When we got back from our big trip up North, it was straight into summer. The first few weeks were quiet actually, as if we were all winding down from the holidays. With the election going on in the States and the ongoing predictions of a travel bubble with Australia, it was like there wasn’t enough room for anything else. It was a weird and stressful time.

Finally, on the weekend of January 23rd, we kicked into gear and headed for PK Bay for Chloe’s birthday. This time, Fraser came along and it was really great to back by the ocean with him.

Fraser and Andy went down a night before we did and by the time we arrived, they had already been diving and hunting, managing to pull a bunch of paua for dinner and a stag that Fraser had shot while they were out hunting.

We had a charcuterie, the paua, popped champagne on the beach, had a campfire and even witnessed a seal attacking a surfer the next morning (he hit with his surfboard and the seal swam off). Thrilling weekend.

The next weekend, January 30, V and I headed over to Queenstown to ride bikes with our friend Billy at Rude Rock. We loaded up the truck for shuttle laps and took turns driving up and down the mountain, letting those who weren’t driving have long amazing laps down the trails. It was awesome – up until Billy went over-the-bars and broke his collarbone.

We got Billy up and was able to get the truck close enough to the trail that he didn’t have to walk out too far. After an ER visit and an x-ray, it was confirmed – broken collarbone. Billy went home for the night and Vic and I headed to the Sherwood hotel, this cute boho hotel that we had booked for the night and then got ready to go out.

And what an amazing night it was. We started off with dinner at Madam Woo’s, this really cool Malaysian restaurant. From there, we headed to Yonder for a live show. We danced in the streets with a busker band, headed to a club that was packed to the ceiling with people dancing to 2010s music, were hypegirls to a hairdresser that had just decided to start his own business, danced with new friends, got a pie to end off the night and collapsed into bed with our ears still ringing. It was perfect.

The next morning, hungover, we dragged our asses to The Boat Shed, our Queenstown choice night-after brunch location.

The weekend after that, February 6, I was back in Queenstown riding Rude Rock again, this time with a new friend Jen and a couple of her buddies. Again, we shuttled each other and did super long laps – it was glorious. After riding Rude Rock, we headed to Wynyard, on the other side of town and practiced jumping. It was a huge day of riding – one which I paid for with awful referred pain from my shoulder for two days afterwards – totally worth it.

On the Sunday, Jen invited me out to the crag for climbing with her and her friend Elias. I was still having really bad pain in my shoulder from all the riding, so I skipped climbing, but took my camera instead to have a play. It’s been forever since I’ve taken photos and I forgot how much I enjoyed it. Definitely still need some practice, but good to feel the spark again.

I headed home after climbing to a massive potluck dinner, complete with venison that Fraser had shot and popcorn crayfish that him and Andy had caught while they were gone over the weekend. I swear, this has been the summer of good eating.

February 12-14

Fraser had been asking me forever to go out with him to scout a hunting block and I finally agreed. We headed up to Timaru Creek, which was just an hour drive from Wanaka and hiked through about 500 river crossings (there was a learning curve there) and up a short climb to a perfect little camping spot on the saddle. Fraser went for a little walk around to see if he could spot any deer sign while I sat on the peak and drank beer, feeling very at peace to be so above all my problems below.

That night we snuggled into our tiny tent tucked away in the woods and tried to get some sleep. The next morning after another quick walk-around, we hiked back to Wanaka. It felt really good to be back in the mountains again.

The following weekend, Chloe, Dan, Molly and I were all thinking about going to PK Bay again. But the night before leaving, I had a total meltdown and decided that I just needed a weekend to chill. Work had been insane and the pressure of marketing for a tourist town with no tourists was really starting to get to me. It was a valuable lesson in listening to myself, instead of feeling forced to go and do something that I really wasn’t feeling. Dan, Chloe and I ended up staying home and having something of a staycation. We went to the gym, relaxed at the house, made pasta at midnight because we felt like it and tanned on the beach. It was so rejuvenating and it just felt good to let go of all the things I thought I had to do.

February 26-28

Well, the big day was almost upon us. On March 1, Fraser would turn the big 2-5. And to celebrate over the weekend, we headed to Queenstown for a big night out.

We had booked the Sherwood a few weeks before because there was a Fleetwood Mac cover band playing there that night. I had bought tickets for Fraser and I weeks in advance, but for a few of our group, they had forgotten and the show was sold out. I was pretty upset at first, but we decided to roll the dice, go anyway and see if we could get door sales.

When we got there, the venue told us that the show was completely sold out and there would be no more sales. We were all pretty bummed, but Chloe, ever the swindler actually messaged the band on Instagram, tracked down their manager at the venue and then managed to get enough tickets from him to get into the show! I swear, I don’t know how that girl works her magic the way she does.

It was SUCH a good night. We started out the night with pizza in town and then forced the Kiwis to try caesars at a cocktail bar that actually had them (they hated them). We watched buskers along the waterfront, then we headed back to the hotel for the show.

The show was unbearably hot, but we danced the night away anyway. At 11pm, just as the show was winding down, we all got a notification on our phones that NZ was going back into Level 2 at 6am the next day because there had been an outbreak in Auckland again. Well, then that meant this was our last night to party in a crowded space for the next little while!

After the show, we headed into town, got Money Shots at one of our favourite bars, laughed until we peed at Fraser, Molly and Hayden riding the bull at Cowboy’s and got teapot cocktails at World Bar. It wasn’t until Fraser and Dan had to break up a fight on the waterfront that we all decided town was getting too hectic and decided to call it a night. So we got our pies and headed back to the hotel.

March 5-7

This weekend, Hannah and Hayden had to start moving out of their old house with Fraser and into their new house. So Fraser and I spent that Saturday helping them move. At the time, it was so sad. For Hannah and Hayden to not live with Fraser anymore and to not see them every time I stayed overnight with him kind of felt like the end of an era.

On the Sunday, we got a bit of a break in the weather, so Fraser, Andy and I went 4x4ing down along the West Coast in an area that Fraser wanted to scope for hunting. We ended up finding this little hut in a beautiful field filled with blackberries and the boys went to town foraging. On the way back, we stopped at a roadside waterfall that I hadn’t seen before, even though I’ve driven that road tons of times.

March 11-13

And then Molly’s birthday rolled around. The forecast was looking amazing for the weekend and I think we were all hoping that Molly would want to go into the mountains. Instead, she picked the ocean. At first, I was a little disappointed, but it turned out to be a really nice getaway, despite the tons of sandflies. Cave exploring, ocean skinnydips, s’mores and tents on the beach; these are a few of my favourite things.

March 18-20

When Jen told me that she had never done Mueller Hut, I jumped at the chance – this one had been on my bucket list forever. We invited along Jen’s friend Fi, and the three of us headed off to Mt. Cook for the night to hike up to Mueller Hut.

Hooooly, it was everything I expected and more. The hike was a grind, but luckily it only took us about three hours to get to the top. The views were absolutely insane and the distant rumblings of glaciers falling made me feel so small. We got the most incredible sunset and drank tea under the stars obnoxiously singing Shania Twain. There were too many laughs to count on this trip and I got down off the mountain, knees screaming, calves shaking, but so satisfied to have pushed myself again.

The day Sunday after Mueller, Jen and friends invited me along to the Ripe Food and Wine Festival in Wanaka. It was a total spur-of-the-moment decision, but we managed to track down secondhand tickets, got a little dressed up and headed out for the day. It actually worked out well that all my girlfriends were away doing their own things for the weekend – it was very refreshing to hang with a new group of girls, get to know everyone and kind of escape from the same ol’ of my gang.

The last weekend of March, I helped Hannah, Hayden and Fraser do a final clean-up of their old house, moved Fraser’s things into a storage unit (he was going away hunting for a few weeks and wouldn’t have a house until he got back) and then celebrated Hannah and Hayden’s baby shower; only six weeks left!

And then that brings us to this Easter weekend. Vic and I took the Wednesday, Thursday off last week and headed into the mountains for a three-day hike through Gillespie Pass. I was suuper intimidated heading into this hike. I had never done a multiday and I wondered if I was going to fit enough to do it. Only one way to find out…

Day 1, we drove the hour out to Makarora and caught a jetboat across the river down to the trailhead. I had never been on a jetboat before and kind of thought that they were an over-rated tourist trap. I was totally wrong. What a way to wake up right before a hike.

From there, we started the 20km into the bush towards the first hut. The first day of hiking was actually pretty cruisey, with a few grunty sections of forest stairmaster. Just enough to get tired, but not enough to kill you. When we arrived at Young Hut at 3pm, we felt somewhat accomplished for the day and cracked into our mini charcuterie board.

The next day, we took our time getting up in the morning, had some oatmeal for breakfast and then packed up to head off on the next seven hours of our journey. We knew that the second day was going to be the hardest – we had read that we’d start off walking through the forest up the bushline, where we’d come out into a beautiful alpine bowl looking up at Mt. Awful (real name), before taking on a steep scramble to the top of the mountain. After that, we’d encounter a long downhill into Siberia Valley, before finishing with an hour walk through the valley to Siberia Hut.

The directions we were given were pretty bang on. The Mt. Awful bowl was gorgeous and the towering mountains around us made us feel like we were in Modor. The scramble up to the peak took us about three hours and it was big and steep. A little exposed and scary at times, but it felt like a good work-out. Then the down – I hate the downs more than the ups. It’s so hard on your body to go down that steeply for so long and just as I was getting over it, we reached the bottom and jumped in the river for a quick skinny dip to cool off.

When we got dressed again, we continued through the lush and golden Siberia Valley before finally happening across Siberia Hut – we had made it.

Our hutmates that night were awesome and in a weird way, made me a little homesick. There was a father there with his adult daughter who had done the same pass that we had and were on their way to do another adventure later that week together. Then there was a father with his two twin ten year olds – I couldn’t believe that they had been out there doing the hike as well. Seeing the smaller kids made me reminiscence about all the adventures our family did when we were younger and I wondered if we were ever the kids that the adults looked at disbelieving that we were doing what we were. I was also jealous of the adult daughter and her father – often I think about how much I wish I could share these experiences and this life with my family, and laugh to myself thinking about the parts that they would love and equally the parts that they would hate.

We bid our time reading books and playing card games, eating our dehydrated dinners and then heading off to bed early, exhausted from the big day. The next morning, it was pouring rain, but the sound of the water on the roof of the hut was so soothing. We again had a slow time getting up and tried to wait out the rain stopping. When it didn’t look promising, we donned rain jackets and put covers over our backpacks and began the two hour hike out to the mouth of the river where the jetboat would pick us up to take us back to civilization in Makarora.

We hopped back on the jetboat at 1:30pm and got an awesome 30min ride out with a few stops along the way for fact-sharing and some spins in the boat. By the time we got back to the car, I was burnt out and very ready for a nap and some fresh band-aids for my blisters. But what an adventure. In a weird way, doing a multi-day hike was almost even easier than a daytrip. There was no rush, nowhere to be and I didn’t feel like we had to move quickly. We could just enjoy being the mountains, stop and take in the views and get to the hut whenever we wanted. I really loved it and am looking forward to the next one that I get to do.

Alright, well that wraps up the last six months. I am feeling vaguely accomplished having gotten this done over the last three days. I’ll say that I’ll hopefully write again in two months, but at this point who knows. It’s anyone’s guess.

You check out my video wrap-up of the summer here. Remember to hit those arrows to see the whole thing.

• JB

Not since Whistler have I had a Christmas away from home and I’ve never been in New Zealand for the holidays – and let me just say, it is WEIRD. Christmas here is the height of summer, so no snow, no Christmas lights, no skiing. Instead, it’s barbeques, shorts and beach days.

I didn’t start to feel homesick until the day before Fraser and I were due to to leave to go up North to spend the holidays with his family in Taupo. While I was packing shorts and swimsuits, it just felt wrong – like I should instead be packing up sweaters and ski stuff to go home. But I had to buck up a bit, this wasn’t a choice I could have made, it was literally a situation that was out of my control.

That said, I was excited (mostly nervous) to meet Fraser’s family for the first time. Obviously Sonia (his sister) and I were good friends from living down here. But I had never met his mom or his other sister, Jess. I was also nervous for how another family would celebrate Christmas. I love the way that we’ve always done it; Christmas Eve at Mom’s, a big breakfast the next morning after gift opening, heading over to Dad’s in the afternoon and then a family dinner in Wentworth. I knew that Fraser’s wouldn’t be like this, because everyone is different. I just hoped that I wouldn’t miss my way of doing things too much.

But before I could worry about Christmas day, I had something else to worry about – a 24 hour drive from Wanaka to Taupo. Most Kiwis would do this trip over the course of a couple of days, but Fraser was keen to have as much time with his family as possible, so we vowed to do it straight through with both of us taking turns driving.

