We pushed to explore as much of the beautiful mountain we could, but soon heavy rain and terrible condition helped us make the call to get out fo there early and once again beat the traffic down the mountain.

After returning our gear back tot he hire shop, Jess and Hudsy greeted us when we arrived back at the campsite. They were full of energy..... we were not. But none the less, we were keen to get down into town for some dinner. We did a big clean up of our vans (which included some dumping and pumping) and made full use of the holiday park's hot, well-pressured showers. Warm and fresh, we set out for a rainy walk down to Queenstown. Jess, who had been exploring for the day, was our personal tour guide to all the best restaurants and dining experiences. After a bit of wondering and looking at menus we settled for a traditional Irish pub. It was perfect! Open fireplace, mood lighting, dark timber everywhere, perfectly cooked steak, and vibrant Irish atmosphere was all we needed to fill our bellies and warm ourselves. We spent sometime here, eating and chatting before it ended up getting a little warm inside and we set out down the streets for some Mrs Ferg Ice-cream, a branch off of Fergburger. Ice-cream, a temp of 5 degrees and the cold rainy night mean't it was back up the hill and into the vans for the night.

We decided to get a bit of laundry done so gathering our dirty clothes, towels, and a suspicious ziplock bag of laundry powder off Jess (don't know how she got that across the border), we set off in the rain once again to get the domestic duties checked off. Then it was back to the van and into bed for a movie night and perhaps a late night Fergbakery snack, who knows?

We're loving it so much here we've extended our stay at the holiday park so we can cram in more of what Queenstown has to offer.

Tomorrow we're recovering from today's activities and exploring some old historical towns around Queenstown. Nice and relaxing!

Asher ☺️Read more