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