Dispensor's NZ vacation.

[griffin]

My lovable mascot Dispensor was really upset that I forgot to take him to BotCon in LA this year, so I had to make it up to him by organising a trip to one of our nearest neighbours - New Zealand.

(for those who don't know who/what 'Dispensor' is, it was a short-lived character in the 2007 Movie, that was born from a Mountain Dew dispensing machine at the end of the movie - and a single non-convertable figurine was released as the only toy of this character, which I use as my avatar in the header above)

My friend Jimmy (known as Counterpunch on this forum), came to my aid, because he knew how difficult Dispensor can be when he doesn't get what he wants or isn't the centre of attention.

Last year actually, Jimmy suggested a Snowboarding trip to NZ, but we never got around to it (and BotCon was late last year, so wouldn't have been able to fit both in). This year though, BotCon was real early, leaving me with more time to affort the NZ trip I had been hoping to do this year anyway (my 2009 resolutions were to go to NZ, visit the last two AUS capital cities I haven't been to yet, and pass 25 hundred TFs - so far, I've managed 2 out of 3). And why go to NZ snowfields instead of an Australian one? Well, believe it or not, the total cost of everything ends up actually being cheaper to go to NZ.

So back in August, a last minute NZ snow-trip package (flights, accomodation, car hire, snowgear hire) was arranged for the middle of September, and I even managed to get time off work (which was considered last-minute, so I could only get certain days off).

As such, we weren't able to be at the snowfields on a weekend, to try out the night skiing one of them had on offer (on Fridays). For those wondering, a small part of the ski field is flood lit, but would be interesting to be up at that altitude in semi-darkness (and not worry about being sunburnt).

I also figured that while we were in NZ, on the south island, we should try to meet up with forum member Zippo (near Dunedin). And closer to departure, I found out about the Cadbury factory in Dunedin, and decided that we MUST visit it.

So the plan was fly into Christchurch (north east of south island), drive to Queenstown (south west) for the snowfields, and then at the end of the week there, drive to Dunedin (south east) and back up to Christchurch to fly back to Brisbane).

Jimmy met at my place Saturday afternoon (12th Sep), and made our way by taxi to the airport for our 6.20pm flight to Christchurch (on the south island).

The taxi drivers are getting really bad, or we just had bad luck - the one to the airport missed the turn-off to the international terminal, while the one on the way back home followed a GPS, which took longer but was cheaper because it was the shortest distance (going through some back streets instead of some major roads most people would use).

The flight (Pacific-Blue) took 5 hours 20 minutes, arriving in Christchurch at a little before midnight NZ time (which is 2 hours ahead of Brisbane).

We grabbed our hire car, which was upgraded to a diesel 'offroad' Prado, which worked out to be a lot cheaper over there - diesel is priced at about 60% of unleaded petrol (worked out to be about AU80c per litre!). We almost used up 2 full tanks of fuel, saving us heaps.

So leaving Christchurch (north east of the south island), we headed for Queenstown (south west). It took about 6 hours, arriving just as dawn was breaking.

(to be continued, with pics)

[griffin]

(Sunday 13th, cont.)
We drove around a bit first, and took some photos on Jimmy's camera.

Looking across the lake (Wakatipu) to Queenstown (on the right) just before sunrise.

http://www.otca.com.au/nz01.jpg

At the turn-off to one of the snowfields (The Remarkables).
The two nearby snowfields are The Remarkables and Coronet Peak.
We went to both.

http://www.otca.com.au/nz02.jpg

And on the way to the hotel (to see how long we needed to wait to check-in), so nice shots of clouds lit up by the pre-dawn glow.

http://www.otca.com.au/nz03.jpg

This one I like because the two different bits of cloud make the mountain look like a volcano erupting.
http://www.otca.com.au/nz04.jpg

The Hotel entrance (leads onto a pentagon shaped structure of all the rooms).
The big open central courtyard had a pool?!?! When would it get warm enough for using an outdoor pool?

http://www.otca.com.au/nz05.jpg

It was still before 7am, and the hotel people said we had to wait at least 3-4 hours at the earliest to get a room.
We were allowed to wander around the Hotel though, to check out what it had to offer.

