Ugh, this is a lame blog title. But it’s 9pm on a Sunday and I don’t have the creative capacity to think of something more original, so you get what you get. (Mazy, if you have any “Live at Five”-esque title suggestions, send ’em my way)
In the three weeks since my last post (yes, I know, I’m getting worse in terms of frequency) it’s been pretty, ahem, balls to the wall. At Mons we’re beginning the launch of our absolutely bea-u-tiful Winter 2019 collection (we go by NZ summers and winters) and the weekends have been packed full of activities. I’ve started this thing where I have to get a good sweat on once a day – be it at the gym, hiking, bike riding, running or climbing. And I’m on a three-week streak right now. My goal is to keep it going until March 15th when we leave for Crankworx Rotorua.
Okay enough, chit-chat. Let’s get down to the last three weeks. I had to consult the photos in my phone for this one because all the weekends started to get jumbled in my head, but I think I nailed it down. I digress.
Weekend #1 (Jan 25th – 27th)
Friday was spent at Cardies as per usual. After riding the park for a few laps, we called it because it was soo cold in the alpine and drove back into town to get some tacos. Bikes and tacos is becoming my new favourite pairing.
Earlier in the week, I had met an American chick named Victoria who’s originally from Colorado, but has spent the last eight months roadtripping around NZ. She’s since decided to settle in Wanaka and became a Mons ambassador in the process. So we went out for a drink to get acquainted and discovered that we have a lot in common. Both really into the outdoors, both into skiing. Our off-season sports differ; she prefers climbing, while I like two wheels, but we figured we could teach each other.
As our first big adventure, we decided to take on Grandview Mountain that Saturday. Having both done our share of NZ hikes, we were expecting this one to follow the same pattern up straight-uphill-torture. However, we were pleasantly surprised. Thanks to some switchbacks, this hike was actually really lovely. Just hard enough that we got a sweat on, but not so hard that we were wishing our legs didn’t exist. Plus, the scenery was killer. It seriously looked like the Lord of the Rings. Oh, and we met some friends along the way.
On Sunday, I mostly just chilled out. Went for a run by the river, which is my new favourite thing because you get crazy hot and then jump in the water and it’s heavenly.
Weekend #2 (Feb 1st – 3rd)
The following weekend, Victoria and I went to Lake Ohau, which is about an hour and a half from Wanaka. It was soo great to roadtrip and finally get Brendan out on the asphalt. We arrived to the lake and met Victoria’s friend Mike, who’s living in his family’s cottage for the summer. The cottage reminded me a lot of what the Wentworth cottage used to look like – exposed wood walls, skis hanging above doors – that whole cabin vibe.
We went down to the lake to have a barbeque and watch the sunset. As usual we were not disappointed.
Originally our plan was to sleep on the beach in our tents, but the night air started to get a little chilly, so we crashed in Mike’s cabin and woke up the next morning to him making us breakfast – eggs, bacon, toast and coffee. I really like Mike.
From there, we set out to Mount Cook Aoraki National Park. Mount Cook is the highest mountain in NZ and it’s about 30 minutes from Lake Ohau. Mike came along as well.
Driving into the park was amazing. Mount Cook is almost sitting on the horizon in front of the road and we got lucky with a clear day. It only got more beautiful as we got closer.
The water outside the park is also glacier-fed so the water is this incredible tropical blue. I’d show you photos, but it honestly doesn’t do it justice.
We started out visiting Tasman Glacier, about a 20 minute hike into the park. While really cool, it was also sad to be there. There are signs all over the place marking where the glacier used to extend to; in the last twenty years, it’s receded kilometres. It’s scary how real climate change is.
Next we drove back around the mountain to hike to get a view of Mount Cook. If we had had time, we would’ve taken the Hooker Valley Track, a 3-hour hike that gets you to the base of the Mount Cook. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time, so we went around the other side on a shorter track. We still got some amazing views of the mountain and the other glaciers though.
Mount Cook is officially one of my favourite places in the world. And I decided that day that I wanted to go back immediately, which I did the following weekend. More on that in minute.
Victoria and I have decided that once a week we’re going to have a climb night – whether it’s outside or in the local gym. I’m still slowly accumulating climbing gear. After I bought my car, I was reeeally hurting for cash for a while, so I haven’t been able to afford climbing shoes yet, but I’ve got a harness and I’m hoping by next week I’ll be able to get shoes and stop using the smelly rentals at the gym.
The good news is, I’m really starting to love it. Last week, I made it up an 18 without falling. Which is so cool, because when I started a month ago, I couldn’t make it up a 15 without falling several times (grades go up by one here, so 15, 16, 17, 18. And they go as high as into the 30s. So I have a long way to go, but small victories).
Last Thursday, Lachy arrived in Wanaka which was both nice and a little weird. Nice because it’s great to have a close friend from home here. Weird because, well ex-boyfriend. But we’ve been hanging out and I think things are going to be just fine. We were friends before dating and we’ve always been friends since.
Weekend #3 (Feb 8th – 10th)
This past weekend, Lach and I drove to Christchurch to pick up his skis and bike that had been shipped there from Canada. We stayed in this really cool pod hotel overnight and then took our time back the next day and checked out some sights.
We tried to get back to Mount Cook, but it ended up being a bit of a flop. The idea was to finally do the Hooker Valley Track and get up close, but when we got there, there was a thick cloud cover over the range. We decided it wouldn’t be worth it to hike for 3 hours if we couldn’t even see anything and resolved to come back another day. However, I did manage to capture these really moody photos of the glacier. I’m actually really proud of this photo.
After Mount Cook, we stopped at the Clay Ciffs, which Lachy swears were in the Lord of the Rings movies somewhere, but we couldn’t figure it out. Anyone? Anyone?
Since getting to NZ, I’ve been determined to get a portrait shot of sheep, but they continue to elude me. I thought I finally had the perfect shot as we passed a field after the Clay Cliffs, but as soon as I got out of the car, they all turned around.
And then that brings me to today. Parentals, maybe stop reading here.
Victoria called me this morning and asked if I wanted to join her and few friends on a motorcycle mission to Cardrona (about 25 km down the road) to get lunch. After a lotttt of hesitation and a bit of peer pressure from Rachel, I said yes. And even though I was a little nervous about being on the back of someone’s Harley (that wasn’t Dads), I’m really glad I did. It was soo fun and the perfect day for it. Plus we had a whole gang. It was awesome.
When the guys found out that I could also drive a motorcycle, they offered to let me drive one of their bikes back, but I’ve literally never driven anything bigger than my little 250 and I don’t think the first time I try should be on someone’s massive Harley. I was perfectly content to ride shotgun again, but I won’t lie, I did breathe a slight sigh of relief when we got back into Wanaka. I have control issues.
Right after the biking, I went biking – pedal biking that is. Lach and I went up into Sticky for a few laps and then went for tacos (this bike & tacos thing is official). I also got a little practice on some jumps which was great because that’s one of the skills I’m really trying to get better at.
And now here we are. Sunday evening. Back into the gym tomorrow and back to work. I think it’s going to be a big week, not sure why or how yet. I just have this feeling. Will let you all know how it goes. Bye-bye for now.
- JB
Onward. 