It actually started out perfect. Fraser and I each did three hours on, three hours off – with him giving me tips on driving standard along the way. Our first stop was three hours out of Wanaka in Fairlie for an famous Fairlie pie. It was amazing and can confirm that they’re famous for a reason.

Our next stop was five hours later in Kaikoura, a beautiful little beach town outside of Christchurch. I’ve actually always wanted to go to Kaikoura and just passing through convinced me that I would definitely be coming back here at some point.

Finally, we made it to Picton, in the north of the South Island, where we caught the ferry to the North Island. The ferry is a lot like the one we used to take back and forth to Newfoundland and although it looks huge and the strait looks small, it actually takes about four hours to chug over to Wellington from Picton.

We had booked the 9:30pm ferry because it was one of the cheaper options, which put us into Wellington at 1:30am. Our plan from there would be to drive the five hours straight through to Taupo. I don’t think either of us realized what a big undertaking this would be. By the time we got on the ferry, we were totally beat from driving all day and with no beds, most of the passengers (including us) just curled up on the floor in the aisles between seats to try to get some sleep while the ferry worked its way across the strait.

When we got into Wellington, it felt a little post-apocalyptic. Fraser started out driving while I tried to get some sleep, but was distracted by the quiet drive through downtown Wellington. As we moved out of the city, I finally nodded off. Three hours later, Fraser was waking me up asking if I could drive for a bit. It was 4am and we still had another couple of hours to go and I knew if Fraser was asking me to drive, it meant that he was seriously needing to get out from behind the wheel because he was nodding off.

We switched seats and just before I put the car into gear, Fraser looked at me and said in a very stern voice, “Jessie. If you start to fall asleep, pull over.”

It’s one of the only times he’s ever reminded me of Dad. The way he said it, I knew that he was dead serious. And to be honest, I was super tired, but I turned on some music and tried to sing along to keep myself awake. It also helped that it was foggy as hell as we weaved our way through the mountains into Taupo. That extra bit of concentration really forced me to stay awake and we pulled into Taupo just as the sun was rising.

Fraser’s mom’s house in Taupo is a holiday house; the family is spread out across the North Island now and his mom bought the house as a place for all of them to go. When we arrived, no one else was there yet. After wandering around the rooms for a bit and feeling a little uncomfortably out-of-place, we collapsed into bed and slept six hours until 1pm. We then went out to get some food and explore the town.

Taupo is absolutely beautiful. There’s a huge lake with a backdrop of mountains. The town itself is bigger than Wanaka and it was nice to have a little more going on, without going to a big city.

We spent the next few days meeting Fraser’s friends and I tried my best not to feel totally out of place. Fraser is considerably younger than me and I began to notice distinct differences in his friends of the same age. There were those that would meet me, introduce themselves and then pretty much ignore my existence for the rest of their interactions with Fraser. And then there were those who would meet me and then ask me questions about myself and make a genuine effort to include me in conversations – I appreciated those people more and I began to figure out that being 24/25 years old is a bit like that – some people have figured out social etiquette and others are still just kids. Maybe that sounds pretentious.

I was dead terrified of Fraser’s sister Jess at first. She’s my age and I kind of kept imagining what it would be like if my younger brother showed up with a girlfriend who was my age – I’d probably feel a little standoff-ish. But I think she eventually warmed up to me and I began to realize that her sense of humour is a lot like mine; a little dry, bordering on offensive and could be misconstrued as rude. I liked her.

Meeting Fraser’s mom was great as well. Pip obviously loves having Fraser home and doted on him at all times. She kind of reminded me of Mom; constantly asking if we wanted something to eat, if we had enough towels, showing us the quirks of the house and where we could store our stuff, asking if we wanted to go check out that or telling Fraser he should show me this. I’m sure Fraser will feel right at home whenever he comes with me to Halifax.

On Christmas Day, we woke up to Pip blaring Snoopy’s Christmas (akin to Dad blaring Welcome to the Jungle on race days). We all got up and came upstairs for coffee and Christmas games. Pip’s partner, Helen had bought a bunch of mini gifts and set up quizzes and yard games for us. Whoever won, got a mini-gift. It was actually a really cool way of doing Christmas morning and I might steal the idea in the future.

The one thing I missed was doing the big Christmas morning breakfast. After we finished the first round of games, Fraser went to make him and I some food and he seemed in a mood. After we finished eating, he asked if he could talk to me in our room and I followed him there. Once there, he sat down and seemed really frustrated. I asked him what was wrong and he explained to me that he was frustrated because he didn’t know that his mom didn’t have any plans to make a big breakfast and if he had known, he would’ve put together one for everyone to enjoy because he wanted to make it feel like home for me.

Even writing it down now, I kind of start to tear up. It was just one of the sweetest things that anyone has ever said to me. Of course, I had been homesick since we arrived in Taupo and it hadn’t gone unnoticed by Fraser. And the fact that he remembered that I had told him about my family’s Christmas traditions and then been annoyed that he couldn’t have done something similar for me was just so touching.

I told him that it meant a lot to me that he even thought of it, but that I was having a great Christmas, even without a breakfast. Then I cried for a bit, but mostly out of love, not sadness. Once I cleaned myself up, we went back upstairs and joined in more of the games. We then opened presents and had Christmas lunch (Christmas dinner isn’t really a thing here, Kiwis all do lunch). In the afternoon, Fraser and I took our bikes down to the lake, had a swim and threw a stick for Hooch. It was such a beautiful day and I just felt really happy to be there with him.

For Boxing Day, Fraser and I got up super early and headed to my favourite place to ride bikes in NZ: Rotorua. About an hour away from Taupo, I first rode the Redwoods way back in 2019 when I was there for Crankworx with Mons. To go back was amazing.

When we got there, we realized that the shuttles weren’t running, which meant we would have to climb everything. Big job was on. And although we didn’t get as much riding done as I wanted, it was still an awesome day getting to ride some of the best trails in the country.

The next day, December 27, we said good-bye for now to Fraser’s family and drove the five hours to Auckland Airport for our flight to Great Barrier Island. The Barrier is just off the coast of Auckland and it’s where Hayden’s parents have a holiday house. We had been invited to go there for a week with Hannah and Hayden to celebrate New Year’s. I had heard that the Barrier was absolutely gorgeous and I was so excited to go and see some familiar faces. So, we packed up Hooch, donned facemasks (for the first time ever!!!) and got on the tiniest airplane imaginable. Fraser finally learned what a psycho I am about flying during the 25min flight to the island.

The best way I can describe the island is that it’s like Barbados. Tropical, with skinny, decaying roads, old ‘island cars’, and beautiful white sand beaches. From the moment we arrived, I was in heaven. Hannah and Hayden picked us up from the airport, drove us through the ‘town’ (which consisted of a gas station, a cafe and a liquor store) and then drove us down to Medland’s Beach where Hayden’s family’s bach is. (A bach is the Kiwi word for cottage).

I’ve always wondered why Hayden’s middle name is Medland and on this trip I found out that it’s because his mom’s family are the Medlands – one of seven settler families who were given land on the island by England when they immigrated here waaay back when. Kind of cool that her family has continued to have land here ever since.

Hannah and Hayden showed us to our tent, which was in an orchard in behind the holiday house. Hannah and Hayden were staying in a caravan also parked down there and Andy and Alex (who would be joining us) also had tents set up. It was like our own little commune.

The thing that I liked most about the island was that life was just simple. All our water came from rain water wells, so to shower, we’d fill up water into a sun shower bag, let it heat up in the sun all day, then shower outside. Our food all came from the garden and what we had caught that day in the ocean. We had no reception. It just felt incredible to be back to basics.

That night, we had homemade pizzas and then got an early sleep.

The next day, we headed out for Medland’s Beach, just across the road. The boys were intent on getting some mussels for dinner and took some fins to dive off the beach. I grabbed some as well, thinking that catching mussels can’t be that hard – I was wrong.

There’s a lot of factors to manage when you’re out there. You’re pulling the mussels off sharp rocks and when the swell comes in, you have to get away from the rocks as fast as possible so you don’t get thrown against them. You also have to hold your breath for a long time, which is hard when your adrenaline is pumping. And then, getting the mussels off the rock requires way more effort than I thought. By the time we were out of the water, I had gotten only one mussel and I had Fraser asking me if I knew how to swim – yeah, that bad.

But that one mussel was my accomplishment for the day and I spent the rest of the time in the water chasing rays.

The next morning, we headed out for a hike up Mt. Hobson. It was an awesome undulating walk through the island bush with a great view of the bays at the top. We did it at the right time too – on the way down, the temperature really started to pick up and we were all dying from the heat.

That afternoon, the boys were on. We got the fishing boat out (pulled by tractor down to the ocean) and the boys geared up to go diving and get some crayfish and spear fish. Crayfish are a lot like lobster, except they don’t have the big front claws, so you can catch them by reaching into their rock cave homes and grabbing their antenna. Never thought I’d be so attracted to a man who can provide, but with Fraser all rugged up to dive, I was preeetty in love.

Plus the boys pulled in a bunch of crays for dinner! Couldn’t ask for anything better really.

The next day, December 30, we headed off in the early morning to a waterfall found down an old logging track in the mountains. It was the most beautiful oasis with verrrry cold water. The boys jumped off the waterfall and Fraser even went of the 60 foot jump. After that, we chilled by the stream up above and soaked in the sun before climbing back up the logging track to the car.

That night, the boys went out for a dive while Hannah and I walked the dogs along the beach and got the best sunset and subsequent moonrise. Once again, the boys came back with more cray and some snapper.

The next day, New Year’s Eve, the boys were back out again at 5am to go for a fish. At 9am, they got back and Hayden had managed to pull in a massive 20kg snapper – perfect for smoking for our NYE dinner that night.

That afternoon, we headed out to mermaid pools when the tide was low and hung out in these neck-deep massive tide pools until we deemed it was time to go home for dinner and to get ready for the night out.

For the big drop, we headed to an Irish bar on the other side of the island. The band was playing all the classic Nova Scotian drinking tunes and the crew thought it was hilarious that I knew all the words to the songs. At midnight, Fraser and I kissed and we all hugged and celebrated the end of 2020 before going home shortly after – of course, we had to be up for fishing the next day.

The next day, the girls finally got out for a fish. Hayden helped me cast out a giant rod and it hadn’t been in the water for 30 seconds before something hooked on. I lasted about five minutes reeling it in before I was exhausted – this was a huge fish. Fraser took over and proceeded to battle with the fish for another 30 minutes before pulling in a massive kingfish. Him and I shared credit for it, even though admittedly, he did most of the work.

The sea started to get a little rough for the very pregnant Hannah and my delicate stomach, so the boys dropped us off and went out for a few more hours, coming back with – you guessed it – a ton more fish.

On January 2, the famous Barrier rain came in hot. It poured basically all day. We killed time in the morning by playing board games in Hannah and Hayden’s caravan, snuggling in our tents and napping and then we headed to the tiny brewery down to road and tried a few paddles.

We finally got a break in the weather on January 3, the day before we were supposed to leave. Hayden, Fraser and I hiked up to the lookout above Medland’s Beach and got a wicked view of the bay.

The next day, we reluctantly packed up our tents and our bags, got back on the deathride plane and head back to Auckland and then Taupo for two more days. I was so sad to leave the island, but vowed to come back as soon as I could. And this time, heading to Taupo, I wasn’t as nervous. I knew what to expect and it felt a little more familiar.

Fraser and I spent the next few days watching sunsets from a hidden spot he showed me, biking around the local park called Craters and floating the river. Floating was actually one of my favourite things we did. Fraser spent most of the time steering our blow-up boat from the water and then swimming ahead to jump off of various cliffs.

When it was time to leave Taupo for the last time, Fraser said goodbye to his family and promised to visit again soon. We then packed up the truck and headed back for the ferry to Picton. I had mapped out our next couple of days working our way back down the South Island and the first stop was Nelson.

I had wanted to go to Nelson for a while, but since it’s nearly ten hours away from Wanaka, it didn’t really make much sense. But finally, we got to go. And I loved it. The riding was amazing, the town was super cool and it was oceanside, which meant it also had beaches. It reminded me a lot of Squamish actually and I imagined that if I didn’t live in Wanaka, I’d live in Nelson.

We did our first day riding in an area called Codgers. It had a nice steady uphill and a long downhill with a really great view over the city.

That night, we went down to the beach to watch the sunset with beers and let Hooch run around. It was just before the rain came in and the sky looked so beautiful. It was another one of those nights where I was just happy to be where I was.