The hotel looks out over the lake, and I took this from one of the viewing windows.

http://www.otca.com.au/nz06.jpg

We went back into the centre of Queenstown (is a very small, seasonal town, so didn't take long to check out).

Dispensor conquers the main street of Queenstown.
http://www.otca.com.au/nz08.jpg

We grabbed some breakfast, got measured up for our snowboard gear, looked for anything interesting, and got some groceries for the week.
Returning to the Hotel at around 11am, as soon as we got our room, we both had a sleep for about 5 hours (we drove through the night).

This was our room (later in the week - it wasn't always this messy).
Oops, sorry... this was Dispensor's room...

http://www.otca.com.au/nz07.jpg

When we woke up in the late afternoon, we picked up our gear, grabbed some dinner and found a Toyworld (didn't have anything I wanted).

The hotel internet was $34 per day (which I didn't use), and they had 3 regular TV channels and 3 cable channels (movies, news, sports).
So there was good incentive to not be in the room.
But on the first day, we were too tired to be out too late.

Monday (14th).
Queenstown actually got to a rather 'warm' 19 degrees, but got very windy.
So windy, both snowfields were closed by midday.

But we got up early, and drove off for The Remakables, arriving half an hour before it opened.

The road to the snowfield turn-off.
http://www.otca.com.au/nz09.jpg

On the mountain road, looking down onto the Queenstown airport.
It only just fits on the flat land between the lake and a cliff that drops down to a river. And wouldn't be easy to approach either.
I saw a plane land, and it had to descend down into the valley above the lake, then come around that bend on the left to line up with the runway.
Very little margin for error.

http://www.otca.com.au/nz10.jpg

Further up the mountain road, looking down.
http://www.otca.com.au/nz11.jpg

And a bit further.
http://www.otca.com.au/nz12.jpg

Almost there, now that we reached the snowline.
(near the end of the season, and no snow in the preceeding week, meant a fairly receded snowline)

http://www.otca.com.au/nz13.jpg

And finally, Dispensor (and his two human slaves) reached the basecamp at The Remarkables.

http://www.otca.com.au/nz14.jpg

And a photo from Jimmy's camera.
http://www.otca.com.au/nz15.jpg

This was half an hour before it 'opened' (the lifts start up), so we were one of the first there.
With just a couple weeks left of the snow season, and warmer conditions, the snow barely covers the basecamp, and that lower covering would be artificial snow.
As long as it gets below zero at night, they can still cover the ground with the fake stuff.
But once it gets too warm for covering the basecamp, the lifts would be useless - limiting access to the entire snowfield.

Jimmy had been snowboarding about 3 years ago, so not only had to 'refresh' his own memory, he had to give me some pointers (it was my first time).
I had skied before, but this was completely different.
I had to start out by learning how to balance on the board.
Then learn how to stay up while moving forward.
Then it was learning to move in reverse.
And then learning to turn from fowards to reverse.
Since this was my first time, I didn't know which was my leading foot, so practiced both, leading left foot and right foot, both forwards and reverse on each.

This was done on the beginner section at the basecamp.
Jimmy took some photos of my early efforts.

http://www.otca.com.au/nz17.jpg

http://www.otca.com.au/nz16.jpg

Don't worry, there are some of me crashing out, later.
Put simply, I fell down a lot on that first morning, but within about 3 hours was confident enough to use the chairlift to go on one of the beginner runs.
Unfortunately, the wind had picked up so much, the one chairlift that was operating that morning was shut down (there are 3 lifts there).
We decided to walk up about halfway, to get some boarding action (the learner section was starting to get a bit slushy in the heat of the midday sun).

