The flight to Queenstown was made longer by the fact that snow was ravaging the airport in a ferocious attempt to make up for its lack of presence early in the season. After being stopped at customs and asked why on earth I was trying to move to NZ the bus ride from Dunedin where we were forced to land took 4 hours and smelt of grotty old men. At least however our flight made it. Unlike Benny and Rachy who's flight got cancelled out of Brisbane which saw them shacking up in a hotel for the night waiting for the next available airfare.
After resting up in the wonderful Alexis Motor Lodge for a couple of days in between organising lift passess and bus rides to the wonderful peaks around Queenstown the first morning of snowboarding came round. Unfortunately so did the snow. 5 glorious centimetres in the heart of queenstown itself, and up to 70 cm in some spots on the mountains. The buses weren't running, so the mountains were inaccessible. Chains were to be worn at all times but weren't always reliable, my trek down into town saw me witness no less than five crashed cars due to the slippery road conditions. My walk down to town couldn't have been more than 700 metres.
A rest day was taken thanks to the weather, then up the mountain the next day. Just as I remembered. The sweet crunch of snow under my boots made love to my ears, bringing an erotic smile to my wind chilled face. Strapping into my board Natalie was like finding that spot in the girl you likes eye, where you could just stare forever and be happy. My first few turns were sketchy, but the powder made any landings soft if I bailed. I was back on a board, my cheeks were cold, but all that managed to do was freeze the smile I had on in place.
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