The day after that, we went to Sharlands area to ride, where we did one of the hardest climbs I’ve done since I was back in BC. I was so wiped after it. And the ride down was this really unkept track – it was the worst reward ever for all our hard work. We ended up bailing out of the trail halfway down and just blasting down the dirt road instead. By that time, the rain was coming in heavy and it wasn’t supposed to let up for the next couple of days, so we decided to cut our losses, check out of the campground and start making our way back to Wanaka a day early.

We stopped to camp overnight in a free campsite halfway down the west coast where Fraser made a tailgate pasta and we tried to not get too many sandfly bites as we settled in for the last night in our little tent. I was excited to get home, but also a little sad that our adventure together was ending.

The next morning after some camp breakfast sandwiches. We packed up and hauled ass the last seven hours back to Wanaka. In hindsight, it was so good to be back a day early – it kind of let us recover a bit before we had to go back to real life the next day. Check out our entire route of the nearly month long trip.

All-in-all, our holidays were incredible. I knew that this trip was going to be a bit of a test for Fraser and I – we had never spent so much time together, confined to a small space like the car. I feel like we came back closer than ever and like we had crossed into a new level of our relationship. It felt really good.

• JB

Look, writing every six months is just becoming a thing now. You should probably just get used to it.

So we’re going back in time a bit here – back to 2020 – please don’t exit the page. I last left off waaay back in October, and being that it is now April, it’s probably due time that I wrote a bit. So we’re breaking this down into three sections yet again. October – Christmas break. Christmas break. And then the summer months. Let’s kick it off.

October 15-18

When I last left you, we had just finished our McCaulay hut mission. The week after that, it finally started to feel a little bit like warmer weather, and that only means one thing – boating season. And while it was still a little cold, we managed to rug up, get two dogs, seven people and 24 cans of beer on a boat probably only meant for five bodies and went for a ski.

While I was still a little nervous to ski because of my busted shoulder, it was my first time seeing Fraser in the water and… the boy can do everything. Wicked skier and even better wakeboarder. Eat my heart out.

That weekend, our regular antics resumed. Following a photography exhibition, Hayden, Fraser, Chloe, Molly and I decided to go out for a few bevys, which somehow turned into tabletop dancing, lightpole dancing and eating fries on the dancefloor.

After a weekend of art-related activities (because of the festival happening in town), it was nice just to have a good Sunday brunch with Fraser, who made pancakes while I nursed a hangover.

Then later that afternoon, with the bike season well and truly underway, we headed to Bike Glendhu for a spin, some nachos and some beer. The perfect Sunday, really.

October 22-25

Thursday boating sessions started to become a thing, and this time I finally did get a ski in – and it felt amazing to be on the water again. I was even feeling a little cocky showing off for Fraser – which didn’t last long, because Taylor got in the water and showed us all up with some really incredible skiing. Again, why is it that Kiwis are good at everything?!

That weekend, we headed off for PK Bay, a bay along the East Coast in the Catlins that I still hadn’t been to yet but had heard plenty about. Because it was a long weekend, it was insanely busy when we got there, but that didn’t take away from how incredible it was.

Beautiful water, a grassy camping area and a massive wall of rock facing out towards the ocean – it was dreamy. Fraser couldn’t make it this time, because he had gone up North to visit his family for the weekend, so I was on my own with the crew. But it was so amazing. We surfed a little, Andy went diving and caught paua, (a kind of shellfish that when fried with butter and garlic is AMAZING), we lit a fire and watched some fire dancers perform down on the beach – it was so perfect.

The rest of October was a bit of a blur of work, Thanksgiving garden parties and boating.

As we eased into November, Fraser and I kept up our weekendly bike rides and even got some fishing in down by the river, which made me reminiscent of the beginning of our relationship. It was nice just to slow down a bit after a few big Spring weeks, before things picked up again.

November 12

One week before my birthday, we got the best surprise. Chloe had asked Hannah and Hayden to write her a reference letter for her upcoming immigration visa application. We were all planning to hit up the lake for a beach session after work, so Hannah told Chlo that she’s bring the letter with her to give to her there. When we got there, Hannah gave Chloe a folder with the letter and Chloe opened it to read it. Weirdly, there were two pages, and when Chlo turned to the second page there was a photo of an ultrasound – Hannah was pregnant!

While we had had our suspicions, it was such an incredible surprise and writing about it now is kind of surreal – Han’s only a month away from her due date and soon we’ll have a little baby girl in the group!

November 19

The following Thursday was my 29th birthday. And for the first time since my 25th, I wasn’t completely dreading it. This was my third birthday here in NZ and I’ve always seen my birthday as a marker for where I’m at in life. And for the first time in a long time, I finally felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

This COVID thing has been kind of a weird blessing for me. Instead of constantly worrying about what my next move is – where I’ll live next, what job I should get, how much money I should be making – I’ve finally just settled for a bit and sunk into where I am now, knowing that there’s no rush to go anywhere anytime soon. It’s been strangely freeing.

That morning, I woke to Fraser singing Happy Birthday to me and joking about what a cougar I am now because I’m a 29 year old dating a 25 year old. My workmates had tea and cake for me at work. I got home to lillies (which are now my favourite flower) and a gift of Birkenstocks from Fraser, as well as roses from the girls. I had a huge dinner that night with 25 of my closest friends at my favourite restaurant and even received a few more flowers from Sonia, Fraser’s sister (who has become a very dear friend). It was such an amazing day and I couldn’t have been happier.

That weekend, we rented a really cool AirBNB and went to Twizel with a day trip down to Mt. Cook. It was so amazing just to get away with a few close friends, drink, eat good food and relax for the weekend.

Last weekend of November

Alright, let’s talk the big event of November – Burning Han.

Backstory: Due to COVID, Hannah and Hayden had to cancel their wedding, which was originally planned for the last weekend of November. And with the date coming up, we thought that it would be hilarious to do a fake wedding and have an excuse to put on a bit of a party.

It was Chloe who came up with the idea to put on the wedding with a Burning Man theme (hence, Burning Han). And we totally went with it. We hired a DJ, set up a tent in a field, killed it with the costumes, Chloe even managed to get a few metalwork sculptures to make it as close to the real thing as possible. We set up tents, blankets and pillows, cheese boards, brought in pizza and even had a ceremony – which I officiated. The “newly-wed” couple had their first dance to WAP.

It was the most amazing night with so many laughs. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be an annual thing now.

December 5-6

The weekend after Burning Han, we were right back into again with Beer Festival. I don’t have a lot of photos from this particular day because 1) it was rainy as hell and 2) I was preeeetty drunk. But it was SUCH a good day of amazing beer, laughing, dancing and the usual tomfoolery. And I tend to think that the best days are the ones where you’re having so much fun, that you forget to take photos.

Note to self: this was the first night that Fraser said it.

The next day, Fraser and I were hungover as hell and the weather was total shit. So with nothing to do, we drove three hours to Jackson Bay on the West Coast and had the best fish and chips ever from the Cray Pot – a cute little caravan in the smallest fishing village I’ve ever been to.

After that first weekend, December was a total rollercoaster of drinking too much at work Christmas parties, biking with Fraser at Rude Rock and our first night up riding Cardrona, lake evenings and cleaning the house before going away.

And then on December 22, Fraser and I left for nearly a month (!!!) away together for Christmas with his family in Taupo on the North Island and New Years with Hannah and Hayden at Hayden’s place on Great Barrier Island.

…but that’s for next time.

If you want to see the video wrap-up from Spring, click here. As per usual, remember to press the arrows to see the whole thing.

• JB

Alrightttt, the long await for part three of three.

The reason why this has taken so long is that shortly after writing part two, my new work visa came through and I had to go back to my job… so, didn’t get a chance until this rainy Sunday to continue writing. Let’s journey back in time to August, shall we?

August kicked off and the snow came to a halt. Literally, it was one of the worst Augusts on record for snowfall here in Wanaka. So that meant one thing – the bike came back out again.

That said, the lack of snow meant we had some beautiful bluebird days, which lend very well to multi-sport days. The second weekend of August allowed for such shenanigans. On Saturday, August 8th, we hit Cardrona with a huge crew of us for an absolute beauty of Spring-not-Spring ski day.

We spent all day ripping groomer laps and watching B, Fraser and Hayden hit jumps. Then, as we headed into town for apres, we ran into a group of friends who said that the river wave was pumping and they were heading out for a surf. I had heard of the river wave, but had never been out there. Feeling a little intimidated, I opted not to surf, but soon regretted that choice. It was SO cool. The wave is man-made in the river and you get into it by kind of slow-paddling and allowing yourself to coast backward on your board, down the river towards the wave. Then, right before you hit, you paddle like hell and get caught in the rapid. Then you can body board it or, if you’re feeling confident, try standing up. Both B and Hayden got in and managed to stand up before toppling over, while the rest of us drank beer on the bank and cheered them on.

The next weekend was another beauty, but still, no snow. So after a morning fish on the Saturday…

We packed up the 4WDs and headed for Old Woman Hut on the Nevis Range. Fraser was keen to get some hunting in up there and the rest of us were keen for some time out of Wanaka.

We got up there just as the sun was setting over the range and I went up for a bit of solitude above the hut to watch the sun go down. Soon Fraser walked up and joined me and we sat watching the horizon for a bit. Just as I was thinking how sweet the whole scene was, Hooch walked in front of us – paused, lifted his tail, let one out – and then walked off. Romance.

After a few drinks and some music, we headed off to bed in our bunks. The next morning, Fraser woke me up to go for ‘a walk’ with him – the term he uses when referring to hunting. Except ‘a walk’ is the understatement of the year. This was a full-on hike and I was not prepared. I doubled back about halfway through and headed back for the hut. For future reference, sneakers weren’t going to cut it on these ‘walks’ – I definitely need some hard-out hiking boots.

My favourite part of these hut trips is becoming breakfast the next morning. We kind hummed and hawed about doing a hut breakfast at Old Woman or going for brunch back in town, but ultimately decided to have some breakfast sandwiches and then target practice with the leftover eggs. Naturally.

The following weekend – still no snow. But again, it’s hard to resist a beautiful day on the mountain, so up we went to Cardrona.

Then, on the Sunday, I went with Victoria and Jossi who were finally giving in and buying bikes. With Fraser having bought his bike the weekend before, I had almost converted everyone – we got ourselves a mountain bike gang! So the following weekend, August 29th, the last Saturday of August, Fraser and I head over to 7 Mile in Queenstown for a ride.

Man, it was hard to get my riding legs back and I felt really off-kilter the whole time, but that’s usually how it goes at the start of the season. Meanwhile, Fraser – who spent time riding when he was younger, but hasn’t in years – was charging. He’s going to pick it up quickly; he’s already amazing… men.

On September 4th, my current work visa expired. This meant that I was unable to work until my new visa came in, which could’ve taken anywhere from four weeks to four months. Luckily, I had saved money all winter anticipating this situation and just as I finished work – the snow came back. The Saturday after my last week of work was by far the best day I’ve had on snow here in NZ. We had gotten a huge dump the night before and we were in the right place and the right time all day long, managing to be the first group on new terrain everytime it was avy cleared and opened. So, so good.

To top off the day, on the way home I got to see my campaign on a bus back – so that was pretty cool.

That next week was my first week off work and it was so great. I got to sleep in, work out, go for runs and even help out Victoria by driving one of her company vehicles back from Queenstown – while getting a lift there in a helicopter. Not too shabby for Jessie.

That Friday, Victoria was even so kind to send me up on a heli-ski trip as a thank you for all the business I had sent them all winter long (with campaign shoots). Heli-skiing has been at the top of my bucket list forever and I was so stoked. It was unbelievably beautiful and the skiing was incredible. By the end of the day, I was pooped, but so happy.

On Saturday, the good times continued with the opening of my beloved Bike Glendhu. Although they only opened the bottom half, it was still so awesome to be back. And it was Fraser’s first time riding there, so really cool to see him experience it for the first time.

The weekend before I finally got my visa, was Treble Cone closing day. Last year, me and Chlo hit this up, but this year it was so good to have a whole crew of friends to go with. We headed up super early to get a carpark and then did a BBQ breakfast and tailgate beers before catching the chairlift and going skiing. It was the best day skiing, all of us trying new things and shredding the spring corn. I haven’t felt that confident on my skis in a long time and it was a perfect way to end the season.

Then, on the Tuesday (Sept 22nd), I got my visa and back to work I went on the Wednesday. The following two weeks went by without much happening – to be honest, the weather was shit and I was exhausted from trying to get back into the swing of things. After three weeks off work and five months of visa stress, it felt weird to just settle and realize that I had made it – I had gotten what I wanted. Coming to terms with that was strange and I kind of just needed some time to let everything sink in.