From as far as we walked (which was really exhausting), looking down at the second chairlift.

http://www.otca.com.au/nz18.jpg

We boarded back down to basecamp, and with no sign of the wind letting up, we decided to head back to QT (Queenstown).
We had been assured that our (expensive) lift pass voucher could be traded in for a different day if both snowfields were closed, so that was the plan.

Journey back down the mountain.
http://www.otca.com.au/nz19.jpg

We returnd to the hotel (about 2pm), and changed (socks, gloves, and clothing under the snowgear was all soaked from all the snow that got in every time I fell).

Into town, we got new liftpasses for the next day, for the other snowfield (Coronet Peak).

Dispensor, the attention seeker, had me take a photo of him on this statue in QT (he's on the ass end of the sheep).
http://www.otca.com.au/nz20.jpg

Soon after, I then found a TFs movie poster (http://www.otca.com.au/0909c.jpg)in a music shop, which I bought. I liked the poster, and at least meant I came back with something TFs related from NZ.

We got some pizzas from a place that had some creative options on their menu. One even had onion rings on it.

(to be continued)

[griffin]

Tues (15th).

Not as early today, but still early enough to get to the other snowfield (Coronet Peak) before it 'opened'.

The road there (this one was a sealed road).
Once again, Dispensor guided his fleshling slaves to the snowfield...

http://www.otca.com.au/nz21.jpg

At the carpark looking back down at the lake (QT is on the other side of those central hills).

http://www.otca.com.au/nz22.jpg

From Jimmy's camera, are a few photos of me at Coronet Peak.
First, warming up and getting some more practice in (didn't fall down much at all on this second day).

http://www.otca.com.au/nz23.jpg

And after a couple hours, we headed up the beginner section, accessable from one of the smaller chairlifts.
(they had 4 at this snowfield - one to the peak, 3 to midway areas)

http://www.otca.com.au/nz24.jpg

http://www.otca.com.au/nz25.jpg

http://www.otca.com.au/nz27.jpg

http://www.otca.com.au/nz28.jpg

And as much as I was slowly getting the hang of it, and losening up a bit, I still had a few falls.
And Jimmy made sure to catch a few of them on film...

http://www.otca.com.au/nz26.jpg

http://www.otca.com.au/nz29.jpg

After that first full day of boarding, I came away with two sore wrists (from pushing myself up onto my feet), sore thighs (from squatting while balancing) and a sore knee (twisting it as I turned).
The other injuries from the next day was a heavy fall on my tailbone (felt like a kick to the groin, that lasted about 20 minutes, and is still sensitive to sit on), and muscle strain on my right arm.
At least I didn't come back with anything broken. I did make sure I took out travel insurance though, just incase.

By the end of that first day, we even went up to the peak on the main chairlift, boarding down the intermediate run.

I didn't take my camera up with me on that first day (in case I fell on it too much).
Pics shortly from the second day...

[griffin]

Wed (16th).

Waking up Wednesday morning, I found that it had actually dropped to 3 degrees that night in QT, but no snow for the snowfields though.

We were a bit late getting out, but we picked up our liftpasses on the way back to a second day at Coronet Peak.

An hour warming up and refreshing my limbs on the beginners patch, we spent most of the day using the 2 main chairlifts and the various intermediate runs.

Some pics from my own camera this time.

View from the beginner's patch.
http://www.otca.com.au/nz30.jpg

And another one, of the same view, just a little to the left.
http://www.otca.com.au/nz31.jpg

From the basecamp, looking up to the peak.
The chairlift that goes to the upper right of the picture is just one of the smaller ones (only goes a third of the way up the mountain).
The one to the peak can be seen running along the ridge of the top of the photo, terminating at the highest peak in that shot.
The peak is 1.65km high, and that was where we went up to on both days.

http://www.otca.com.au/nz32.jpg

The view back down from the peak.
http://www.otca.com.au/nz33.jpg

And halfway back down, I stopped to take this shot.
http://www.otca.com.au/nz34.jpg

And these were two photos Jimmy took from somewhere up the mountain.
http://www.otca.com.au/nz35.jpg

http://www.otca.com.au/nz36.jpg

We left at about 4pm (the closing of the lifts), like the day before, and decided to spend our last day of boarding (tomorrow) back at the Remarkables for something different.

