Summertime and the livin’s easy

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