Monday, October 5th was Victoria’s birthday (and my two-year anniversary in NZ), so that weekend we headed off to Christchurch to celebrate. We brought along the bikes and got to hit Christchurch Adventure Park (a bike park) on the Saturday. Wow, it was so good to ride lift-accessed trails again. The Adventure Park had a lot of tech trails, so I was in absolute heaven. Molly and V both held their own, even though they’re just starting out and it was so cool to see them handle their shit, even though they were intimidated.

That night, we went out to dinner then rode around Christchurch on Lime scooters – which was so funny I almost peed. We visited the old cathedral, which had been damaged in the earthquakes in 2011. On that note, there were a lot of ruins around Christchurch – stairways that led nowhere, uneven streets, rubble and closed buildings. Even though the earthquakes were almost a decade ago, it’s crazy to see the damage they caused. It kind of reminded me of Berlin – just pieces of a history that have never quite been cleaned up.

The next day, we headed to Sumner for brunch and a walk along the beach before heading home. It was so good to be near the ocean again.

This past week at work was the first time I finally felt like I was back into it and on top of what I’m doing – it feels good to have a bit of a routine.

Then, this weekend, we made our way 4x4ing to Macaulay Hut in Tekapo, not too far from my favourite Mt. Cook. The hut is definitely catered towards a hunting crowd, with animal heads mounted on the walls and a small structure for bleeding animals out. On the way into the hut, Fraser spotted and shot a deer. I’ve never seen an animal get shot before and though I know we’re going to eat it, it was still sad. I guess as someone who enjoys her steak, I should be able to watch an animal get killed – but the first time is a little shocking.

When we got to the hut, there was a huge crew waiting for us and we sat around chatting and playing Chase The Ace all night. Somewhere along the way, someone thought that we should add consequences for those who lost and so kicked off the naked run, strobe light (headlight) dancing, half-an-onion eating and river dips (the last of which was my consequence).

That night, Fraser and I cozied into the top bunks and I only woke up when he slipped out early the next morning to go hunt for tahr (a kind of mountain goat).

After Fraser got back, we made breakfast and then headed out. Stopping a few times along the way for Fraser to scout the crags for tahr and to haul vehicles out of mud when our drivers got too ambitious.

The idea was to stay at Macaulay Hut for two nights, but there were several deep river crossings on the way in and we were worried that Saturday night’s rain would make them too deep to cross back over. So we scouted another hut in the Lindis Valley called Aruhihi Hut to drive to and stay the night there.

When we got there, it was already pouring rain, so we loaded everything inside, cracked a cheese board, pumped the fire and settled in for the night. It wasn’t long before everyone was ready to call it a night – tired from the day mudding around and driving. It was a rough night – we had heated the cabin too much and it was a total sauna. But by the early morning, the cold air had seeped in, making the temperature bearable. With the heavy rain on the roof, it was soothing sleep from there on out.

And so ends part three of three! Look at that, we’re all caught up! If you’re wanting to see the video edit that I do, check it out by clicking here. There’s four parts to it, so remember to press the little arrows to see the whole thing!

Until next time.

• JB

Alright, part two of this three-part catch-up series covers the winter months of June and July.

Picking up from the last entry, NZ moved into Alert Level 1 pretty quickly, meaning that we were basically able to resume our normal lives – albeit without tourists or international travel. That said, the first weekend of June, the girls and I were keen to get in one more hut trip before the snow flew.

May 30 – June 1

I won’t lie, this trip was a bit of a reckoning. And not because it was particularly difficult. But because I think after lockdown, all of us had bones to pick with one another after being cooped up for so long. And it all came to a head on this trip.

It started with not being able to decide where we wanted to go. Victoria really wanted a sufferfest. But I was still nursing a stress fracture in my foot and didn’t feel like getting my ass handed to me on the trail. Cue hours-long back-and-forth about where to go that eventually ended with Chloe making the call to go to Luxmore Hut in Fiordland. Me, I was happy with that. But the next morning, it quickly became clear that Victoria was not happy with it. After more back-and-forth, we finally got everyone on board and began the three hour drive to Fiordland.

The hike itself was beautiful. The beech forest trail wound up the mountains for nearly two hours before we broke out into the tussock fields and traversed across the mountainside to the hut.

Although, at several points in the hike, I kept the feeling that Chloe was not entirely happy with me. Against my better judgement, I ignored the vibe and tried to sink into the adventure. For the most part, it worked. Although, I couldn’t quite shake the feeling that there was a barb to the way we interacted.

That night, we all settled in, had a cheese board on the helicopter pad at the ‘hut’ (Luxmore Hut is on the Kepler Track which is one of the Great Walks – meaning, it’s not so much a hut as a full-blown lodge with plumbing and power) and drank beer while watching the sunset. Then we met inside to eat freeze-dry dinner and play cards until we were tired enough to call it and go to sleep.

The next morning, we got up before the sun to have coffee on the helipad and watch the sunrise. It’s these moments of quietude that really make me love it here.

After that, we had some breakfast and then ventured up further into the hills to explore a cave that one of our hutmates had told us about. My claustrophobia is still legendary so I didn’t make it very far in, but it was so funny to listen to the girls screech and echo as they explored.

From there, we packed our backpacks again and began to make our way down into the fog. Chloe seemed better to me, so I chalked up my feelings from the day before to paranoia.

The next day, Monday, was a holiday and I spent it hanging out at Hannah and Hayden’s house. They had recently had a new housemate move in and admittedly, I had a bit of a crush, so I was conveniently spending more time over there. While messaging Chlo, I realized that my paranoia from the weekend had actually been spot-on and she was upset with me. After hashing it out, I discovered that she was feeling a little put-out by some of my comments towards her – things that I had said thinking I was joking, but she had actually taken personally and was a little hurt.

This isn’t an uncommon occurrence for me. Maybe it’s the way that I was brought up amongst my siblings where we constantly poke fun at one another. Maybe it’s the way that I’ve become more blunt and sometimes sharp-tongued in my twenties. But it’s something that I never mean to have happen and I felt awful. But, Chlo being one of my best friends, immediately understood that I wasn’t being malicious, perhaps just unaware. And she was right. I do need to be more aware of the things that I say to people and how it might be received from their perspective. It was a valuable lesson.

The next week was fairly lowkey. The famous Autumn rain season had rolled in and so we put off any adventures until the next weekend.

June 12 – 14

During the weekend that we had gone to Luxmore, Hannah, Hayden, Jenny, Andy and their new housemate Fraser had all gone 4x4ing. I was insanely jealous and so we tee’d up another 4×4 mission for this weekend in Ohau. After a night of drinking at Hannah and Hayden’s house on the Friday, we set off Saturday morning. Fraser’s sister Sonia and her boyfriend Taylor also joined us, rounding out the vehicle count at three.

First stop, my favourite place, Mount Cook. I had never been there this late in the season and the additional snow and ice around was just amazing.

Next, we headed back to Ohau Valley and began the real fun. Driving the trucks in and out of the mud, tracks, bush and rivers was so awesome! Fraser’s dog Hooch is a hunting dog so Fraser had a GPS on him and Hooch would run next to the trucks, disappearing occasionally to follow a scent into the woods. Meanwhile, we tested the boundaries of the trucks, almost rolling several times. On two notable occasions Fraser got nearly sideways on a riverbed – so much so that I was literally looking down at him the driver’s seat from my position in the front passenger seat. And Andy nearly went nose first into a giant hole in the river that he didn’t see until he was in it and the engine had nearly flooded. All that said though, it was the best. Fraser even let me drive his truck for a bit – but it made me so nervous having to think about driving stick while also navigating the rough tracks.

That evening, we arrived at the small bunk hut, lucky enough to be the only ones there. We cracked the beer, fired up dinner and just had an amazing night of hanging out altogether. When we all crawled into our sleeping bags and cozied into our bunks for the night, I was pleasantly surprised when Fraser pulled his sleeping bag into my bunk, citing the practicalities of keeping warm, of course.

The next morning, the boys went outside to suss the hunting situation and eventually decided to go for a walk to see what they could find. They turned up empty-handed, but that just gave us more time to hoon around in the trucks and shoot empty beer cans in the field before packing it in for the day and heading back to Wanaka.

That was our final big adventure before winter kicked off. The following weekend, the gang attended the annual Golden Mile – a pub crawl that occurs every year before mountain opening and hits every bar in downtown Wanaka. This year’s theme was formal.

And then winter finally kicked off with Cardrona opening on June 26 (with Hayden and the boys lining up for first chair at 4am – and us getting second chair when we showed up four hours later at 8am) and Treble Cone opening the day after.

Meanwhile, Fraser and I were spending more time together. It became a bit of a ritual for us to drive out to either a lake or riverside for him to fish while I would watch, read or give it a go myself, while letting Hooch run around. I came to love those hours spent just in the quiet. I’ve never really been drawn to fishing, but I really started to look forward to those time-outs together.

As we moved into July, winter only got better. Snow was almost constant and the good days just kept rolling. On July 11, we had a huge gang of us up skiing Cardrona. It was a beautiful sunny day and although it wasn’t powder snow, it was one of my favourite days of the season, just hooning around with the crew. Afterwards, we did apres at Cardrona Pub and I remember thinking about how I could’ve possibly gotten so lucky.

The following weekend, July 17th, I did my avalanche awareness course. Which was both so interesting and insanely terrifying. It basically convinced me that I wouldn’t be going into the backcountry anytime soon without a Level 2 certification – there’s just way too many ways for the mountains to kill you. That said, I got to tour for the first time and I was instantly hooked. I need to get a set-up ASAP.

From there, the good times on the mountain just continued. It felt like nearly every second day we were getting more snow and I was getting to ski at least three times a week, taking mornings out of work on some days. Everytime we were up there, it felt another best day ever. I remember one particular Sunday on July 26 that we were up Treble Cone with Fraser, Hayden, Hannah, Molly and Chlo and we just had the best day skiing. Then we finished it off with tailgate beers at the truck before heading down to the lake for a frigid skinny-dip and a quick fish with the music blaring. Again, another one of those ‘how did I get so lucky’ days.

That Monday, the fun only continued. I had been invited out with Soho Basin catskiing to write a blog and take some photos for work and it was AMAZING. The weather was absolutely incredible, the lunch was high-end and the champagne just kept coming. By the end of that weekend, I was not ready to go back to work on Tuesday.

And so ended off July.

I should probably give a quick update on how we were all affected by COVID. Chloe ended up losing her job at the luxury lodge she worked at, but she managed pretty well and her visa is still intact. Victoria’s company bounced back much better than they thought it would, so she seems good for the time being. And at this point, the board at my job had proposed a restructure which would eventually end with the proposal being pulled, but our GM resigning anyway, leaving us in a bit of a whirlwind. It was at this point, that I decided that I wanted to stay NZ for longer than my working holiday visa. Work was going well, NZ was COVID-free and, if I’m being honest, I felt like things were just beginning with Fraser and I didn’t want to leave him just yet.

Alright, that’s all for today, I’ll finish off this catch-up series tomorrow.

• JB

Reading the end of my last post, things were pretty dire. Taylor and Sam had decided to go home. Victoria, Chlo and I were all potentially losing our jobs. At the time, NZ only had eight cases of COVID, however over the next three days, that number would grow exponentially to over 200 and eventually would grow to nearly 2000.

Friday, March 20th was a kind of ‘D-Day’. In the span of five days, shit had hit the proverbial fan, and a lockdown was looking likely. Sam and Taylor had booked their flights home for that Sunday, in order to get out of dodge before the borders closed. Jenny, V and Chlo were all up to lose their jobs and would find out that day that they had all been spared. Mons Royale laid off thirty people in one swoop – I wouldn’t have made it if I had stayed there. Victoria’s company laid off forty people. Chlo’s work closed for the foreseeable future, but was keeping the staff employed.

That night, it became clear that this was the end of the summer as we knew it. So we took the opportunity to have one last team BBQ out on Ruby Island. It was the last time the whole gang would be together before Taylor and Sam left and it was extremely bittersweet.

Over the weekend, it was becoming increasingly clear that lockdown was inevitable. Our COVID numbers continued to increase and the PM was due to make a decision on Monday, March 23rd. Already, at-risk individuals had been asked not to leave their homes. To stave off our anxiety, Chloe came up with an idea to ask the bakeries around town for their leftovers to distribute to families and others who couldn’t go outside or were isolating. So on Saturday, the girls and I drove around town picking up baked goods and distributing them.

That Sunday night, we had one last family meal with Molly, anticipating that we’d be confined to our bubbles the next day and unable to see her for an indefinite amount of time.

The next day, the PM here announced an immediate move into Alert Level 3, meaning working from home, school closures and non-essential business closures. Then, in 48 hours, NZ would move to Alert Level 4 – total lockdown. No seeing anyone else outside your home, no leaving your home except for a short walk or groceries, no contact with any other people. It was surreal.