On the way back, we bought some more groceries and something cheap for dinner.
(the night before I had room service, but the nachos were pretty bad, and weren't cheap - a cheap easy alternative for Wed was definitely prefered)

(to be continued)

[griffin]

Thursday (17th).

The mornings were getting later, but as worn out as we were feeling, we were still keen to get back out there.
After all, we only had three days (would have been four if the first day wasn't so windy.

Back at The Remarkables, we pretty much hopped on the first chairlift after just a couple warm-up runs of the beginner's patch.

Photo of Jimmy, taking a photo of me...

http://www.otca.com.au/nz37.jpg


(from Jimmy's camera)
http://www.otca.com.au/nz39.jpg

And this time, Dispensor demanded that his fleshling slaves take him out onto the snowfields...

http://www.otca.com.au/nz38.jpg

From the top of the first chairlift, looking down to basecamp.
To the left, you can just make out the main chairlift that goes to the peak.
Off to the right was the third chairlift (which was in my Monday photos).

http://www.otca.com.au/nz40.jpg

We spent this last day on the snow, going up and down the 2 small chairlifts, and boarding back down the beginner and intermediate runs.

Jimmy wanted to do the intermediate run from the main chairlift, but I didn't feel ready for it, so just went up without my board (as a tourist).

Dispensor made me do it...

http://www.otca.com.au/nz41.jpg

http://www.otca.com.au/nz42.jpg

One of Jimmy's photos he took up there as well.
http://www.otca.com.au/nz43.jpg

And from the top of the main chairlift, you can walk/climb your way up to the peak to the Lookout.
The snow was too icy for my flat-soled boots, so I didn't go all the way.
I did manage to get to the ridge leading up to the peak, and took two photos.
First is looking back over the snowfield. The second is looking the other way, over the lake and Queenstown.
This peak is 1.95km up!

http://www.otca.com.au/nz44.jpg

http://www.otca.com.au/nz45.jpg
(that one above is now my desktop background)

That was about all from the snowfields.

Next up - our last night in QT.
AND, Dispensor wasn't satisfied with just terrorising Queenstown. Next he took on Dunedin, and the Cadbury factory.

(to be continued - later tonight when I get home from work)

[griffin]

Thursday (17th) continued.

So we came back from the snowfield after it closed, and returned our gear to the hire shop. We also stopped off at a Warehouse (thanks to a tip from Zippo), and I found a TFU Ratchet (not released in AUS, and it was one I was missing).
We then returned to the hotel and cleaned ourselves up, and went off to find somewhere to eat that was on our 'voucher' list.
The lift pass vouchers were also exchangable for other activities, and meals - we had one left each (we had four vouchers for four days of liftpasses, but not using one on the first day left us with a spare). Since they cost us about $70 each, we couldn't just waste them. We also didn't have the time left to do anything else before the end of this last evening.
This left only a meal option, and a casino option.
We decided to do both.
Each voucher was worth $60 in trade towards food or Casino credit, and when it came to food, we would only need one for the pair of us.
We ate at a restaurant that was inside the Sky Casino, and the food looked really good. But my pasta was overcooked (was mushy), so they gave us a free desert to make up for it.
That left us with one voucher each for the adjoining Sky Casino. $60 of gaming chips on a blackjack table didn't last very long, but it filled enough of the evening, and we had to get up early the next morning to leave for Dunedin.

Friday (18th).
Aiming for a 7am departure (to give us a bit of time with Zippo before he had to work), we ended up getting out of QT a bit past 7.30.
The drive across the south island from west to east took about 3 1/2 hours, arriving at Zippo's place just on 11am.
Spent about an hour talking and looking over his toys, and gave him a present from OZ (3 packs of chicken Twisties - which they don't have in NZ, but I remembered that he said he liked them).

