Settling In

After moving into my cosy sharehouse I scored a job at Apex Car Rentals. Prior the this the call centre got one night out of me and I didnt even bother giving them my bank account details to be paid for the trial. That place was a souless vaccuum hell bent on the consumption of everyone's self esteem and good will. Phone call after phone call of abuse, I was almost too scared to answer my mobile the next day when the Manager of Apex was calling me in for an interview.  Luckily I did because it turned out that I was to be offered a job working with some of New Zealands best comedy in a witty Scottsman, a typical Irishman and a dry humoured Canadian. These lads were priceless to work with because their recipe for making a day fly quickly is to smash out as many jokes about as many topics as they could. Working at Apex had more than just perks like occassionally taking a rental car home to drop it off for a customer in town the next morning. It had a good bunch of lads, a variety of different chores during the day and the best view of the Remarks a groomer could ask for.

Then came the arctic front. One and a half metres of fresh powder at the top of the peaks, up to half a metre of the white down in town. I was living in a winter wonderland. Snow fights erupted at work as the frost on the roads made it impossible to pick up dirty cars to clean or to drop clean ones off.  My days off clashed beautifully with a trip up to Remarks on Tuesday 16th, which miraculously saw a pocket of sunshine bless the slopes with its presence at about 11.00am. The clouds were all around the carpark and the shoulders of the mountain, resting like a giant white crown. Above the crown the sun shone brilliantly and I laid down some of the best lines of my trip in knee deep powder. Even bailing was like heaven, falling softly into a bed of pillows everytime I cased it. The soft landings inspired me to go hard, and I hit up some kickers and rails in an attempt to add more aspects to my beginner riding skills. Managed to score a few indy and nose grabs that werent just a tap on the board as I went over a bump. Getting decent air was a little worrying at first, especially after my first jump resulted in my smashing my rump so hard I thought I'd soiled myself. But once I started nailing consistent jumps I was pleased as punch and rode away to claim it.

Today is a day I'm wasting on organising a bank account so Apex can pay me, and then I can start saving up for Canada or Japan either this year or next year. Maybe even Tahoe in America.  I want to do a season somewhere where I can not work the whole season and just board, but that looks a little unlikely on the New Zealands minimum wage.

Tomorrow the Remarks is my destination. And having scored half price jacket and pants from Amazon in the mall (both 15000 waterproof), I'm gonna be furthering my shreducation in a new outfit. As long as I play some heavy hitting tunes on my Ipod and dont go to the shitty ice ridden Concrete Peak I normally have a good day riding. All I got to do is push myself so that I dont stagnate as a crappy boarder and then I might actually develop some skills. As expensive as it is to live in Queenstown, the lifestyle surely makes it a place to be.