For our ‘bubble’, we had myself, Chlo and V (as we all live together), plus Dan (Chlo’s boyfriend, down from Christchurch) and Jossi (V’s boyfriend, who was living alone in his apartment, but could join our bubble because of that solitude).

Yeah, to be honest, I wasn’t stoked when I realized I’d be living on Love Island with the couples. But, all things considered it was the most fun. The five of us immediately set about finding ways to fill our time. V, Dan and I all still had jobs, so we kept on the 9-5 grind. Joss and Chlo didn’t have that luxury, so Chlo enrolled in an online course for interior design and Joss got back into cycling and running.

I remember that first week was the hardest. I had a constant headache which I later chalked up to anxiety, seeing as the dust had yet to settle during the first few days. I think the country was still in shock – things had happened so quickly, we had gone from laughing about COVID one week, to being in lockdown the next.

That said, we quickly adjusted and made routines for ourselves. For example, I ran almost every day, with a goal of running 15km before the end of lockdown (in which, I succeeded). We also made Friday nights into theme nights, where each of us would take a turn choosing a theme, then decorating, cooking and dressing up to suit. We did Formal, Japanese, Canadian and Western.

Meals quickly became the thing that our lives revolved around. It almost became a way of keeping time. Especially as we got into weeks 3 & 4 of lockdown, when things were beginning to get monotonous, the fun of coming together to make brunch and then hang out around empty plates after the meal – it was what I most looked forward to during the day.

If we’re being honest though, there was a fair amount of drinking involved as well. From beer pong at 11am, to drinking a bottle of wine each in the run of the night – I think most of NZ would agree that alcohol sales probably soared during lockdown.

We had a fair share of hilarity as well. On one notable occasion, the garage door had been left open and a mouse made its way into my room. After getting out of the shower, I watched it dart under my bed and in a calm and cool manner, I nonchalantly called out to the team to come help me get it (just kidding, I started screaming bloody murder while wrapped in a towel, while everyone came running, half-expecting my arm to be cut off). Everyone grabbed boxes, brooms and ski poles to help corral the little guy, who evaded us for a good 20min, before finally running out of the room and into the bathroom. Both Joss and Dan took chase, slammed the bathroom door shut, then debated for ten minutes how to go about catching it – all while they stared at the mouse and the mouse stared back at them.

Finally, they trapped it a couple of broken down beer boxes (naturally), which required both of them to hold the boxes together while they walked in tandem outside to release the mouse. It was maybe one of the funniest things that’s ever happened to me.

We also kept a quotes board, which we filled out entirely during lockdown, but some quotes are not to be shared with family, so here’s your watered down version.

On April 27th, just over four weeks after lockdown began – NZ entered Alert Level 3. This meant that we were allowed to hike and swim, go further than 1km from our house for physical exercise and that restaurants were allowed to open for takeaway (which was honestly the best part). I took the opportunity to hike Roy’s Peak, a hike which is usually crawling with thousands of tourists, but was eerily quiet in Level 3. It was one of those things that truly put things in perspective and made me realize just how much things had changed in the last six weeks.

We lived in Alert Level 3 for another three weeks, and by the time we moved into Alert Level 2 in mid May, I was well and truly over it. But that said, it worked. NZ had essentially eradicated the virus and we exited Alert Level 3 charting zero new cases per day. And even though I’m not Kiwi, I felt so proud. Four million people had come together and we’d managed to stomp it before it even got started. I was happy to be a part of that team.

In Alert Level 2, we were finally allowed to travel again, and for our first adventure, I was craving the ocean. So Chlo, Dan, Molly and I took off for the West Coast, parked up on the beach, pitched our tents on the sand and watched the sun go down. I’ve never felt more excited to be near salt water. God, it was well worth the wait and I was so content.

That night, we made dehydrated meals and drank while watching the stars, listening to the waves and even spotting Starlink (which was the coolest thing ever!). The next morning, I woke up early to see that Moll had gone outside to write in her journal and had left the tent door open – leaving me with the best view to wake up to.

Before heading home, we ducked into Fox Glacier for some coffee and breakfast, before taking a quick dip in the ocean. At first, I didn’t feel like getting in the ice cold water – I was content to watch Moll and Chlo jump in. But I had a moment of reflection where it occurred to me that, during lockdown, I would’ve given anything to jump in the ocean. So I thought ‘fuck it’, stripped down to my bra and thong and jumped in – and yeah it was cold, but it felt so good.

For the moment, we were free from COVID and a few weeks later, we moved into Alert Level 1 – meaning that basically, normal life resumed – just in time for winter.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. In addition to these blogs, I also make the occasional video compilation of all my iPhone footage. Because I’m unwilling to pay for a WordPress Premium, I usually just post these on my Instagram. But if you want to view the one from March and lockdown, click here. And don’t forget to tap to see it all – there’s four parts, you just have to click the tiny arrow on the right.

I’m breaking down the winter into two more blog posts, which I’ll write over the next couple of days, so stayed tuned.

• JB

We interrupt coronavirus panic to bring you the latest from the bottom of the earth. In my last post, I signed off by saying that I’d probably write again in another four months. Let the record show that it is just three. Boom.

Alright, let’s jump right into this. I reluctantly showed my blog to Molly and Chloe and in doing so, realized that I had really glossed over Molly’s addition to the group. So, I’ll be sure to properly introduce her…. now.

Our dearest Mollikins joined us on my birthday in November from North Carolina. She kind of instantly rounded out the foursome of me, V, Chlo and her – we’ve since dubbed ourselves Team North America. The youngest of the group, Molls fills the space of surrogate little sister. She’s unendingly positive, a constant source of boundless energy and probably giggles in her sleep. Her passion is running and as you’ll see in the following post, she’s a gaddamn beast.

Let’s jump way back to early December (remember that – when the word Corona just meant ‘shit beer’).

 

Dec 10th – 19th

I was due to head home for the holidays on Dec 20th, but before going home, there was still adventures to be had. Turns out, both came in the airborne variety.

The first was a scenic flight around Mt. Aspiring National Park. Anyone who knows me well enough knows that I am terrified of flying on a commercial airplane. Let alone a teeny tiny six-seater. Yet, here we were. I’ll admit, I was petrified the whole time, but I knew that would’ve seriously regretted saying no. I mean, just look at these photos.

 

The second airborne adventure came in the form of helibiking. Victoria works for The Alpine Group which runs helitours and their new product is helibiking. Again, thanks to the new job, I got to go out on one of their first test tours. What a day – we rode down steep chutes, biked along boardwalks through the valley and splashed across river crossings. Definitely more of an adventure-ride than a downhil ride, but it was awesome.

 

Dec 20th – Jan 7th

Homeward bound. On Dec 20th I began the looong journey home to Halifax for Christmas. It didn’t start off smooth. In Queenstown, my first flight got cancelled, so I ended up waiting an hour for the next one. The good news was that Hannah, Hayden, Jenny, Taylor and Sam were all on that same flight so we got to travel together! Hannah and Hayden had Carter with them and when we got to Auckland we had a good laugh over Carter’s face after coming through cargo – he’d seen some shit.

In Auckland, we all went our separate ways – I headed to my hotel for the night as my flight to San Fran wasn’t until the next morning. However, about thirty minutes later I got a call from Taylor and Sam; their rental car wasn’t at the lot waiting for them and they were stranded until the next morning. So they ended up coming to stay in my hotel room where we ordered room service and had a slumber party.

I don’t think I’ve properly introduced Taylor and Sam. Both are from Alberta, I met Taylor working at Mons as she’s an accountant there. Quite honestly, they’re the most wholesome people I’ve ever met. Both of them are low-key hilarious; very dry and on point. They both ride bikes and Taylor and I are on the same ability level, which always provides us each with a dose of healthy competition. We recently found out that Sam will have to leave NZ at the end of May and Taylor shortly thereafter. It’s put an incredible dampener on our group, because they’re so intrinsic to the dynamic. It’s a tough reality of being expats – eventually, people will leave. I’m just sad it’s going to be them first, as I’ve really grown close to both of them.

Three flights and one mad dash through the Newark airport later and I was back in Halifax. Mother of God, it’s cold in Canada and the coffee sucks (I’m not sorry). But damn it was good to be home. I think the last time I was home for longer than ten days was in 2015. To be home for almost three weeks was exactly what I needed.

In hindsight, Christmas was a little bittersweet. There was a lot going on that made it difficult being there and equally difficult to leave. Family is tricky thing with a lot of moving cogs – and a wrench in those cogs can make things quite clunky. I guess we just keep trucking along, onward.

Looking back on my time at home is also sad because it was my last time with Oliver. For the last couple of years everytime I’ve gone home, I’ve left in tears because I was so worried about him getting sick or dying while I was away. Ironically, this was the first time that I was sure I would come back and he would be still going strong. He was so energetic while I was home and cuddly and just seemed happy.

A few weeks ago, after I got home from Sydney, Mom kept calling me. After the third time talking in about two hours, I asked if anything was wrong. Then asked if it was Oliver. I just had a feeling.

Mom explained that Ollie hadn’t been eating and he had a growth in his mouth. He was in pain and they had decided while I was in Sydney to put him down. God, I was a wreck. Even as I type this now, I’m trying like crazy not to cry in front of everyone in the living room. Mostly, I just felt awful for not being there for him or for not taking longer to say good-bye before I left home. I know, I know – he’s a cat. But I’ve had him since I was twelve. He’s the same little cat that curled up with me every night of my teenage years, who was always so comforting when I came home from university crying because I hated it, who would purr into the phone when I called home from Whistler. He was a constant for most of my young life and it’s very strange that he doesn’t exist anymore.

Right now, it’s easy to forget about because his absence isn’t obvious while I’m here in NZ. I think I’ll be very sad when I go home again and he’s not there to greet me. I suppose I’ll face that when it comes.

 

Jan 7th – 16th

Return to Whistler. Man, I was nervous for this. Last year, after getting back to NZ, I was unbelievably homesick. I was worried that going back to Whistler, I’d feel like I was ready to move back again.

That was kind of the case. On the one hand, it was amazing seeing the Whistler crew and I could feel how easy it would be to slide back into the life – it was so comfortable. But on the other, I knew that my time in NZ was unfinished. So I decided to wait and see how I felt getting back this time. In the meantime, Dad and I had an incredible father/daughter trip in Whistler and I had some of the best skiing days of my life with Uncle Sko as our guide.

 

 

Jan 20th – 24th

I was pleasantly surprised when I got back to NZ – almost no homesickness this time and we jumped right into the NZ summer.

Bike Glendhu (Wanaka’s new MTB park) finally opened and I’ve basically spent every weekend there since. It’s AMAZING and I am 100% obsessed. That said, it’s a lot like North American climbing in that there are some big, bad climbs. Picture 1 is me riding from the very top, picture 2 is what I looked like after the climb up there.

 

Jan 25th

After we were thwarted by AirBNB availability for a Christchurch trip for Chloe’s birthday, we instead decided to go on a hike to Shotover Saddle in Mt. Aspiring National Park. We knew ahead of time that there wasn’t exactly a clear route to the saddle, but I definitely underestimated just how difficult this hike was going to be. It was four hours of straight uphill bush-whacking with huge backpacks full of camping gear. Definitely the hardest hike I’ve ever done, but the top was incredible. We had our freeze-dry dinners and then called it a night pretty quick, but it was a restless one. It rained and was windy all night. Plus, Victoria (who was out in her bivvy bag) spent all night warding off the keas (alpine parrots who are the assholes of the animal kingdom). They kept pecking her and every so often we’d hear from outside the tent ‘fuck off keas!’

The next morning, it was foggy and rainy. We were nervous to head down, but as we descended, the sky cleared and it turned into a beautiful day. At 8am in the morning, Molly and Chloe cracked a cold one to celebrate making it down.

 

January 31st – February 2nd

A jam-packed weekend. On Friday night, Jenny and I went out to Dublin Bay to watch Chloe kite-surf. God I love being surrounded by these badass women. I constantly feel inspired and challenged to keep up. I’ve never had such friendly competition that truly pushes me to better myself. I’ve realized that being the best version of yourself can really come to down to who you choose to surround yourself with.

Victoria has spent a lot of time growing a beautiful garden in our yard and we were finally able to start eating out of it. It seriously feels so wholesome to go out in the morning and pick spinach for our breakfasts.

On Saturday, I was planning on doing a solo ride out at Glendhu, but then the whole crew from Meadowstone decided to come along – which I was stoked on. V had ridden a few times before but never at Glendhu and Chlo and Moll had never ridden. So we got some rental bikes for the girls and then headed out.

Literally everyone was hooked and having the best time by the middle of our first lap. Unfortunately on the very last corner, Chlo had a nasty spill and hit her head pretty hard. She ended up calling it after that and dropped into the medical centre to get checked out. It put a bit of a dampener on the day, but the silver lining was that V was officially obsessed with biking.