About 10 minutes later we were in Dunedin, checking out a Toyworld and a Warehouse (found myself Devastator, Robot Heroes battlescene packs and a legends mudflap).

Then the other highlight of the trip - the Cadbury Factory tour. The tour itself was over an hour long, and then there was the history area, which took about another half hour to go through. The smell at the factory was divine, and the cost of the tour included samples (a little bag of several choc bars we collected along the tour).

We weren't allowed to take in any small objects with us, so Dispensor had to stay in a locker while we went on the tour.
And I never heard the end of it, with his whinging all the way back home about it.

I did manage to get a couple of photos of him outside of the tour itself.

Him pretending to be a hood orniment of a vintage Cadbury truck.
http://www.otca.com.au/nz46.jpg

And in front of a Crunchie bar mountain.
http://www.otca.com.au/nz47.jpg

We had about 9 hours spare to fill, and unfortunately, Dunedin wasn't much of an exciting place to spend much time in, so at about 4pm we ended up just driving off for Christchurch, and worry about filling in the extra 9 hours when we got there.

So a four hour drive later, and a pit-stop at a Burger King (must sample the local junk food), we parked in the CBD of Christchurch and spent the evening amusing ourselves until we had to make our way to the airport a little after 4am (Saturday).

Checking in at around 5am, our flight departed 7am, landing back in Brisbane 9am (4 hour flight, 2 hour time difference).

[Jetfire]

Fantastic shots. Thanks for posting.

I spent my honeymoon there last Nov. Didn't do any skiing but loved every minute of our stay. Would love to go back. I liked it so much I'm planning on retiring there now :) Magic place.

[bruticus]

ahhh...Nice pics..
brings back a lot of good memories when i was last there....

but i dont remember the slopes being that deserted....:confused:

[Fungal Infection]

I'm not really a snow person so aside from skiing/snowboarding, is there anything else to do in NZ? Themeparks? Shopping?

[Jetfire]

Well I didn't skii but I did the following:

Queenstown - The capital for the adrenaline junkie; bungy, jet boats - a plethora of things to do there

Glaciers (Fox Glacier.. be careful, I was there a week before if flooded, and then another week later 2 people died)

I did a Lord of the Rings tour that went to a bunch of locations where the movie was filmed

I just enjoyed the scenery and driving from town to town. Went to wildlife parks. North Island did the mud pools and glow worm caves. Eat, drink, be merry.

[jacksplatt11]

Haha I was just there too, a week after you though. Flew into Christchurch on the 21st, then to Queenstown on the 22nd which was an interesting flight, exactly as you noted due to the airport. 2 days snowboarding at Cadrona, had good snowfall, Nevis bungee jump (134m), mountain biked up that mountain that's next to QT, with the gondola going up it, 3 pub crawls as well as just going out, other stuff too, and stayed at a pretty flash backpackers (as flash as a backpackers can get). Was there for a week, then back to Christchurch then back to AUS. Had a blast, awesome place, can't wait to go back

[griffin]

The snowfields were indeed empty, mostly because it was a fairly warm end to the snow season, and there hadn't been any new real snow for about 2 weeks. The locals were saying that people were leaving in droves - which was a good thing for us, because it wasn't as crowded and I wasn't getting in the way of too many others when I fell. :D

The touristy stuff in NZ is mostly scenic and adrenalin activities.
Jetfire just reminded me that there are heaps of LOTR tours being advertised in the QT area, so I guess that was one of the areas it was filmed. So if you're a fan of the movie/books, that could be something else worth doing.
Otherwise, I don't know of any themeparks.
The Cadbury factory was the only thing I found of interest to me, but do some searches online or go to a travel agent for anything else over there.

