We (Andrea) woke up early to check the Mt. Hutt ski report. She came back to the room to report that the mountain was on hold (road closed - wind) with an update to be sent around 8am. So we got up, got dressed and packed up our car. We made some breakfast and waited for the next report. Finally the ski report came...road to open at 10am!!!! AWESOME. It was still pretty early, so we headed to town to get a good cup of coffee and wait a few minutes before heading up to the mountain.
We left at about 9:20 and hit the line waiting to go up the mountain at 9:45. We ended up waiting in line for over an hour to get some chains fitted to our Ford Focus and start our journey up to the ski resort. Man was it a journey!! The road was narrow, snowy, icy, windy and had huge drops off the edges.
We crept our way up the mountain...seriously crept. We forgot to turn off the traction control and the car was going crazy not knowing what to do with the chains on the tires. It went something like...spin...catch...spin...catch...spin...catch. Just to get the full idea!
We finally got things figured out and made it up to Mt. Hutt! I was stressed to the max by the time we made it to the resort. My hands wouldn't stop shaking and my heart was racing. I need to hit the slopes!
We got parked, got on our boots and purchased some lift tickets. On the mountain at 12 noon!
We ripped down the mountain tearing through the fresh powder...well not really, we slowly worked our way down the slopes not having skied in a year and a half and getting used to our rental equipment. Making it down to the lodge we stopped for a couple of minutes to make some adjustments to our boots. After making things a little more comfortable we headed back to the top.
With things adjusted and one run under our belts we proceeded to tear up the mountain.
The snow was awesome, the scenery was incredible and the company was magnificent!
We made turn after turn and run after run down the sweet slopes of Mt. Hutt
After hundreds of runs (or 10...or less) we ended our day with a quick picture at the base. Then we shuffled our way back to our car to head down. Man your legs get sore when you haven't telemarked in over a year.
After an uneventful (good!) trip down the mountain we got our chains removed and headed back to Big Al's to return our ski equipment.
Then we made our way back to Christchurch to return our rental car. After dropping off our car we walked (wobbled) down to our hostel to do some laundry, take a shower, have some food and watch a little TV before hitting the sack. Of course the laundry had to be a couple of stories up and the only way to get there was by stairs, shaky legs! It was an awesome day. One more of our must dos complete.
Day 155
We woke up early, had a little breakfast, and packed our bags. We caught the super shuttle at about 6am and headed to the airport. We decided to fly to Wellington instead of driving up to Picton and taking the ferry. It was $5 cheaper per ticket and we didn't have to drive for another day. The flight was nice and quick and we flew over Kaikoura, so we got to see it from above, very cool. Once in Wellington we picked up our rental car and headed north toward Napier. It was a beautiful day and the scenery was even more beautiful.
We made our way up to Napier stopping along the way to have some lunch and enjoy the beautiful rolling hills. When we arrived in Napier we checked into our backpacker then headed out to walk around town. The town was very quiet and most of the stores were closed, so we headed to the grocery store to get some food then went back to our hostel to make some dinner. After a nice dinner we watched a little tele before hitting the sack. Another day with beautiful New Zealand scenery.
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