After Chlo got back from the medical centre and had nap, she rallied hard and we went out for the night, starting off at one of the pubs and then dancing the night away at Lalaland. Way to come back strong Chlo.

 

February 6th – 9th

The following weekend was Waitangi Day long weekend. We spent the Thursday riding Glendhu with Victoria who has totally caught the mountain biking bug.

After riding, we headed to B Effect Brewery and met a whole crew of people. Afterwards, we all headed to our house for a BBQ. The Meadowstone house has become kind of the epicentre for gatherings.

On Friday, V, Moll and I headed to my favourite place in NZ – Mt. Cook, to run the Hooker Valley track – 10km through the Hooker Valley.

Molly is a marathon runner. Like a three and a half hour marathon runner. And Victoria is a superhuman. So yeah, I had my work cut out for me. But it was insanely beautiful and although we spent a huge amount of dodging tourists along the trail, it was one of my favourite days here so far.

After the run, we headed to the Tasman Glacier to set up a charcuterie picnic in front of the glacier. Again, another ‘pinch-me-is-this-my-life’ moment.

To round out the day, we stopped in at the Omarama hottubs on the way back to ease our sore and roasted muscles.

That Saturday, we headed off to TUKI festival, a concert featuring all Kiwi acts. It definitely wasn’t to the calibre of BC festivals, but for an afternoon, it was actually pretty fun.

On Sunday, we were a little hungover so we went for a climb. Unfortunately, my shoulder popped out on an overhang and has been pretty screwed up since. I’m now due to get an MRI and see a surgeon – hopefully, nothing drastic needs to be done, but good to check!

 

Feb 11th – 15th

Hot off the weekend, it was time to go to Sydney for a work trip! My boss at Lake Wanaka Tourism, Gizelle, is rad. I had idly mentioned in my first week of work that I had never been to Sydney and she was like ‘oh, all of our agency and corporate partners are there! We’ll have to plan a trip to meet them!’

Gizelle is from Sydney so she was an AMAZING tour guide. We ate at the coolest restaurants, stayed at the raddest boutique hotel and got to meet our partners like Wired and Monster Children. Plus I LOVE Sydney. It’s the first city I’ve come across that I could see myself actually living in. The different neighbourhoods are so cool and distinct and I love that you’re in the city but there’s also a beach right down the street where you can surfing. I can’t wait to go back again.

One of the best parts though was getting to see a few of my old Whistler friends. Karin and Nick came into the city, along with Andrew and Joe – who I haven’t seen in four years! It was so good to catch up with everyone and it honestly felt like we had never been apart – that’s the beauty of Whistler; you always meet again somewhere in the world.

 

Feb 15th – 21st

Literally fifteen minutes after getting back from Sydney, I met Ethan at the Queenstown Airport, who was coming over to visit. Man, what a ride to have him over here for six days – worlds colliding. We had a great time though. He stayed with us at our house and he got to meet all my Wanaka friends. We rode bikes A TON, had BBQs, went hiking and he got to do some exploring around the area with Lachy. I think he was almost sad to leave, saying ‘I can see why you love it here so much.’

 

February 21st – 23rd

After a week away in Sydney and then a week hosting Ethan, I was dead. On Friday night, Victoria took me to Bistro Gentil, this crazy fancy restaurant here. She wanted to give me a little relaxation gift and I still don’t know what I did to deserve her. We had amazing Maude wine (my favourite from down here) and a five course meal. Again, what did I do right here?

On Saturday we went for a shop in Queenstown, then Sunday was bike day! I finally rode Methane Train, a black diamond at Glendhu that had been dogging me for a while and I was so. stoked.

 

February 24th – March 1st

This was a great week. It started with V and I going glamping at Hawea on assignment for work. God, what a great way to end Monday, on the lake snuggled into a huge tent with a heated blanket, listening to the waves. I actually wrote a blog about it for Lake Wanaka Tourism, which you can read here.

That Wednesday, we decided it the perfect night for some boating. It’s still killing me that I can’t ski because my shoulder refuses to stay in its socket, but I’m getting used to watching and honestly, it’s good for me to reign in my competitiveness. Plus, we finally got Victoria up on one ski! Woo!

That Friday, it was time for my now favourite event – A Night of Fleetwood Mac. It’s a cover band that plays in town every six months. The last time they were here was shortly after my ski accident and they were back! Hooooly, this was an amazing night. We started with shots at the house, moved to the bar where we met with basically everyone I’ve ever met in Wanaka and danced the night away.

Then at the end of the night, it was pouring rain and we couldn’t get a cab. It was looking like we were going to have to walk home. Chloe spotted a tour bus stopped resting across the street and ran over, talking to the driver. At first, we were dying laughing – as if she actually thought the tour bus driver was going to drive us home.

Next thing we know, she’s running over yelling to get on the bus. The driver had agreed to give five of us a lift home on a fifty person rig! You should’ve seen everyone’s faces as we drove off. I could not stop laughing the whole way. We sat at the back and the driver even spoke to us over the loud speaker to announce our ‘stop’.

The one problem was a giant speed bump coming into our neighbourhood. It sounded like the Titanic hitting the iceberg as the carriage grinded over it and the next morning we saw that we had even taken up pieces of the road… nothing to see here. What a night.

The next day, B, Moll and I went climbing out at Hospital Flat. Again, I was on belay duty only because of my shoulder, but it was still so fun to hang out in the sun and watch the girls climb.

On the way back from climbing, we stopped at (what we thought was) a hidden spot on the lake to cool off by skinny dipping. Lo and behold, it was not at all hidden and as soon as we were naked in the water, a bunch of people started walking down the trail at the same time as a family was stand-up paddleboarding towards us. We were trapped in a very awkward position. What’s more, one of the walkers started TAKING PHOTOS of the mountain range behind us, not knowing that the four girls sitting up to their necks in the water were bare-butt naked! We were dying laughing. Luckily, the family passed by and didn’t seem to notice and as soon as the walkers were gone, we hustled out of the water and back into our clothes. Phew.

The next day, we decided to hike Breast Hill – which I thought was going to be a two hour uphill cruise. It was not. Holy, this bad boy was a SLOG. Straight uphill and totally punishing. But man, was it beautiful.

Like any steep NZ hike, down is almost as hard as the up. By the time we finally reached the lake, we were ready for a dip. As has become tradition – a skinny dip. This time we didn’t get caught.

 

March 2nd – 8th

Ah finally, a quiet week. We did however do some boating and biking, as per usual.

Then on Sunday, it was Taylor’s birthday and we had a HUGE brunch for her at Hannah and Hayden’s.

After that, we decided – ‘hmm it’s pouring rain outside, but the lake is flat. We should go boating.’ Look, no one said we were smart.

So we literally bundled up in all our Gore-Tex ski gear and wetsuits, got on the boat in the straight up downpour and went waterskiing (well, I didn’t – still a professional spotter). It was hilarious.

 

March 9th – 15th

Which brings us to this past week. On Monday, Jossi came home five days early and surprised Victoria. A surprise that I got to help coordinate. I lied to her and said I wanted to go chill by the lake, little did she know that Jossi was there with a picnic for her. Holy, it was romantic as hell. I totally teared up a bit. And a small part of me felt sad wondering if I would ever have that. Let’s not get into it.

On Friday that week, I got to go out on a sunrise mountain bike shoot for NZ Mountain Biker and ride with Casey Brown – ie. arguably the world’s best female mountain biker. It was a shoot for work and I was there as an extra, but wow it was equally SO cool and SO intimidating. The way Casey rides is something I could only dream of, but it was incredible to watch. It would be like playing hockey with Sidney Crosby – once in a lifetime.

That night, I had my first night this summer at Cardrona and it was awesome! We had a huge mob and rode a ton of laps and then had beer after – a perfect Friday of all-day riding.

Finally, this past Saturday, Molly was competing in her first ultra marathon – The Motatapu. 51km over the mountain range from Wanaka to Queenstown, with an unbelievable altitude gain of almost 1500m. She did it in just under eleven hours and honestly, I was so inspired. What a weapon – I love these girls so much.

 

And that brings us to today. St Patty’s Day is usually one my favourite days of the year. Today, it has been one of my worst days in NZ. Everyone knows about COVID-19. It’s all anyone can talk about. The last three days have been huge, with changes happening by the hour. First, Canada placed a mandatory fourteen day quarantine. Then, airlines reduced their longhaul flights. Today Justin Trudeau announced the borders would be closed to non-residents.

In NZ, the number of cases is still only eight. The government had restrictions in place early and it’s pretty safe here. But the fear is not being able to get home. Or job loss. Taylor and Sam booked their flights home today; they’re leaving in five days. Their visas are up in May and they’re worried if they don’t leave now, they’ll be stuck in limbo. Losing them is heartbreaking.

Victoria’s company told her today they can’t offer her job security. They’re fighting for her, but if tourism stops, they might not be able to afford to keep her. Her visa is tied to her job. No job = no visa. She would have to go home.

Chloe is in the same boat, but her company hasn’t expressed any sign of closing down yet. She works for a luxury lodge.

I’m scared. I know there’s nothing for me in Canada right now. Everything is closed. I won’t find a job. I’ll basically be 28 years old moving back into my parents house with no money after travelling. But I’m worried if I wait, everyone will have left and I won’t be able to. And I’ll be alone here, again.

This place is what it is because of the people in these blogs. After writing today, I’m starkly aware of how significantly this group of friends have impacted my life. I’ve cried nearly all day at the thought of losing this special place and this bubble we’ve created. I feel like we haven’t had enough time.

That said, after looking through all my photos and videos from the past three months… goddamn, I’m so, so fortunate that I got any time at all. This place has been incredible. This life here has been extraordinary. And if the way that I know NZ is ending because of this virus, then I need to count my blessings. We made a lifetime of memories here. We had a good run.

For now, I’m just hoping it all doesn’t end. I’m trying not be greedy. But… I just want a little more time.

• JB

Life happens. Much like Whistler, I eased into life here in Wanaka. It became less of a vacation and more of a settlement. And I think when that happens, ordinary happenings become less significant. Which I think is why I’ve let blogging drop off.

So maybe you’re not reading anymore. And that’s okay. This is mostly for me anyway. But as I scrolled back through the last four months of photos in my phone, I did a lot of laughing and had a lot of good reflection. So I’m going to serve them up in a series of highlights here for you. If you stay through to the end, I promise, they’re great.

 

August 16th – 18th

This weekend was the Wanaka Ball. It’s like the one night of the year that people in Wanaka actually dress up. Victoria had just started dating her now-boyfriend Jossi and he picked us up for the ball and brought a bouquet for each of us. I remember being so incredibly touched that he would do that.

The night was full of down-to-the-floor dancing, live music, laughs and the start of friendships that would persist for the rest of the winter.

 

Rest of August, early September

The next weekend was when Chloe moved in. Chloe is this tall, blonde ‘way-too-cool’ surfer chick from Toronto. She was living in Wellington with her boyfriend of four years when they broke up and she decided to move to Wanaka and start all over again. I remember being so impressed by her bravery in doing that and she quickly rounded out the trio of me, her and Vic.

Like any basic white girl, we cemented the friendship with a hike up to Isthmus Peak. Not the hardest hike I’ve ever done, but she was challenging. The 360 views at the top though were un-frigging-believable.

 

Let’s not forget the rest of the winter. Even though I was still experiencing concussion symptoms, I wasn’t going to let that stop me from getting in some incredible ski days over the winter.

I’m going to be honest, it was an extremely low tide winter. I think we had one good powder day. But man, that day was amazing. We hiked to the summit of TC and skied one incredible, champagne powder lap off the top and I remember thinking that it was one of the best runs I’d ever had (which got laughed at when I said it out loud, but it was true).

Let’s not forget that basically every damn time I went up the mountain, I was floored by how beautiful the views were. Seriously, it’s so awesome.

I was also stoked to finally get back behind a camera in early September. Mons needed ‘lifestyle’ shots of their new Summer range and I was tasked with getting some dreamy shots out down by the lake one night with Vic & Chlo.

With Chlo and Victoria, I was finally starting to feel incredibly at home in Wanaka.

And just in time, because the winter season was closing out. Chlo and I did the legendary Closing Day at TC, where we dressed up and tried our best not to get taken out by the other skiers enjoying various party treats. We started the day at a pancake breakfast at a neighbour’s house and then headed up the hill to milk what was left of the slim snowpack. After the ski hill, we migrated to a garden party where we danced the night away in someone’s driveway. I don’t have many photos from this day for obvious reasons.

 

I’m not sorry about any of those images.