[griffin]

Haha I was just there too, a week after you though. Flew into Christchurch on the 21st, then to Queenstown on the 22nd which was an interesting flight, exactly as you noted due to the airport. 2 days snowboarding at Cadrona, had good snowfall, Nevis bungee jump (134m), mountain biked up that mountain that's next to QT, with the gondola going up it, 3 pub crawls as well as just going out, other stuff too, and stayed at a pretty flash backpackers (as flash as a backpackers can get). Was there for a week, then back to Christchurch then back to AUS. Had a blast, awesome place, can't wait to go back

The prospect of more snow before seasons end was slim, but sounds like you got lucky. Was Cardrona a good snowfield? Was it big, or just the one with the best snow coverage at that time of the season near QT?
Sounds like you packed in a heap of stuff. Did you go with a group or friends?
QT was very quiet while we were there, it must have been like a ghost town the following week for you.

We were originally planning to be over there the week you went, but I couldn't get leave from work, due to school holidays here (people book up the leave slots to spend time with their kids). Would have been really funny if we had been there at the same time and just ran into each other without knowing beforehand.

[jacksplatt11]

The prospect of more snow before seasons end was slim, but sounds like you got lucky. Was Cardrona a good snowfield? Was it big, or just the one with the best snow coverage at that time of the season near QT?
Sounds like you packed in a heap of stuff. Did you go with a group or friends?
QT was very quiet while we were there, it must have been like a ghost town the following week for you.

We were originally planning to be over there the week you went, but I couldn't get leave from work, due to school holidays here (people book up the leave slots to spend time with their kids). Would have been really funny if we had been there at the same time and just ran into each other without knowing beforehand.

Yeah we got lucky, we didn't expect there to be much snow but the first day we went snowboarding we got pretty good snowfall, I can't remember the number but it was pretty good coverage, the next day there was none but it was still pretty decent from the day before. I can't remember why we chose Cardrona, only one of us was an experienced snowboarder so he just chose, or maybe it was part of our package, can't remember. There was 8 of us all up, all mates, and yeah there wasn't as many people as usual, most people who were there permanently noted that, but it was still reasonably busy. We got a fair bit of stuff done, all days we were there were pretty full on

Haha yeah would've been pretty funny, quite unexpected

[griffin]

Was it your first time snowboarding? If so, how'd you go?

I just remembered something funny - I had forgotten about the sunburn factor up that high, and after just 3 days of beenie and googles, I was left with the bottom half of my face red and the top half still fairly pale. It looked a little like MOTU Trapjaw, with white skin instead of green.

[jacksplatt11]

Yeah first time, sorta got the hang of it towards the end but by then I was so sore I was glad our couple of days were up. It's pretty tricky starting off, some of our group picked it up in a snap, some (like me and another guy) struggled, plenty of bumps and bruises, but no pain no gain eh. Got a nasty one on my tailbone just like you, it's a bugger isn't it. I would definitely do it again, it's fun even if you do fall over a fair bit.

Haha yeah I forgot about sunscreen as well, luckily I got away with no burn, just some dry lips, it's easy to forget you can get sunburned even when it's so cold, especially with the sunlight reflecting off the snow

[Golden Phoenix]

I just remembered something funny - I had forgotten about the sunburn factor up that high, and after just 3 days of beenie and googles, I was left with the bottom half of my face red and the top half still fairly pale.

Man if I had a nickle every time that happened to me. You never really connect sunburn with skiing because your more worried about the cold

[Paulbot]

http://www.otca.com.au/nz46.jpg


The allspark energy that brought Dispensor to life has helped him track down one of the mysterious and elusive seekers!! :D

[kup]

Awesome shots! I love to see snow someday - Despite me having traveled a fair bit in my life I have never seen snow.

[Saintly]

nice write up Griff and some great pics!

Fungal, I've never been to NZ myself except the wife took the kids there last x'mas... but going from those pics and what the wife said, I reckon it's good for cruising (car that is!)

[Zippo]

Oh pictures.. and a mention!

Good to see Dispensor had a good time.

[SOUNDBLASTER]

See Zippo people really do like you :p:p