We didn't really realise how far south we were going to be in this part of New Zealand. At 45 degrees south, Queenstown is just further south than the bottom of Tasmania and the most southerly I have been. The equivalent latitude north gives you places like Portland, Zagreb and Venice. Sure they get cold in winter too, but the difference here is that there is literally nothing between us and Antarctica except wild, freezing ocean.
Southerly winds have brought early and heavy dumps of snow to NZ. This is great for the New Zealand ski season. A lot of the resorts were able to open early (with the exception of The Remarkables due to the completion of their new base building).
It also make for some absolutely stunning scenery. Who doesn't love a white-blanketed countryside?! Especially one that has winding canyons between the mountains and lakes- it is truly beautiful.
Top all of that off with the bluebird days you get here- the sun is out more often than not- quite a difference from the UK winter!
However, it's not all sunshine and snow- surviving a New Zealand winter takes some serious thermal layers, fire skills and extremely good driving.
The Good:
Skiing of course! Getting to an advanced level of skiing over the season in the French Alps meant that I have been able to soak up all the energy and buzz that occurs in Queenstown/ Arrowtown at this time of the year. The town started to heave with holiday makers around mid June when the Winterfest officially opened the winter season. Over the last week, with the NZ school holidays, the numbers of visitors have sky-rocketed, probably having heard about the great snow on the slopes.
We bought season passes for Cardrona which is closer to Wanaka than Queenstown and you have to go over the Crown Range which can often have tricky driving conditions. We chose this due to recommendations from friends that we had done the ski season with and I think it has proven a good choice for us. I have really enjoyed the skiing at Cardrona. There has been good amounts of powder and the area is small but fun. Having picked up a second hand pair of skis in town (which turned out to be the best pair I've ever skied with), I have improved my technique considerably, whilst Jim has had some park time. What more could you ask for? (I am going to write a ski blog soon!)
Skiing of course! Getting to an advanced level of skiing over the season in the French Alps meant that I have been able to soak up all the energy and buzz that occurs in Queenstown/ Arrowtown at this time of the year. The town started to heave with holiday makers around mid June when the Winterfest officially opened the winter season. Over the last week, with the NZ school holidays, the numbers of visitors have sky-rocketed, probably having heard about the great snow on the slopes.
We bought season passes for Cardrona which is closer to Wanaka than Queenstown and you have to go over the Crown Range which can often have tricky driving conditions. We chose this due to recommendations from friends that we had done the ski season with and I think it has proven a good choice for us. I have really enjoyed the skiing at Cardrona. There has been good amounts of powder and the area is small but fun. Having picked up a second hand pair of skis in town (which turned out to be the best pair I've ever skied with), I have improved my technique considerably, whilst Jim has had some park time. What more could you ask for? (I am going to write a ski blog soon!)
More Good:
As I said, the snow makes for some gorgeous scenery and therefore some great pics. It doesn't even matter what the weather is, Queenstown always delivers.
As I said, the snow makes for some gorgeous scenery and therefore some great pics. It doesn't even matter what the weather is, Queenstown always delivers.
The Bad:
Definitely the worst of the bad points, (maybe the only bad point!): the freezing temperatures. Houses around here don't necessarily come with insulation, double glazing or even an effective form of heating! Arrowtown is nestled at the bottom of the Crown Range with some significant hills surrounding which means less sunlight than other nearby towns. First thing in the morning is hardest- the fire has died, the single pane windows have frozen on the inside, sometimes the water pipes have to be warmed up and the sun has not yet hit us. Perhaps it's just the older properties but for some reason, New Zealand does not build for the winter.
Apart from frozen hands and feet and the struggle to get out of bed, it's not really all that bad. We get to build a fire and who doesn't love a fire?! (Arrowtown does have an air pollution problem from the fires burning, but we'll ignore that). The cold gives you an excuse to drink mulled wine. And when you look outside and see snowy mountains in all directions, you do tend to forget that your hands are numb.
Definitely the worst of the bad points, (maybe the only bad point!): the freezing temperatures. Houses around here don't necessarily come with insulation, double glazing or even an effective form of heating! Arrowtown is nestled at the bottom of the Crown Range with some significant hills surrounding which means less sunlight than other nearby towns. First thing in the morning is hardest- the fire has died, the single pane windows have frozen on the inside, sometimes the water pipes have to be warmed up and the sun has not yet hit us. Perhaps it's just the older properties but for some reason, New Zealand does not build for the winter.
Apart from frozen hands and feet and the struggle to get out of bed, it's not really all that bad. We get to build a fire and who doesn't love a fire?! (Arrowtown does have an air pollution problem from the fires burning, but we'll ignore that). The cold gives you an excuse to drink mulled wine. And when you look outside and see snowy mountains in all directions, you do tend to forget that your hands are numb.
The Remarkable:
I love that the bird life here seems to be active all year round. In England, the majority of birds must migrate for winter as you never see them about. In Arrowtown, many of the trees are still clinging to over-ripened fruit and the birds love it. It makes a difference when you can hear and see some kind of life surviving the winter with you!
I love that the bird life here seems to be active all year round. In England, the majority of birds must migrate for winter as you never see them about. In Arrowtown, many of the trees are still clinging to over-ripened fruit and the birds love it. It makes a difference when you can hear and see some kind of life surviving the winter with you!
The Queenstown community is also quite remarkable. There is lots of support for businesses, people needing bits and pieces- firewood/ lost items/ advice, hitch hiking is easy enough to help get around and people are just nice. We had a problem with our main money card the other day and two of the shops in Arrowtown told us we could come back to make our payment later (we didn't realise what the issue was at the first one). We also went to a well organised Social Media Day with a bunch of Queenstown Instagrammers and had to borrow an SD card (after we forgot ours...) from a helpful local which was no problem. And when we ran low on petrol, to save us an out-of-the-way trip to fill up, another local lent us his jerry can. On the local trading site, everyone warns each other about the road conditions which can get pretty nasty with black ice a common occurrence. Small towns will always be close-knit and Kiwis are extremely hospitable, but I personally think that winter helps to bring everyone together and look out for one another just a little more than usual.