 

End of September, start of October

With TC done for the season, options for skiing were limited. For Victoria’s birthday weekend on October 5th, we headed into Queenstown to try out the new climbing gym there and let me just say, it blew my damn socks off. I also realized our Wanaka gym is grungy as fuck.

The next day, we headed to Cardrona for my last day of skiing of the NZ winter season. It was a beautiful day and we did a few slushy laps and then sat to watch Jossi’s brother compete in the freestyle event. It was the perfect last day and Victoria and I were stoked to end out the season together.

With skiing over, there were two things on my mind. Biking and staying in NZ. I surprised myself by wanting to go for my second visa here; for a long time I had only wanted to do a year.

But I was finally beginning to find my footing and I had made solid friendships. Plus, with Chloe joining the group, she had also brought in her friends Hannah & Hayden (New Zealand mom & dad) and the crew was beginning to form. I wanted to stay. So I got my second visa, then I turned my attention to biking.

This summer, Victoria was intent on getting her feet wet in mountain biking, so we started to do a few mellow rides to start the summer off.

 

October

Once we were officially out of the winter season, the Mons girls and I formed a bit of riding group that goes out every week. AND I got a Skyline park pass. So yeah, there’s been a lot of bike riding so far this summer.

That said, I’ve also had a ton of progress rock climbing. In the gym, I’m finally starting to tackle lead climbing (which is fucking terrifying) and I’m also getting way more comfortable climbing outside. On the first holiday weekend of the summer, we all headed out to Hospital Flats in JP’s troopy and had a day of lying in the sun, eating snacks, watching each other climb and chilling. It was one of the best days.

The other thing that happened in October – I decided to leave Mons. There was a series of events that lead up to this decision but ultimately, it came down to culture. Mons had the shittiest, most toxic workplace culture. Never have I been so miserable, frustrated, angry and sad at a job. And it was all entirely due to leadership. That being said, I don’t regret my time there. I learned something incredibly valuable; you can love your work, the product, your coworkers and the message, but if the culture is shit, then the rest of it doesn’t matter.

Luckily, I landed on my feet with a managerial role at Lake Wanaka Tourism. And the culture there is a total 180 from that of Mons. Do I miss my coworkers? Yes. But am I happier for it? Absolutely.

 

November

November was when the summer really began to get into full swing. I kicked it off with a wicked sunburn from gardening on a Saturday morning.

We also caught one of those famous NZ sunsets.

The next weekend, we ramped things up a notch on JP’s farm, where we got to teach the girls how to ride dirtbikes and drive 4x4s. It was sooo fun to be back on a dirtbike again and rip around the farm.

The next week was my final week at Mons. On the Friday, I cleared out my desk, said sad goodbyes to all of my coworkers and left for good. And though part of me wants to be resentful towards Mons and the way I was treated, I can’t deny that they got me to NZ – and without Mons, I might’ve never come here or had had the life that I have now. So for that, I am thankful.

As soon as I finished my last day at Mons, we jetted off for girl’s surf weekend in the Catlins with Chlo, Vic, Jenny, Taylor & Britt. The Catlins have always had a special place in my heart. I love being near the ocean and getting out of Wanaka. Just like Mt. Cook, it’s one of those places in New Zealand that I keep going back to.

This time, we rented an adorable renovated barn smack dab in the middle of a sheep field right next to the ocean. We all took turns surfing on our three boards during the day, went exploring around the surrounding waterfalls and then ended the day with a charcuterie board on the point watching the sunset. It was definitely one of those days where I kept asking myself how I got so lucky.

The Catlins trip was everything I needed before starting my first week at the new job. It was so relaxing and we had so many laughs.

To add on to my first week at the new job, it was also my 28th birthday on the Tuesday. A few weeks ago, I had mentioned to Victoria that I was going to invite everyone to a dinner to celebrate. To which she cryptically told me “I’ve already got something sorted.” Which is adorable and so sweet.

But the thing is, I kept mentioning my birthday to various people and no one seemed to know that anything was happening. Which made me nervous.

That morning, I went to the gym and on the way home, I remember being weirdly homesick. I was reminiscing about how Dad used to make us pancakes shaped in our names for our birthdays and it made me miss home. Lo and behold, I come back to Victoria making me breakfast before she had to run off to work. Honestly, I don’t know what I did to deserve this girl.

Then, at work, my new coworkers had gotten me donuts and we all had a morning tea together. At lunch, a bunch of old Mons coworkers came down to celebrate with me. Honestly, that could’ve been it and I would’ve been so grateful.

But there was still a surprise that night. All day, a lot of people had been messaging me to say happy birthday and asking if I was doing anything that night. So much so, that I was convinced that Victoria had set up a fancy dinner out for just me and the girls – which, of course, would’ve been lovely.

So we all get dressed up that night and Vic says she’ll meet Chlo and I at the restaurant. We get there and I walk in and literally ALL my closest friends are there – even the ones who had messaged me to ask what was going on that night – conclusion: all my friends are excellent liars.

What a difference a year makes. When I turned 27, I had just arrived in NZ and I was so lonely and worried that I would never make friends here. Turning 28, I could’ve just cried from happiness. I was so unbelievably touched by everyone getting together to surprise me and make it such a memorable day.

I kicked off 28 with some ‘famils’ for work. A ‘famil’ is a familiarization tour – basically you go on tours with all the local tour companies so you know what you’re marketing to visitors. Let me just say – holy shit, there are some rad things to do in Wanaka. So far, I’ve done a via ferrata and a farm tour – which were both equally awesome, but for very different reasons… pictured.

That weekend, we decided it was finally time to do a night out in Queenstown. Ohhh boy. We got super lucky and did a last minute AirBNB. Our new friend Molly joined us and we hit the town. Our friend Billy, gave us the grand tour and we hit too many bars to count, but man, it was well needed. There’s not much a party scene in Wanaka, which usually I don’t even miss, but when you want to dance, it kind of sucks that there’s nowhere to go. So that’s what we did.

The next week, it looked like summer might finally kick off. The week was full of lakeside BBQs, sea-dooing, hiking and boating (because Hannah and Hayden bought a boat, yay!) We also welcomed a new friend to our little girl gang – Molly from North Carolina.

 

December (so far)

Two weekends ago, we decided it was finally time to head an New Zealand alpine hut. We chose Brewster because it’s at the edge of a glacier and the views are incredible. It’s an adorable red hut with room for plenty of people. It’s also only two hours uphill, but it was definitely steep. I surprised myself and didn’t suffer as much as I thought I would.

We got the top, made our freeze-dry dinners and played some cards. Then we snuggled into bed and prepared for the early wake-up call. Unfortunately, we’d have to hightail it out of there before the rain made the river crossing too dangerous.

That Sunday night, despite being exhausted from our hike, we decided to do an early orphan Christmas dinner. We had a huge potluck at our house that consisted mostly of cheese trays (that’s what you get when you tell everyone to bring appys). Hannah and Hayden brought a few whole chickens (because turkey is expensive as hell down here) and Vic, Chlo and I were on sides. Molly was on dessert. It was so amazing. Chloe even got a makeshift Christmas tree and decorations for the house. Again, it was one of those occasions where I kept thinking – ‘how did I get so damn lucky?’

Then finally, this past week. Last week, it rained non-stop. So much so, that Wanaka started to flood. Third week on the job and I was learning crisis communication. They had to shut down all of downtown because of the water coming up. The shops were boarded up and sandbagged. And although the water did come up, it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. Mostly just the roads flooded and a few shops. And as quickly as it came in, it’s now starting to go out again.

 

 

And finally, this past weekend. On Saturday, we all braved the rain and headed to Wanaka Beerfest. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in the run of a day. After a pancake breakfast with mimosas at our house, we all piled into JP’s troopy, blasting oldies as we careened into the Beerfest grounds. Then we spent all day sampling beers, petting all the dogs we could, and dancing to the live music. Chloe was definitely the star of the day, making me laugh so hard I almost peed at one point. Afterwards, we wandered into town and got Indian food, then reluctantly called it a night.

A little hangover on Sunday couldn’t stop us from carrying out an idea I had had for a photo shoot while the flood waters were still high… I wanted to inject a bit of irony into the situation. Luckily, Chlo, Molly, Hannah and Hayden were all sports.

Alright, well if you’re still with me… wow you should probs go outside now.

Be back soon! (or, in four months, who even knows anymore).

• JB

Okay it’s been two months since I last blogged. For those still with me, yes, I’m alive.

My absence has been in part due to laziness, skiing and a concussion. (I’ll get to that shortly).

But first, let’s go all the way back to June 9th. My first day on skis this winter in NZ.

 

June 9th

At long last Cardrona Resort finally opened with all of one trail. I, unfortunately, had bought a season pass for Treble Cone (think of one as Whistler and the other as Blackcomb). And though TC wasn’t open yet, I wasn’t about to miss time on snow.

So I headed up to Cardies with Mike (the hungover one from my last post) where we met up with a few of his university friends. And although there was only one run open, it might’ve been one of my favourite days on snow ever.

The energy here is infectious. In Whistler, being jaded was the norm – unless there was at least 10cm of new snow, no one went up the mountain. And when they did, most of the day was spent bitching about tourists and lines or fighting with strangers over the best lines. A lot of the magic was lost.

Not here. Here, with one run open, the Kiwis were stoked just to be on planks. Our crew made the best of marginal conditions, taking core shots like badges of honour and happily ripping lines through the tussocks. I was immediately hooked.

 

June 15th

On June 15th, I dropped Victoria off to the Queenstown airport to head back to the States for a wedding. That night, there was a going-away party for one of the Mons girls and I was incredibly nervous. Having Victoria as my sidekick had become something of a security blanket and now I was going to go to this party by myself, not really knowing anyone.

It turned out to be one of my best nights here. I got to meet so many new people who had just rolled into town and really get to know the Mons crew outside of work. In Whistler, I did a lotttt of partying (sorry Mom), and though sometimes I feel like I should’ve used my time more productively, I also know that I met some of my best friends this way. So, don’t judge me when I say that, from a social perspective, this party allowed me to feel a little more in my comfort zone. I felt a little more like my Whistler self. And I could really start to see how awesome the group of Wanaka people are.

 

June 21st – 23rd

After not skiing for two weeks, I was chomping at the bit to get back at it after that first amazing day at Cardies. This weekend was Industry Days in the Lakes District, which meant that each of the ski companies here hosting demo days at Coronet Peak, The Remarkables and Cardrona. I didn’t get to go to Coronet Peak, but on the Friday, June 21st, the Mons crew got a day out of the office to go to The Remarkables.

This was the first time that I would ski with the office crew, and honestly, I was a little nervous. Everytime that I’ve thought I could hold my own in Wanaka, it turns out everyone else is an expert. This has happened with waterskiing, biking, etc. So, even though I’m a confident skier, I wasn’t sure how I would measure up.

Despite my fears though, it was another amazing day. The Remarkables reminded me of skiing the alpine terrain in Whistler – so many hidden areas in the various bowls. Again, there wasn’t much snow, but the energy of the Mons crew made the day incredible. We skied from 10am until 3pm and had so many hilarious chairlift moments. It was really just awesome to get out with the work crew outside of the office.

Saturday and Sunday were spent at Industry Days at Cardrona. Luckily, everyone at Mons got a two day pass for the demo event, so I didn’t have to buy day passes.

The cool thing about skiing here – as opposed to Whistler – is that there’s only a limited number of lifts. So no matter what, you run in to people. I got to run into a ton of people that I had met at the party the weekend before and get to know them even more.

 

June 28th

Alright, this is how I knew the winter was officially in full swing. Friday, July 28th was the Golden Mile. A few years ago, someone figured out that if you visit all fourteen bars in Wanaka on a pub crawl, then it equals a total walking distance of a mile. And thus, the Golden Mile was born.

This year, the theme was 80s disco (yes, I know, there was no disco in the 80s, but go with it. It gave us the excuse to wearing neon and disco clothes).

We started out pretty tame and by the end of the night, the group was scattered across all the different bars in Wanaka. Early on in the night, we had a giant speaker set up on wheels that we played disco music on and brought into every bar we visited. Because we started at 4pm, many of the bars we went into were in the middle of their dinner service when we came by. So yeah, we were those assholes, dressed entirely in neon with giant wigs on, blasting Dancing Queen from a giant speaker while people tried to enjoy their meals.

Shortly after 9pm and after stopping in at one of the clubs for the Silent Disco, we were wreaking this same havoc by parading through the street while traffic patiently waited for us to move our dancing butts off the road. It was one of the funniest nights.

The next morning was spent being entirely hungover and useless. That Sunday, I got my shit together and went for a bike ride in Sticky Forest. Since Treble Cone wasn’t open yet, I may as well go bike riding.

 

July 5th – 7th

I literally just had to go back and look at my Instagram Stories to figure out what the hell I did this weekend. It seems to be a mix of wine night with Victoria, climbing with Victoria, B & Lottie and then riding bikes on Sunday. Good mix, I’d say.

 

July 11th

Alright. Here’s the bit where you get to find out about my very ~dramatic~ crash.

So Jono and I were given the morning off of work on this Thursday to go up and get some content from TC, which was finally open for the season. It was such an amazing day. TC is at the top of this crazy winding and steep road. Jono and I grabbed coffee in the morning and the drove up and met the rest of the Mons crew, plus our photographer Louis. We were also joined by a Mons ambassador named Tori.

The day was awesome. TC is so fun, and even though there was only trail open, we managed to get some really cool shots.

It was getting close to noon and Jono and I had to be back at the office at 1pm. But I wanted to go for one last lap. So we clipped back into our skis and headed up. I don’t remember what we talked about on the chairlift. At the top, just before heading down, I remember yelling, “last lap guys! Make it count!”

Then I remember coming around a giant turn. Jono had gone wide and I went tight into the corner. And then, the next thing I remember is waking up and not being able to get enough air into my lungs.

Jono watched the whole thing happen. Apparently I came tight around the corner and the man in front of me turned suddenly in front of me. I didn’t have enough time to stop and swerved to avoid him, going off the trail and straight into a snow cannon.

I think I must’ve got thrown from there, because I ended up several feet down the hill from where the snow gun was. I got knocked out and came to with the wind knocked out of me, with my music still blaring in my ear from headphone. The first thing I remember is how loud the music was and ripping the headphone out of my ear. Then Jono was next to me, trying to get me to breathe deep. Then I just remember lying down on the snow.

It seemed like five minutes and then patrol was there. I found out later that it took about a half hour for them to get there and many of my friends had passed by in the meantime to grab my gear and see if I was okay. I feel like I was black-out drunk the whole time. I don’t remember any of this.

When patrol first got to me, I remember them asking me my name, what month it was, where I was. They took my helmet off and started to casually talk about how there was blood coming from my ear. They said it very calmly, but I also know that blood coming from your ear is a bad sign. I remember being confused about why no one seemed worried about that. Unbeknownst to me, a second patroller had stepped out of my earshot to tell the base doctor that I might need a heli-evac.

Not to worry, this has a happy ending. Somewhere along the way, lying in the snow, my brain started to work and I remembered the first thing that had been on my mind when I came to – my music was incredibly fucking loud. I had had my headphone in my ear; the ear that was now bleeding.

“I had a headphone in my ear.” I remember saying. “Could it be bleeding because of that?”

Turns out, when I hit the ground, my headphone had been shoved into my ear and the plastic had cut a nice round piece of skin out of my inner ear. Hence all the blood.

So with brain bleed nixed from my list of injuries, patrol, Louis, Tori and Jono all helped load me into the sled and bring me down to the base doctor. After a quick examination, he determined that my shoulder, head and back were potentially injured. So, I was stuck on a backboard for two hours while we waited for the ambulance.

Meanwhile, everyone else took this opportunity to take photos, naturally.

While all this is happening, I had to pee SO bad. I couldn’t get up off the backboard to go and I tried so, so hard to use a she-wee (Google it), but I kept getting stage fright. At one point, I had to pee so bad (and couldn’t) that I was literally bawling.

They loaded me into the ambulance, still having to pee and down we went. At the bottom of the mountain, the pain from having to pee was so bad that the ambulance had to pull over. Both paramedics got out and let me get over my stage fright. And finally I peed in the she-wee. I have literally never been so grateful to pee. Never will I take a toilet for granted again.

Meanwhile, Jono had seen me off in the ambulance and drove my car back to Wanaka for me. He also stopped into the office and told everyone what had happened. I found out later he was pretty shook up. Being the only one that saw me crash, I guess it was pretty bad – he thought I was going to be way more fucked up.

I’m still not really sure how to thank him for everything he did that day. He really kept me calm and made sure I was okay. Him and I have a weird relationship where we’re constantly bickering or annoying each other, although more often than not, it’s just play. But after today, I realized he might be one of the best friends I have in Wanaka. He looked after me.

Back in the ambulance, I fell asleep on the way to Queenstown Hospital. Once there, I got into a CT and back x-ray and was finally cleared and allowed off the backboard. Then I had my shoulder x-rayed where it was determined that I just had a sprain. And a pretty nasty concussion.

I was finally allowed to look at my phone where I had a shit-ton of messages from everyone at varying degrees of freaking out. It was then that I found out that Victoria was coming to get me at the hospital, along with Mike. Jono had been prepared to come get me, but when he called her, Victoria had said she would handle it.

Somehow it seemed entirely normal to me to walk out of the hospital without shoes on and my Converse have since been lost. Victoria picked me up, got me some chicken nuggets and we made our way back home. At some point in the car ride home, Mike determined that because I was so concussed, I was basically a vegetable. I henceforth become known as “le petit brocoli”.

The next week was basically full of sleeping. Concussions are exhausting and I was so sore. I felt like I had got hit by a truck. That said, I got so many messages from people – both close friends and people I had only met a few times – to make sure that I was okay. There were also a few people who stopped by to bring treats and say hi. I was so touched and it made me realize what a special community Wanaka is. On top of that, Victoria was basically my guardian angel. She made sure I was taking my pain meds, getting enough sleep, eating good food – being a parent, really. Between her and Jono, I don’t know what I did to deserve them.

July 19th – 21st

I returned to work with a concussion on Tuesday, but only for four hours before I was too out of it. For the rest of the week, I gradually got back to work, but was still experiencing symptoms.

That being said, we had had a trip planned to ski at Ohau that weekend and stay in a teepee and I really didn’t want to stay home – I was starting to go crazy with boredom.

So, vowing not to ski, we set off for Ohau. Luckily, the weather on our ski day was so subpar. It was a total whiteout and you couldn’t see anything. So the best part of the whole trip was the camping. We had all brought our own tents, but spent most of the time cozied up in the teepee. It was gigantic. We cooked freeze-dry meals for dinner, had hot toddys as dessert and it was so warm that we actually got to de-layer, thanks to the woodstove inside. At bedtime, me, Victoria and JP all snuggled in to our three-man tent.

 

Aug 2nd – 4th

The last weekend of July was pretty low-key. I had one day at Treble Cone where I did a couple laps mostly by myself, trying to feel less scared. Eventually, I met up with Lottie and a few others and got to explore the Saddle – the gnarlier side of TC.

This past weekend though, was one for the books. While I was still a broccoli, Victoria had bought tickets for her and I to go to a Fleetwood Mac cover band. It was an AMAZING night. We spent the whole time at the front of the crowd, belting out my favourite songs and dancing with the oldies in the crowd. No drama, no mess, just pure fun. It was awesome.

The next day, I made a last minutes decision to go up to Cardrona instead of TC to ski with a few new people that I hadn’t really spent much time with before. It was a beautiful, sunny day and we ripped groomer laps all day. I was with a group of really great skiers and for the first time I felt like myself on my skis.

Which is good, because on Sunday, TC’s famed Motatapu Chutes opened for the first time this season and hooooly shit. They’re scary. I get why everyone says that TC is the expert mountain in the area.

But the snow was incredible and it was so cool to watch some of the pros boost off of cornices into the chutes. I did eventually get over my fear and drop in.

We skied a couple laps before the fog set in and then called it a day. I left feeling like I was finally back after my crash and really feeling confident again.

As it stands, I’m still in physio for my shoulder and my range of motion is still pretty limited. My back is pretty much back to normal and my whiplash is gone too. My concussion is still kicking around. It’s mostly visual – I get headaches if I look at a screen for too long and my vision gets blurry sometimes. But in NZ, if you show concussion symptoms for more than two weeks after your accident then you get enrolled in a government-sponsored concussion clinic. It’s free and they help get you back to normal with different brain exercises. So I’m in that now, and hopefully on the way.

In the meantime, they’ve warned me against any “extremely risky” activities… does that include skiing?

• JB

Man it’s been a scenic two weeks. True, we’ve spent the last two weekends going on trips outside of Wanaka, but the mountains around town are FINALLY getting a dusting of snow and it makes everything look way more epic. Now we just need the ski areas to open.

While we wait, we’ve been squeezing in some last few shoulder season adventures before our lives become dominated by skiing. First up, Fiordland last weekend.

 

May 24th – 26th

Victoria had gotten a photography job from a buddy who wanted her to come to Fiordland and shoot the traveller’s lodge he had just recently bought. We all got to go along because V needed models, so Alanna, me, Mike (from Ohau) and our new friend Phil from the West Coast signed up.

We arrived at the lodge late on Friday night. Because it’s not open yet, the whole place was deserted. It had some very “The Shining” vibes, but it was kind of cool just to be able to do whatever we wanted and explore the place. We had a few glasses of wine by the fire and then called it a night pretty early.

The next morning, the lodge owner came out and made us breakfast while Victoria went around and shot the rooms. After that, we headed out to walking trails around the lake to get some photos of the scenery.

That night, we had dinner at the lodge and then spent the rest of the evening sitting around the fire getting a wee bit drunk and listening to the giant thunder outside. Somewhere along the way, it became a running joke that Mike and I should get married (I think it’s because we’re both quite dry) and it became a theme for the rest of the weekend.

The next morning, it was still pouring rain and thundering and we were kind of at a loss for what to do. Mike suggested driving the 1.5 hours down the road to Milford Sound and to be honest, I wasn’t feeling super motivated.

Last time I did Milford was with Rachel and although it was beautiful, I’ll admit I was a little unimpressed. I had heard people go on and on about it and I just felt like it didn’t live up to the hype.

But everyone else was keen to check it out in the rain, so we decided to go.

Wow, I am so, so glad I tagged along. Milford Sound in the rain is amazing.

First of all, the drive itself is incredible. We were in the middle of a torrential downpour and we could hear the thunder even over the music in the truck.

The road starts out in the woods and you can’t really see much. But as soon as we got into the valley, it was incredible. All the cliffs above us had turned into huge waterfalls – it felt like something out of a movie. Unfortunately, the photos don’t really do it justice. Just the sheer amount of water coming off of these huge cliffs was amazing.

It literally looked that the whole way down to the valley to the Sound – just the most ridiculous waterfalls. When Rachel and I had gone, none of that existed. Even on the way back from the Sound, when the rain had stopped, the waterfalls were noticeably lighter.

This effect continued into Milford. Bowen Falls, which Rachel and I had cruised by, was pumping now. The below two photos show the difference.

Pretty wild right?

After gawking for a bit at the Falls, we piled back into the truck and headed home. After a wet weekend, we were all pretty tuckered out, but the day driving to Milford was totally worth it – I’d rank it among one of my top five favourite days here so far.

 

May 31st – June 3rd

Puckey left two weeks ago on a trip to South Africa and while he’s gone, he left us with his truck, which has a rooftop tent. We knew we wanted to take full advantage of that, so on Saturday this weekend we headed out to Glenorchy, which is this incredible mountain-scaped farmland just past Queenstown.

Like most trips in New Zealand, the drive was almost better than the destination. We started out driving this winding road along the lake with snowcapped mountains in the background. Then we moved into lush green farm fields. Finally, we ended up in the woods a little, crossing streams and rivers in the truck. Having a lifted vehicle is seriously a game-changer here.

We found this great little campspot with an amazing view of the mountains and set up the tents. For this journey, Mike joined us again, along with Alanna and Billy – an American friend from Queenstown.

Once we got camp set up, we got a fire going and put together a tailgate charcuterie board. We had also brought waaay too much alcohol along for five people – a problem which the boys promised to take care of before they went to bed.

At around 10pm, I called it a night – mostly because I was cold. Vic and I had set up a generator in the truck and plugged a heated blanket into it using an extension cord that connected the blanket in the tent. Definitely the closest to glamping I’ve ever been. (say it with me now Maze… “glamour girls”). But c’mon, you can’t say no to waking up to a view like this…

Before we faded off to sleep, we heard the boys finish off the last of the whiskey and then break into a campfire sing-a-long of Loveshack. At least they made good on the promise to finish the booze. That said, this is how Billy’s tent looked the next morning…

And this is what Mike looked like.

Way to take one for the team boys.

After some coffee in front of the mountains…

We went for a walk out to the mouth of the river. It was there that things really took a turn for Mike. I now present you with… a series of photos depicting Mike being hungover and useless.

After the walk, we packed up camp and said goodbye to the mountains.

Then headed back to Wanaka.

Today’s the Queens bday so it’s a holiday Monday. Originally, V and I were going to go for a bike ride, but we woke up a little unmotivated and instead did some window-shopping around town. Now we’re hanging out in a cafe working on some life admin. It’s actually nice just to sit still. Especially because I feel like the coming weeks are going to be crazy.

• JB